Spawn 4K UHD Review

Arrow Video

4K UHD Release: October 7, 2025

Video: 1.85:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 stereo (both cuts)

Subtitles: English SDH

Run Time: 98:34 (R-rated cut), 96:26 (PG-13 cut)

Director: Mark A.Z. Dippé

Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is a top-tier Black Ops agent, ruthlessly efficient and fiercely loyal, until he's doublecrossed and executed by his commanding officer, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen). But Simmons is resurrected by the devil Malebolgia and becomes Spawn, a demonic antihero with terrifying powers. Caught between Earth and the Underworld, Spawn is determined to exact bloody revenge on Wynn and must choose whether to serve his new infernal masters or fight for the salvation of his immortal soul. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)

It’s difficult to overstate the scale of impact that Image Comics had on not only comic books, but broader entertainment in the early ‘90s. The short version of the story is that, in 1992, a group of all-star artists – Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld, and Whilce Portacio – along with veteran writer/artist Jim Valentino (who had experience with independent publishing), felt underappreciated and underpaid working for Marvel and left the number one publisher to create an independent label, which they dubbed Image. Industry leaders assumed the endeavor would flop without a foundation of established characters and properties, but, to the surprise of many, readers enthusiastically consumed all of the studio’s early titles, turning the all-stars into super-stars and destabilizing the stranglehold that Marvel and DC had on the medium.

What the experts didn’t seem to anticipate was that the Image Seven, largely unaccustomed to writing, would simply recreate familiar stories and character types, mixing tropes and crafting legally distinct heroes, anti-heroes, and villains that rivaled Marvel and DC’s in terms of flash and, because Image wasn’t beholden to the Comics Code, violence*. The party didn’t last and only a few founders still remain with Image (several ended up at DC with Lee even selling his imprint rights to the company), but, even as sales waned, the changes remained.

The most popular and (as of this writing) longest running title was McFarlane’s Spawn – a Faustian distillation of everything tweens and teens considered cool in 1992, from demons and heavy metal costuming to violent vigilantes, symbiotic supersuits (à la Marvel’s Venom, which McFarlane had a hand in creating), gigantic firearms, military special ops, and mafia conspiracies. The comic has gone through some interesting changes over the decades, but, at its start, Spawn was the oh-so-’90s poster boy for style over substance. As a member of the targeted demographic, I ate it up and asked for more.

Lee’s Wild C.A.T.S. and Larsen’s Savage Dragon beat Spawn to the small screen with syndicated, kid-friendly cartoons in 1994 and ‘95, respectively, though not for a lack of interest. McFarlane was in talks to adapt Spawn within the first year of publishing, but he was unwilling to compromise creative control. His ambitious approach to franchising culminated in two projects, both released in 1997 – an HBO animated series and a $45 million, live-action, major motion picture, produced through New Line Cinema.

Batman aside, the studio financed superhero movies of the ‘90s were mostly based on B-list characters (Steel [1997], Blade [1999]), older pulp heroes (The Shadow [1994], The Phantom [1996]), independent comics (The Crow [1994], Barb Wire [1996]), or made-up wholecloth by screenwriters (Darkman [1990], Meteor Man [1993]**). For whatever reason, the big name Marvel and DC characters (minus Batman, again) simply couldn’t make it to the big screen. Albert Pyun’s Captain America (1990) went mostly straight to video, Oley Sassone’s Fantastic Four (1994) was made specifically to not be released, and Full Moon’s Albert & Charles Band lost the rights to Dr. Strange, leading them to make an enjoyable, low-budget knock-off entitled Dr. Mordrid (1992).

Spawn getting the green light makes sense in this otherwise nonsensical environment. The difference was that it was actually a very popular comic, making it a less risky endeavor than something like Rachel Talalay’s Tank Girl (1995) or Joe Johnston’s The Rocketeer (1991). It was decided that an R-rated film would prove poisonous at the box office, unlike the HBO series, which was bloody, vulgar, and aimed at adults (unusual for the time). In turn, the show was generally well-received, while the movie was not.

Spawn wasn’t a flop, but the critics were cruel, mainstream audiences were lukewarm, and few involved were satisfied with the final product. Fans were disappointed with the perceived neutering of the original material and, in fairness, a dark, hellborn avenger doesn’t really work when he’s saddled with the same MPAA rating as Batman. The digital effects haven’t aged well, either, but they were very ambitious for the time and actually account for some of the film’s few decent reviews. Spawn was even advertised as “the special effects event of the summer,” an audacious claim, given that it hit theaters the same year as Titanic, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Fifth Element, and Men in Black.

The film’s ultimate problem isn’t its outdated visual effects or its relative lack of violence, though a bit of gore might have helped. No, the real issue is that Spawn as a story is derivative and uninspired. It worked on the page because it was transgressive, compared to its big publisher counterparts and because McFarlane’s ultra-detailed art (which, to be frank, has aged about as badly as the digital effects) overwhelmed his narrative shortcomings. Filtered through actors, who have to embody the characters and speak the lines, special effects artists, who are limited by technology, and compacted to just over 90 minutes to maximize revenue, all of the oversimplicities and shortcomings are brought to the fore.

On the other hand, Spawn’s heart is definitely in the right place and it represents a type of film that we’ll likely never see again. In an utterly mid-’90s fashion, it merges sincerity with irony, top-of-the-line physical effects with undercooked digital graphics, and stars a character whose popularity peaked the year it was released. And then there’s the soundtrack. Inspired by the rock-meets-hiphop soundtrack of Stephen Hopkins’ Judgment Night (1993), producers paired 1997’s most popular techno acts with equally popular metal/hard rock groups, creating one of the defining soundtrack albums of the era, along with Mortal Kombat and The Crow.

McFarlane continued making Spawn comics, often writing, sometimes illustrating mainline and spin-off titles for nearly three decades. His toy company, McFarlane Toys, was an early adult market adapter and his self-named production company gave him the chance to direct/produce music videos for major artists. His Spawn money funded his multimillion dollar sports memorabilia habit and was, for a time, a minority owner of the Edmonton Oilers. McFarlane’s second Spawn film has been stuck in pre-production rewrites for several decades now with the last update coming as recently as 2022.

Originally a visual effects artist, director Mark A.Z. Dippé continued working, though he never directed another major theatrical release. He found his niche in low-budget television and STV animation. Screenwriter Alan B. McElroy was the showrunner on the Spawn TV series and continued working in television, writing for Vampire Diaries, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Previous to Spawn, he wrote scripts for Dwight H. Little’s Halloween 4 (1988) and Rapid Fire (1992), which was a pre-Crow action vehicle for Brandon Lee. He also wrote the original Wrong Turn (2003), the universally reviled Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002), and Christian propaganda horror/thrillers Left Behind (2000) and Thr3e (2006).

* Image’s success was also tied to a saturated speculator market. In part a reaction to the supposed permanent ‘death’ of Superman and crippling of Batman, comics were being bought up in record numbers by investors, not fans or readers, who thought that new books were somehow going to appreciate, like stocks, despite being newly printed and numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The market bubble popped soon after, which accounted for Image’s comparative downfall and Marvel’s bankruptcy.

** One already well-reported aspect of ‘90s superhero movies was that so many of them were led by Black characters, including Blade, Steel, Meteor Man, Blankman (1994), and Spawn. McFarlane was always proud about Al Simmons’ racial identity, but he did bend to studio pressure when it came to the race of Al’s friend Terry, who is Black in the comics, but played by the very white D.B. Sweeney in the film.

In the comic, Simmons is initially killed by Chapel, a member of Leifeld’s Youngblood who happens to also be Black (one of, unfortunately, two HIV+ Black antiheroes in the shared Image universe…). Seemingly to avoid paying royalties to Leifeld, a new character, Jessica Priest (Melinda Clarke), was created. This added another woman to the mix, but, again, a Black character became white. Later, McFarlane and Leifeld had a falling out and Priest was retconned into being Simmons’ killer in the comics as well.

Video

About a year after its home video debut, an R-rated ‘director’s cut’ of Spawn was announced. That cut has become the preferred version of the film, though the differences between it and the theatrical cut are negligible, because the production was initially aiming for a PG-13 in the first place. New Line’s original double-sided DVD and Warner Bros.’ Blu-ray both only included the R-rated cut. For the film’s UHD debut, Arrow has prepared a 4K restoration of both cuts from the original camera negatives.

The screencaps on this page are taken from Arrow’s same day Blu-ray release and illustrate the basic quality of the full 2160p transfer, albeit compressed to 1080p and bereft of HDR10/Dolby Vision boosts. I don’t have the original Blu-ray on hand, but, fortunately, someone has uploaded comparison caps onto Caps-a-holic, where you can better see the slight change in framing (1.85 vs 1.76) and the definitive upgrade in terms of detail. When not flanked by a sea of CG noise, Guillermo Navarro’s cinematography (yes, that Guillermo Navarro) is extremely moody and gives the Dolby Vision enhancements a good workout. Film grain appears accurate without growing noisy and the color schemes, inspired by the dark inks and punchy colors of the comic, pop effectively. 

Audio

Spawn is presented in its original 5.1 and uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio, along with an LPCM stereo option. The surround mix matches the kitchen sink ambitions of the digital effects, sometimes overwhelming the soundscape with every bell & whistle available at the time. It’s good that modern movies don’t do this anymore, but it’s also a thrill to revisit some of these early digital mixes. The sheer quantity of directional sweeps and swoops borders on an experimental art film at times, which is a very fun contrast to the poppy, often silly story and visuals. I had some problems with lip sync, but I also just got a new TV, so I’m chalking it up to needing to fine-tune my set-up.

As mentioned, the soundtrack was borderline groundbreaking at the time and a blockbuster on its own merits. The score was composed by Graeme Revell, who matches the headbanging dance rave vibe with symphonic tricks that surprisingly match some of Don Davis’ more famous Matrix (1999) compositions.

Extras

Disc 1: Unrated Cut (4K UHD)

• Commentary by comic book expert and podcast host Dave Baxter – In this new Arrow exclusive commentary track the podcaster, comic fan, and, according to his Instagram, ‘wine prothelytizer’ Baxter honestly explores McFarlane’s work, the comic’s history (including a number of ongoing story details), the rise of Image, the state of the comic and movie industries in the ‘90s, and differences between the movie and comic.

• Commentary with Todd McFarlane, director Mark A.Z. Dippé, producer Clint Goldman and visual effects supervisor Steve Williams – This original 1997 DVD commentary was edited together from a separate series of recordings and covers production, logistics, special effects techniques, and battles with the MPAA.

• Hell's Perfect Son (16:20, HD) – Star Michael Jai White looks back on his early career, being cast as Spawn by surprise (which took him off of Mortal Kombat, to his chargrin), getting to know the character and comic, donning the makeup/suit, his costars, working with New Line, and the final release.

• Spawn Support (16:48, HD) – Co-stars Melinda Clarke and D.B. Sweeney discuss the beginnings of their careers, making Spawn, working with the cast & crew, and their initial knowledge of the comics. Clarke also has fun anecdotes about her costume and the toy version of her character.

• The Devil's in the Details (20:14, HD) – Animatronic creature and special makeup effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero (of KNB) talk about their time on the film, complete with behind-the-scenes images.

• The Devil's Music (10:24, HD) – Music supervisor Happy Walters recalls the logistics and production of the soundtrack album, song by song.

• Order Out of Chaos (16:42, HD) – Editor Michael Knue rounds out the Arrow-exclusive extras discussing his work at New Line, connecting to the comics after he took the job, and the difficulties of making movies in the early days of digital-based editing.

• Todd McFarlane: Chapter & Verse (19:37, SD) – A 1998 DVD interview Todd McFarlane.

• The Making of Spawn 1997 behind-the-scenes featurette (21:58, SD)

• Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Animated Movie video preview

• Theatrical trailer

• Scene-to-storyboard comparisons

• Original Todd McFarlane sketches

• Concept and sketch gallery

Disc 2 (4K UHD)

• The PG-13 theatrical version (no extras)

The images on this page are taken from the Arrow’s 4K remastered BD  – NOT the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.