Todd McFarlane announces plans for a universe of heroes built around Spawn

Hey, do you like Spawn? Because Todd McFarlane is working on a whole universe worth of Spawn comics.

The creator of the long-running series — it hit issue #300 back in 2019 — announced today plans to build out his own superhero universe, centered on his creator-owned character. He plans to launch four titles this year — three of them will be ongoing titles — with several other artists and writers.

“The simple question is this: DC Comics started a shared universe in the late 1930s. Marvel Comics began theirs in the early 1960s… so, can lightning strike a third time beginning in 2021? I personally do not have the answer to that question right now, but the only way to get an answer to that question is to make the attempt in the first place,” said McFarlane. He made the announcement to comic retailers at the annual ComicsPRO Conference.

While Spawn will be at the forefront of this new universe, has has plans for other characters as well. Planned titles include:

• Spawn’s Universe #1., which will arrive in June and set the stage for the story that will spill out into the new titles.
• King Spawn #1, which will arrive in August.
• Gunslinger Spawn, due out in October.
• The Scorched, a new team book that doesn’t have a release date yet. While McFarlane promises it’ll have a rotating set of heroes, the first arc will feature Spawn, Redeemer, Gunslinger, Medieval Spawn and She-Spawn.

That’s a lot of Spawn.

“This is a long-intended plan that will need the help of dozens and dozens of creators to help create hundreds and hundreds of characters. And then to reward those creators if any of their ideas pay off in a big way outside of the comic industry,” McFarlane said. “The quest isn’t to have our ideas exclusively live in the comic book industry but to have merit and value outside of that industry as well. My character Spawn has been an example of what can happen with creation… so, what are the possibilities if hundreds of creations are brought together? Marvel and DC Comics have shown us that a collective group of characters, together, in a shared universe can resonate globally. I think it is time for David to attempt to join the same arena as the Goliaths of the world.”

Some of the creators mentioned in the release include Art Adams, Jason Shawn Alexander, Carlo Barberi, Brett Booth, J. Scott Campbell, Greg Capullo, Donny Cates, Jim Cheung, Mike del Mundo, Javier Fernandez, David Finch, Jonathan Glapion, Kevin Keane, Aleš Kot, Puppeteer Lee, Sean Lewis, Sean Gordon Murphy, Ben Oliver, Stephen Segovia, Paulo Siqueira, Marc Silvestri, Marcio Takara and Frank Quitely.