Jeremy Renner has joined the cast of Todd McFarlane‘s Spawn adaptation at Blumhouse. He will play Detective Twitch Williams, joining Jamie Foxx, who has already signed on to play the titular anti hero.
The film revolves around Al Simmons, a former member of the CIA black ops who is betrayed by his team and murdered, where he’s then sent to hell for killing innocents in the field. In hell, he makes a deal to exchange his soul in order to see his wife again, only to realise that once he’s returned to Earth he’s stuck as a demon and his wife has already moved on with his best friend.
McFarlane told Deadline: “Jeremy was at the top. I’m a huge fan of his. The character doesn’t need to be a bodybuilder or GQ handsome. I was looking for somebody who’s a person you’ve met before; I needed someone who can pull off the grief of an average human being. I’ve seen Jeremy do that in more than a few of his movies”.
Producer Jason Blum also had praise for Renner: “Jeremy is the ideal choice for Twitch Williams. He radiates honesty, intelligence and a hard-working, everyman charisma, the same qualities that make Twitch such a compelling character”.
It’s safe to say with Foxx and now Renner on board, this silver screen version of Spawn is probably already better than the atrocious 1997 film, and has a real chance to be something great, especially with Blumhouse hiring McFarlane – the original creator of the character – to adapt and direct his own creation.
McFarlane has spoken in the past about wanting to make his R-rated vision that doesn’t explain much in terms of backstory: “The scariest movies, from Jaws to John Carpenter’s The Thing, or The Grudge and The Ring; the boogeyman doesn’t talk”. Look out for more Spawn news over the next few months, and expect the excitement surrounding the film to crank up.
#Peace.Love.Spawn
