Todd McFarlane Wants Venom and Spawn to Crossover on the Big Screen

[Black Panther]

Writer and director Todd McFarlane has announced in an interview that he’d like to see a crossover between two key characters from the upcoming movies, Spawn and Venom. Venom is currently in post-production and will be released in October of this year while McFarlane's Spawn reboot starring Jamie Foxx is expected to be released in 2019.

Since the early '90s, McFarlane has contributed tremendously to the Marvel and DC comic and movie universes as a writer and director and co-founded his own comic book publishing company, Image Comics. Through his impressive career in books and film, he has touched on a few infamous characters, most recently of which, Venom, a character last seen on the silver screen as the main antagonist in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. He’s also directed some iconic metal music videos and of course, created the character of Spawn, a hellish antihero played by Michael Jai White in the original movie released in 1997.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, McFarlane stated that if Sony were to distribute Spawn (after having distributed Venom in October), he’d like to see a crossover between the two characters. Even having said that it’s a “big what if”, the writer-director plans to present the idea to Sony executives once it’s ready. The movies are both set to be R-rated as is the current fashion with comic book-inspired movies following the success of both Deadpool installments and James Mangold’s 2017 box office hit Logan, an extension of the X-Men franchise.

The Spawn reboot is just over a year away and is set to be both written and directed by McFarlane. It will include a director's cameo and an appearance from Stan Lee. Having created the character himself, the level of creative control held by the man at the center of it all is pretty much limitless. With Venom coming out in just a matter of months (as of this writing), McFarlane is surely optimistic about the possibility of a crossover.

The long-anticipated Venom movie stars renowned British actor Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) as Eddie Brock and his alter-ego, a sentient alien symbiote in liquid form that requires a human host with which to bond to ensure its survival. This could couple very well with the character of Spawn, a trained assassin who was betrayed and sent to Hell, only to rise again, leading an army of demons to burn down the gates of Paradise. A universe where these two characters could co-exist (either as accomplices or enemies) would truly be an exciting addition to Sony’s impressive roster.