Todd McFarlane talks 'Spawn' future

Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has revealed that his proposed animated and live-action projects based on the character are still on track.

In an interview with Newsarama, the Image co-founder announced that significant work has been completed on the animated series and that a script outline has been drafted for the feature.

"The animation, we've put about a year and a half of work into it; we got pretty far along, then we got into a bit of a legal tussle. So it got boxed up and put into a corner. But at the end of this year, all that work and all those rights come back to me," he said.

"We've got 90 minutes of it scripted, voiced, backgrounds, characters - everything is done other than finding the studio to actually do the frame-by-frame."

McFarlane went on to say that he still intends to write, produce and direct a live-action Spawn feature film. He also suggested that the venture could be a CG take on the character.

"They want to do some big, CG extravaganza with Spawn. And I'll go and listen to all the offers. It might happen that way. But for years, I've been leaning toward keeping it small and tight. And to do something with a reasonable budget where, oh by the way, they'll let you be involved."

McFarlane's original Spawn Al Simmons features as the antagonist in the inter-company crossover Image United, which debuts this week.