Todd McFarlane Talks Creating Venom, The Inevitable ‘Spider-Man’ Crossover, Creator Rights & The ‘Spawn’ Reboot [The Playlist Podcast]

I’m not going to lie, this is a nerdy interview episode of The Playlist Podcast, as legendary comic book creator, Todd McFarlane, joins to talk about the release of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” on VOD and Blu-ray. Why is Todd McFarlane talking about ‘Venom?’ Well, if you don’t know, McFarlane is one of the co-creators of the character, and in the interview, we talk about the process of creating the character who has now dominated the box office in multiple films, as well as creator’s rights in the film and TV realm, and, of course, “Spawn.” 

We also talk quite a bit about Todd McFarlane’s other contributions to the realm of superhero storytelling, as one of the founders of Image Comics and a trailblazer when it comes to creator rights in the comic book industry. You probably have read comments from comic book creators over the years who have not received any sort of royalties for the characters and stories they create that are eventually turned into major films. 

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“I still think they could share a few more crumbs with some of the people along the way when you have a big success,” said McFarlane. “I mean I’m a businessman and I don’t make nearly as much as the big corporations in the world and Hollywood. Maybe it’s just the Canadian in me, but if someone told me, ‘Hey Todd, you made $1 billion,’ I’d probably hunt down a couple of the people who had an impact [on the story] and give them what would still be crumbs. But at least acknowledge a little bit, ‘Hey, cool, thanks for your input.’”

He added, “They’re not obligated because depending on the contracts that certain people did. But I just think it buys a lot of goodwill, and it doesn’t cost you a lot because we don’t need a lot—as starving artists—to put a smile on our face. Each company has to make their own decisions about how they’re going to deal with all of that.”

Todd McFarlane and I also talk about the character who is probably his most famous creation, Spawn. He is nice enough to give us an update on the status of the proposed “Spawn” reboot film that has been in various stages of development for years now. 

“There should be some meaningful announcement in the first half of next year,” he said about “Spawn.” “There has to be! If there isn’t, then something’s breaking down….Hopefully, we can say, ‘Hey, we found a studio, we have a budget, and we have a production date.’ That should be the next big piece of news.”

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He also talks about the “Sam & Twitch” series, which in the comics is connected to “Spawn,” but will look very different in the realm of TV. And McFarlane believes that when you adapt an IP for a new medium, your job is to entertain everyone, not just comic book fans.

“If you’re making a ‘Venom’ movie, your job is to entertain the viewers for two hours. Your job isn’t to entertain all of the people who buy the comic books called ‘Venom,’” he explained. “And my job isn’t to entertain the ‘Spawn’ fans who buy the comic books. It’s to look broader than that and to say that 99.9% of people on the planet do not collect the comic. So, try to entertain them and not offend those who buy the comic…”

McFarlane continued, “So, TV is TV and it has its own set of rules. And the ‘Spawn’ movie will be the movie. And it’s okay if they both have slightly different ways to construct their stories and how they get there.” 

You can hear the full discussion, including McFarlane’s thoughts on the inevitable Spider-Man/Venom crossover film, below:

As always, The Playlist Podcast is part of The Playlist Podcast Network—which includes Be Reel, Deep Focus, The Fourth Wall, The Discourse, and more—and can be heard on iTunes, AnchorFM, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and now on Spotify. You can stream the podcast via the AnchorFM embed below or up top to listen on this page. Follow us on iTunes, and you’ll get this podcast as well as our other shows regularly. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we appreciate it. Thank you for listening.