Workprint Of 1997’s Spawn Film Emerges To Show Us What Could’ve Been
The only live-action Spawn movie to date was a misfire in many respects and consequently appears on several worst-of lists to this day. However, it’s becoming clearer that the film, as it was when released in the summer of 1997, wasn’t the best it could be.
Between different cuts released internationally on home video, going back to VHS, viewers caught glimpses of things here and there, like shadows, either left out or altered slightly. One thing that never changed was the heavily dated CGI, especially the N64-quality animation that brought Malebolgia and Hell to life.
That and the more toned-down elements compared to the comics disenchanted fans who gave the adaptation of the Todd McFarlane book a chance. Until now, they may not have known the film was almost better, or at least more coherent, as an elusive and very rough-looking workprint of Spawn has surfaced.
With different opening titles, extended scenes that show more of the story, and far less CGI enhanced by practical effects, this unalloyed, less clean, cut showed the makings of a decent film to anyone who has watched it, despite being rough around the edges.
The workprint version appeared on Archive.org, but it didn’t stay there for long. You can thank copyrights. Fortunately, not one, but two YouTubers grabbed and analyzed some footage for the benefit of posterity: Hack the Movies and Christopher Stanley, who beat the former to the punch with a much shorter presentation.
Regardless who was first, both lead their videos with the sight of an unused Malebolgia puppet. Still voiced by Frank Welker, the puppet is more tangible and intimidating, despite its mouth not moving any further than its CG replacement. Hack and Stanley also show off a resin figure of the puppet that is a very impressive sculpt, and a must for any collector.
The original opening titles lack the CG touch as well. Initially, they were conceived as your standard names of the cast, fading in and out against a black background, with the usual Spawn logo from the Image comic covers. In the final product, these elements were thrown out in favor of a blockier logo font and a fiery wormhole to the Nether Realm.
But why the change? Blame an inexperienced director who went wild with aplomb, leaning hard into his real specialty, visual effects. Once New Line executive Bob Shaye saw the workprint cut, he gave the first-timer Mark A.Z. Dippé enough carte blanche to sink the production alongside his career.
Dippé inserted hundreds of effects shots into the film where there weren’t any, even if doing so made zero sense. The most notorious sequences of note, aside from the shiny cartoon Malebolgia, are when the Lord of Hell picks up The Clown (John Leguizamo) by the scruff of his neck, and when Spawn pulls and vaporizes a detonator with eye lasers out of Jason Wynn’s back (Martin Sheen).
When star Michael Jai White saw the final version at a screening, he was mortified. He recalled sitting next to music producer Quincy Jones and having to explain that it wasn’t the movie he thought he was in. So much story was missing, most especially the substance of Al’s relationship with Wanda, and why he is walking through a literal Hell to get back to her.
Since that time, White has detached himself from the character on a professional level and is out of the loop with the new Spawn, which is still in limbo. That’s a shame when White is considered by many fans to be one of the best superhero castings ever, even if the adaptation he was in is not considered to be all that great.
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