Popverse's top stories

• Marvel unveils Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom voice—but still won't show his face
• Watch the Chainsaw Man panel with Ryan Colt Levy, Derrick Snow, and Reagan Murdock from Florida Supercon 2026!
• Critical Role's Laura Bailey recalls finding out she and Marisha Ray's characters were married... on stage at a live show

"Jason was like, 'Come on, don't get greedy. You already got one big star.' You can't get two stars, right? Especially because, at that point, I was going to be the director and you know, you're not going to get big stars going with the rookie director. And I'm like, 'I don't know, why don't we ask?'"

That's how Spawn creator Todd McFarlane describes a conversation between himself and horror titan Jason Blum, regarding the upcoming Spawn film, King Spawn, that will be produced under the legend's Blumhouse banner. The first 'big star' McFarlane's talking about here is Jamie Foxx, who will play the titular Spawn, and the second 'big star' he wanted to recruit for the movie was none other than MCU superstar Jeremy Renner. If you know Todd McFarlane at all, you won't be surprised to learn that he did indeed reach out to Renner's people, and the Hawkeye actor did indeed say yes.

But there was one stipulation, says the Image Comics co-founder, that he had to agree to first.

Let's back up a bit - I spoke to McFarlane in advance of Spawn '77, his latest comic book addition to the larger Spawn franchise. But since we were talking about the Hellspawns' future, we eventually got onto the topic of the long-delayed film still in development over at the house of Paranormal Activity, and more specifically, onto its superstar cast.

"His only sort of caveat," McFarlane said of Renner, "And I thought it was fair-minded, was, that [he gets] to approve the DP, the cinematographer. He's like, 'I don't mind working with a first-time director as long as the cinematographer is of that caliber. Because a veteran DP director of photography - they'll make everybody look good."

"He was just coming off a movie called Wind River that Taylor Sheridan had directed," McFarlane continued. "It was Taylor Sheridan's first time directing, and you know, he's the one that went on to do Yellowstone and whatever else. But he had just been writing up to that point. And so Taylor said, I want to direct one of my scripts, but they brought in an old-school DP. That movie looks like Taylor Sheridan, the ten-year vet, right? I mean, if you look at A Star is Born with Bradley Cooper, that looks like a ten-year directing vet. Why? Because he had a pro on the other side."

Well there you go, folks - when King Spawn comes out looking incredible, you'll know it's because there's a certified professional behind those shots, not dissimilar to how 1990s comic readers knew that if Todd McFarlane was creating his own comic, it would be gorgeous. But if King Spawn comes out and doesn't look good, well...

Blame Jeremy Renner.

Todd McFarlane's Spawn is available now wherever you get your comics. Todd McFarlane's Spawn, the movie, is also available now.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online.