Jeremy Renner may have had to sit out Avengers: Infinity War, but he’s already lined up a major part in another comic book franchise.
Blumhouse and McFarlane Films have announced Renner is officially joining the cast of the Spawn reboot movie opposite Jamie Foxx‘s titular character. Renner is signed to portray Maximilian “Twitch” Williams, a detective in the New York Police Department’s Homicide division. According to Deadline, Twitch will be at the center of the film’s story as one of Spawn’s primary human allies in his war against Hell. Todd McFarlane created Twitch as a supporting character in Spawn #1, but he and his partner, Sam Burke, eventually headlined their own Sam & Twitch comic book series.
McFarlane is directing the Spawn reboot film, which will update and re-imagine his comic book creation. As originally conceived, Spawn was once an elite CIA operative named Al Simmons. Al was betrayed and murdered on a covert mission, and his soul was consigned to Hell. After making a deal with a demon called Malebolgia, Al returned to Earth as a supernaturally empowered being known as a Hellspawn. While he was dead, Al’s wife, Wanda, married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald.
In Deadline‘s report, McFarlane described the new Twitch and Spawn dynamic by comparing the former to Lancelot and the latter to King Arthur. If that comparison is meant to be taken literally, it could indicate that Twitch may replace Terry in the narrative as the new husband of Al’s widow. That’s just speculation for now, but we’ll learn more when the Spawn reboot hits theaters next year.
What do you think about Renner’s new role in Spawn? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Warner Bros. Pictures/Todd McFarlane Productions
