Todd McFarlane Says It's Time for a New Spawn Video Game

Spawn is coming to Mortal Kombat 11 next week which means it'll be the first time in a long time Spawn fans get to go hands-on with the character. For some people, it'll probably be their first time ever playing as Spawn in a video game seeing how it's been years since the last Spawn game released. Whichever group Mortal Kombat 11 players fall into, there have been frequent discussions leading up to Spawn's release that are centered around one question: Is it time for a new Spawn video game? Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, seems to think so.

McFarlane spoke to ComicBook.com about Spawn's appearance in Mortal Kombat 11 as well as the creator's future plans for the character. During the conversation, we pointed out how it's been a while since the last Spawn game released and how many people may be introduced to the character for the first time on March 17th when Spawn is available in Mortal Kombat 11. We asked if it was time for a new game, and McFarlane said it was and that he'd like to see what modern video games could do with Spawn.

"The answer is yes," McFarlane said. "It's been a long time, and I don't know that any of them ever did it right in terms of what's possible in my brain. And part of it was, as you know, technology advanced, right? I mean, especially … he's been around long enough that video games have come a long, long way just like special effects and movies."

As for the timing of when a game like this might happen, McFarlane said "selfish Todd says we should do it yesterday." But to make the most out of a Spawn game, he said it'd be more pragmatic to have a buzz around the Spawn name to capitalize on. Some of that's already there with the Mortal Kombat 11 DLC, but McFarlane suggested the new Spawn movie that's in the works would generate the kind of buzz he'd look for. He said he and whoever else worked on the game would need to reach beyond the typical Spawn fanbase, beyond the "hardcores."

"And the easiest way to reach all of those people is to put stuff in front of them where they spend their days, and where they spend their days are looking at their laptops and their cell phones," McFarlane said. "And also looking and going to movies and watching TV shows. So, you need to get in front of them and say, 'Hey, do you want to go play this cool thing called the Spawn video game that is nothing like that you've seen in any of those other areas?' But you now are aware of the name."

Though he'd like to capitalize on the buzz around a movie or record-breaking comics, he clarified he's not saying that he wants to see a video game based on a movie or a TV show. He said a new Spawn game could give us visuals and actions pertaining to the character we've never even seen before and that we're not even close to seeing "the penultimate Spawn" in video games yet.

Spawn arrives in Mortal Kombat 11 on March 17th for those with the Kombat Pack and will be fully released on March 24th.