Spawning From Marvel

I guess I feel like I owe you guys something Spawn related, after my attempt at a Spawn podcast never made it past the recording. So, here's my Pitch It for if Spawn was in The Marvel Universe.

First let me remind you all of Spawn's actual origin story: Al Simmons is a black-ops military agent with a wife, he wants to quit the life he lives but has one last mission that ends in his own teammate killing him. He is sent to Hell where the demon Malebolgia recruits him into his army to eventually take over all of Hell. He is given a demonic suit, sent to Earth as a charred corpse, and finds himself five years in the future where his wife has remarried his best friend and has a child. Now as Spawn, Al Simmons protects the daughter of his ex-wife and battles demons and cyborgs with guns and magic and stuff. So-in terms of Marvel Comics mythology-how do we redo that origin?

Start from square one. Al Simmons basically has the same life, maybe he's a SHIELD agent this time, but he again ends up on a mission where his own teammate kills him. Maybe this teammate is a HYDRA spy in disguise. Point is Al dies and his soul is caught by Mephisto, a well-known Marvel Elder God. Mephisto's whole bit is that he likes pretending he's the one true devil and enjoys tormenting the souls of superheroes. So when this ex-military hero falls on his lap he decides he's going to turn Al into his personal superhero assassin. As a superhero he'll intermingle with the superhero community until they trust him so much they won't suspect his betrayal. Drawing from inspirations like Spider-Man, Venom, Ghost Rider, and Doctor Strange, Mephisto creates his own demonic symbiot called The Hellspawn and attaches it to Al. Yet again Al just wants to see his wife, he is yet again sent to Earth where his wife has moved on, and now he is yet another wondering superhero in New York City.

Now let us assume Todd McFarlane goes all-in with Marvel-sells his soul, you could say-Todd's various Spawn characters would also be involved. So Violator and Sam and Twitch and Overtkill would have new Marvel backstories. Angela-who is now Asgardian-could clash with Spawn through some mutual target. Spawn could interact with members of the magic community, he could actually develop as a character. His main struggle would be upholding his deal with Mephisto. If he does as Mephisto asks he will be given his old life back, but if he does the right thing and stays loyal to the superheroes he'll never have his life back and will possibly become Mephisto's prisoner. As for his superpowers I wouldn't do the whole magic power meter the actual Spawn series does, maybe just establish he has magic but sucks at using it so he relies on guns and physical strength, only on occasion does he break out the magic.

Now of course not only would being in the Marvel Universe be beneficial for Spawn in terms of quality, but Todd could continue his career as an artist for certain books, Spawn could appear in other Marvel titles, people who read comics in the 90's would swarm towards Marvel when they'd hear Marvel got Spawn. And if Spawn got a movie? Made by Marvel Studios? He'd be set! Hell, if Deadpool can be an Avenger why can't Spawn? Overall, I believe both Spawn and McFarlane would only benefit from moving to Marvel. Image Comics might take a hit, but Todd never seemed to give much of a crap for his fellow creators over there anyway. If he could stop being petty and realize how good Marvel could treat him, Todd and the only creation he has left would be happier than they've ever been. You know, until he wants to sue someone again.

Thanks for reading.