During a recent conversation with ComicBookMovie.com’s Rohan Patel, Michael Jai White opened up about the conditions under which he would consider reprising his role as AI Simmons in a potential ‘Spawn’ sequel.
While talking about his latest project, ‘One More Shot,‘ and his career, White revealed his thoughts about a ‘Spawn’ sequel. Confirming that the project has been in talks for a long time, the actor revealed the possible issues ahead of the reboot:
“I really don’t think much about the sequel. If I were invited to do it, then I’d apply myself toward it, but I think it’s been talked about for a very long time. And it seems that Todd McFarlane has been leading that conversation. I didn’t quite understand. I guess there was talk about him directing it, but he had never directed it before, so I thought that was kind of strange. It’d be a huge budget. All the power to him, but that would be an interesting decision to make. I know he was talking about using Jamie Foxx, so I wished him the best, but I’ve just been on the periphery of that.”
He then expressed openness to return but with a critical condition:
“If I were asked to be a big part of it, then that would be a different thing. I have respect for the fan base that put me where I am. I would be there. But yeah, I don’t quite understand what the concept is. I know Todd mentioned the concept of not seeing the character and being like Jaws, like you can’t really see it, but it’s there. He described something to me that I disagreed with. I didn’t think it would work. I don’t know if he’s still doing that, but I think that to do a sequel is to do it as a hard R and make it very dark and badass. I think it needs to be like the cartoon or plain and simple: the comic book. Outside of that, I don’t think I’d be interested in doing it if it wasn’t going for the jugular.”
This view aligns with his previous remarks on the original film’s PG-13 rating:
“I wasn’t that impressed with the first one, even though I’m involved with it. Even then, I thought it should be like the comic book or the series, you know, and I don’t know why such a dark character was going for PG-13. I think, just like I thought in the beginning, it should be really badass.”
You can watch the full interview below.
Will There Be a ‘Spawn 2’ Movie?
The development of a ‘Spawn’ sequel has been a topic of discussion since 1998. Producer Don Murphy was associated with the project as early as 2001, and creator Todd McFarlane has been actively involved in various attempts to reboot the franchise.
The project has seen various script rewrites and casting announcements over the years. In 2020, producer Jason Blum said that the project had been actively progressing. A year later, Brian Tucker was hired to rewrite the screenplay. Lately, in 2022, Scott Silver, Malcolm Spellman, and Matthew Mixon were hired to rewrite the screenplay again.
Released in 1997, ‘Spawn’ made White the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture. However, the film received mixed reviews after its release. White himself has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with ‘Spawn,’ despite his connection with Al Simmons.
