Fans have been promised a Spawn reboot for the longest time. In fact, every few months for the last few years, we’ve had some kind of tease or news about how the project is moving along. Except, it’s 2026 now, and Todd McFarlane still hasn’t announced an official release date for the superhero’s return. Now, Michael Jai White, the actor who played the character in the original 1997 film, has voiced his opinion about the upcoming release. And he’s not very enthusiastic.
White was in a good mood when Spawn came up on The Joe Rogan Experience. You could hear it in his voice and see it in his smile. They were discussing White’s upcoming work when Rogan mentioned the classic superhero film. “You know what I miss? Spawn.”
Back in 1997, when the actor was 30, the first live-action Spawn movie hit cinemas through New Line Cinema. And it was quite something for the time. Heavy on amazing special effects, it introduced the character to a whole new fanbase. Following HBO’s animated series and, before that, Todd McFarlane’s 1992 Image Comics title, it had everything needed to spawn a franchise: a hell-born antihero, a dark tone, a great actor as the lead and groundbreaking special effects. In fact, Rogan still swears by it. “Bro, that was a great movie.” But, surprisingly, White actually isn’t as sentimental.
According to the martial arts actor, he saw an early cut. “At this time it had like 71 special effects in it,” he said. New Line’s Bob Shaye liked that version (so did he, by the sounds of it). And then… the director, a visual effects specialist, got free rein. And that wasn’t a good thing this time. “He just gave the director carte blanche to just add whatever he wanted… So he started throwing special effects in there that was really killing the story.” White still sounds frustrated nearly three decades later. He clearly loves the character a lot. “You didn’t even see why [Spawn] wanted to get back. You didn’t even see the life that I wanted to get back to because there was so much special effects.”
Apparently, the final cut of Spawn actually confused White. “Even when I saw the final version I’m like what the hell is going on?” Fans of the comic character filled in the gaps themselves, of course. But casual viewers didn’t get that… at all. And yet Spawn made its money back.
So why did it fade while Marvel and DC built empires?
“I always said if they did another one should do it just like the comic book, make it hard or non-rated,” White told Rogan. “To do a Spawn PG like how we did PG-13… what do you want? You trying to go for a breakfast cereal like Spawnos or something?” He laughs. But he’s also very serious about the next film getting an R rating.
Of course, Todd McFarlane has been promising a reboot for nearly 25 years now. And, unfortunately for him, White hears about it constantly. “People say, ‘Oh, man. I’m sad that you’re not the next Spawn. That they’re using Jamie.’ I’m like, when is it going to happen?”
More seriously, White has an issue with McFarlane’s original plan to direct. “That would be the first time a person that created a comic book directed and produced a movie that I know of.” And as he correctly points out in the interview, creating a comic, he points out, doesn’t equal directing a $100 million film. Comics and movies are two very different media. “He hasn’t directed anything before.”
But the Spawn reboot movie is far from dead. According to McFarlane, it’s titled King Spawn, and there’s movement. The screenplay now lists Matt Mixon, Malcolm Spellman, and Scott Silver. McFarlane is stepping aside, with Blumhouse producer Jason Blum driving the project forward.
McFarlane admitted in 2024, “There’s a script, but the writers are not quite satisfied with their own work.” That was two years ago. We still haven’t heard about shooting dates yet.
Still, White wishes them luck. He really does. You can hear it in his voice. But he also knows Hollywood. “It’s a miracle that a movie gets done the way it’s intended. Period.” He’s seen how easily executives can interfere (or even how directors do). “A lot of times when a movie works, I go, ‘How did some executive not [mess] this movie up?’”
Until Jamie Foxx actually steps into the role in a reboot film, there’s only one Spawn… Michael Jai White.
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