Spawn

Spawn

1997
Spawn
Spawn

Spawn

8.1 | TV-MA | en | Animation

Todd McFarlane's Spawn is an animated television series which aired on HBO from 1997 through 1999. It is also released on DVD as a film series. It is based on the Spawn comic series from Image Comics, and was nominated for and won an Emmy in 1999 for Outstanding Animation Program. An unrelated series titled Spawn: The Animation is in production since 2009, with Keith David reprising his role as the titular character. Like the comic book, the series features graphic violence, sexual scenes, and extensive use of profanity. Todd McFarlane's Spawn was ranked 5th on IGN's list of The Greatest Comic Book Cartoons Of All Time.

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Seasons & Episodes

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EP6  Prophecy
May. 28,1999
Prophecy

The Hellspawn stands closer to his destiny. He lies caught between two forces, Heaven and Hell, a prisoner in a scheme that is not his own. Heaven's bounty hunters appear outside the sanctuary. Spawn learns that if he does not reclaim his humanity, Wanda is in danger because when Spawn made love to her, he made her a pawn in the game, a weapon in the war. Spawn is confused. Cog is enraged. It is the prophecy. Hellspawn would plant his seed in a human woman. A child would be born. That child would decide the outcome of armageddon. The final battle between Heaven and Hell! Malebolgia has tricked Spawn again. It was never about him. It was always about the prophecy, and the child Spawn would bring into the world. Downtown Officers Sam and Twitch are dealing with their own double-cross. Somebody shot Twitch in the head. At first they thought Spawn was the assailant. Now they know it was an inside job. Chief Banks tries to throw up a smoke screen by telling Sam that an investigation is un

EP5  Chasing the Serpent
May. 27,1999
Chasing the Serpent

Before hell swindled his life, mercenary Al Simmons ventured into the heat of the jungle to retrieve Major Forsberg, a fallen soldier who sought sanctuary in a hidden temple to escape the horrors of war. Sent by Jason Wynn, Simmons mission was to bring Forsberg back to him alive if possible, dead if necessary. It does not matter that Forsberg is a trusted friend. Orders are orders. Simmons betrays his friend without regret. Cogliostro tells Spawn these memories have meaning. They are defining moments in Al Simmons destiny as a pawn of Malebolgia. Spawn claims he did not know what Wynn meant to do with Forsberg, but Cogliostro knows better. What neither is aware of is that Wynn has kept the major alive for all of these years in an opium den, in a cell where Forsberg rots. Now Wynn has come to visit the major in his cell and Wynn wants to know about a mask that was in the temple when he was captured. It is the war mask of Genghis Khan. The mask possesses great power, and Wynn wants it.

EP4  Hunter's Moon
May. 26,1999
Hunter's Moon

The full moon illuminates the scum of Spawn Alley as a predator pimp beats on one of his hookers. Spawn watches the incident and remembers his own violent past. He remembers when Wanda found his guns and all he could think to do was strike her. Has he always been a creature of violence? Did Malebolgia choose correctly when he changed him to a Hellspawn? The pimp attempts to seduce a lost innocent named Lilly. But the beautiful girl's innocence is as tenuous as her claws are sharp. In a blink, the pimps men are mangled, snapped and broken and their veins drained of blood. Again, Spawn is blamed. Twitch, who has begun to come around, knows Spawn has nothing to do with these murders. The bullet to his head has erased Twitches memory, but now the cop is having strange visions. Visions that tell him nothing human killed the pimps lackeys. Cogliostro learns of Spawns disguised seduction of Wanda and curses the Hellspawn for his lack of honor. Spawn is quick to point out that Cog was a Hell

EP3  Seed of the Hellspawn
May. 25,1999
Seed of the Hellspawn

Twitch lies wounded in his hospital bed, his memory as shattered as his brain. The blame for the shooting has been shifted to Spawn when in fact the shooter is Chief Banks, a Jason Wynn puppet. Spawn finds sanctuary from the streets with Cogliostro who reluctantly tells Spawn that his scarlet shroud can be used to turn the Hellspawn into any form he requires, including human. In human form Spawn attempts to visit Wanda, but instead, a wise blind woman, Granny, knows that the mysterious visitor is her daughters dead husband. Has he come back as an angel, or curse? Twitch tries to remember who shot him while Wynn reams Banks for botching the hit. If Twitch remembers that the chief was the trigger man, then the cesspool of Wynn's corruption could be exposed. But the walls are closing in. Terry Fitzgerald has contacted NSC investigators and hands over information that could bring down Wynn for good. As Wynn's world crumbles and collapses, an old friend calls in and informs Jason of Terry

EP2  Twitch Is Down
May. 24,1999
Twitch Is Down

How does one find humanity in an alley? How does one regain one's soul... An abandoned church. Memories rip through Spawn's fragmented mind. Frustrated with his plight, the Hellspawn lashes out, and then turns his rage toward the alley in search of the old man Cogliostro, the man with the answers. The old man, once a Hellspawn himself, attempts to guide Spawn. The old man reveals that he was the Black Knight and was also known as Merlin. He tells Spawn that the curse can be broken, but Spawn must first accept who and what he is, and abandon the red cloak. Meanwhile, Jason Wynn is doing some investigating of his own. Using his crooked chief Banks, Wynn probes the appearance of a red cloaked man in the alley. Wynn wants the cloaked man found. The cops at the center of the investigation are Sam and Twitch. Bank orders the duo to find the red cloaked man at all costs. But the cops and Wynn aren't the only ones on the trail of the Hellspawn. There is another, a reporter named Lisa Wu. Sam

EP1  The Mindkiller
May. 23,1999
The Mindkiller

Within every Hellspawn, a battle is waged. What scraps of humanity can they hold on to? What master do they serve? A withered man crawls among the bugs in a cell muttering, don't let the demons take you. In the alley, a battle takes place within Spawn's tormented mind. Cogliostro is aware of the battle. He has was once a Hellspawn himself and he tells Spawn that he must choose which master he serves. For as long as Spawn lives a life of violence, he serves Malebolgia. Four street punks, Petey, Bobbie, Frankie and their college-going friend Joey are out for a night on the town. But things have changed. The youths are on the verge of becoming men, and for some men, this change comes with the spilling of blood. After a hit, Joey panics and says he'll go to the cops. Now he must be killed as well, and the task is handed to Frankie, Joey's best friend. It's a test. Kill the potential squealer, become a man. Spawn and Cogliostro attempt to intercede. Spawn wants the punks gone. Cogliostro

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8.1 | TV-MA | en | Animation , Drama , Action & Adventure | More Info
Released: 1997-05-16 | Released Producted By: HBO , Todd McFarlane Entertainment Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.spawn.com/entertainment/spawnanimated
Synopsis

Todd McFarlane's Spawn is an animated television series which aired on HBO from 1997 through 1999. It is also released on DVD as a film series. It is based on the Spawn comic series from Image Comics, and was nominated for and won an Emmy in 1999 for Outstanding Animation Program. An unrelated series titled Spawn: The Animation is in production since 2009, with Keith David reprising his role as the titular character. Like the comic book, the series features graphic violence, sexual scenes, and extensive use of profanity. Todd McFarlane's Spawn was ranked 5th on IGN's list of The Greatest Comic Book Cartoons Of All Time.

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Cast

Keith David , Richard Dysart , Dominique Jennings

Director

Todd McFarlane

Producted By

HBO , Todd McFarlane Entertainment

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Trailers

Reviews

gizmomogwai This animated TV series is based on Spawn, a comic that was quite popular when it came out. I think after a while the adoration cooled, but as someone who didn't think I'd like the story, I must say there is definite merit in this show. It is indeed quite dark, but it's not evil.Spawn may be regarded as a superhero (he wears a mask and cape), but unlike Batman, Superman or Spider-Man, he's undead. He is sent by hell to kill evil people, so the devil (here called Malebolgia) gets their souls to use in war against heaven. Wouldn't the evil people die eventually without a Spawn? That question is my only problem with this idea. Anyway, Spawn struggles with his evil and humanity, with a former-Spawn named Cogliostro trying to get him to reject Malebolgia and evil.The look of the show is quite dark (lots of shadow and night scenes), and that fits in with dark subject matter. Season 1 features a child rapist and killer; season 2 has a racist serial killer; season 3 has a brutal vampire. Adding to the adult nature, the fact that this show ran on HBO means the show featured heavy profanity and even some nudity. This darkness can sometimes be too heavy, so that watching several episodes on DVD at one time can become too much. But one or two episodes can be wonderful, unafraid to tackle darkness in reality. The nudity doesn't start out that great (one scene has two naked women being shot in bed, which comes a bit close to misogyny), but I loved seeing Jade's breasts during a naked ritual in season 3.Season 3 is my favourite of the six-episode seasons; Jade, the powerful woman sent by heaven to kill Spawn, is an attractive character. The episode Hunter's Moon has heaven sending a vampire to kill Spawn. My favourite part of that episode is that the word "vampire" is never used, because we don't need to hear it to know she is one. But there also is some paradox that she would be sent by heaven, and indeed one driving concept of the show is that good and evil aren't pure, something stated by creator Todd McFarlane in one of the show's openings. It's a good point though some Christians might regard it as blasphemy. One problem I have with this show is that in action scenes it can be hard to tell what's going on. Spawn works best as psychological horror (how many other cartoons can be characterized as horror?). It is this quality that will hopefully make the show remembered as the years go on.
dee.reid I fondly remember that the 1997 animated series "Spawn" was one of the great forbidden fruits of my childhood 12 years ago. I was 12 in '97, not yet mature enough, according to my parents, to watch a fantasy/horror superhero show about a Hell-spawned demon looking to avenge his own murder at the hands of his former boss. The show was rife with dark subject matter that included Hell, demons and black magic, not to mention graphic violence and explicit sexuality/nudity.All of this might seem like poison to a 12-year-old boy's eyes, ears, and mind. But I couldn't help it. Sometimes I would sneak off into the basement, out of my parents' close supervision, to watch the glorious "Spawn" animated TV show that aired late at night on HBO, around the same time a bunch of soft-core porn shows were also being aired."Spawn" was adapted from the creator-owned Image Comics comic book created by Todd McFarlane. I remember that after Batman, Spider-Man (my favorite superhero) and the X-Men, Spawn was the next major superhero to have a significant impact on my childhood. Spawn, you could say, was the first mature-themed comic book superhero I ever encountered as a pre-teen. It allowed me to grow up pretty fast when I got the chance to watch the animated TV series. I was also pretty hyped to see the 1997 live-action movie in theaters, too, which was more like Spawn-lite - more of a watered-down introduction to the character for the masses, rather than being a straight-forward adaptation of the comics.The animated series is a lot more closer to McFarlane's original vision of the character. It's dark, violent, and more faithful to the comics from which he sprang to life from. The story follows the plight of Al Simmons, a former government assassin/mercenary who is betrayed and murdered by his former boss Jason Wynn. Simmons is sent to Hell, where he makes a deal with the demon Malebolgia to become leader of his demonic army to lead the conquest of Earth, and eventually, Heaven, leading to Armageddon, in exchange to be able to see wife Wanda one more time, who is now happily re-married to his best friend Terry Fitzgerald, and together they now have a young daughter named Cyan. Simmons is thus reborn as the demonic Hellspawn, a creature of almost limit-less supernatural abilities, which he uses to fight the legions of Hellish creatures and nearly every other manner of human scum on Earth including ruthless assassins, mob bosses, and serial killers; and he also forms sympathetic links with the homeless occupants of "Rat City," who he tentatively befriends and whom he also ends up protecting.He is also watched over on Earth by Malebolgia's lieutenant, The Clown, who of course has the ability to transform into the reptilian beast Violator. The forces of good are also in on the conspiracy, specifically the benevolent mentor Cogliostro, who teaches Spawn to use his powers for good instead of evil, and who also teaches him that it is possible to break free of his deal with Malebolgia. There's also some detective-noir in here as well, and light comic relief, in the form of detective pair Sam and Twitch.As I already stated earlier, "Spawn" is not for children; I know this from first-hand experience. In many ways, this is the definitive vision of the Spawn character. It's much more faithful to the tone of the comics; it's dark (there's very little light and when there is light, there is still a foreboding sense of darkness and dread), the music is appropriately grim and moody, and lastly, and most importantly, it also stresses the great dramatic possibilities of the character and the tug-of-war being played against him for possession of his soul. The 1997 movie was all right as an introduction, nothing more, since it had forsaken the darker elements of the story in favor of a larger commercial appeal.Spawn is unquestionably one of my favorite comic book superheroes of all time. The animated series is quite possibly the best animated series of all time based on a comic book superhero character. Spawn is truly a sympathetic character you can latch onto and not hate yourself for doing so: he's a Hell-spawned demon, a product of evil, who has been manipulated by circumstances into serving the forces of good (like other demonic superheroes such as Ghost Rider and Hellboy). It's this sort of great dramatic potential that I look for so much in comic book superheroes these days, ever since Spider-Man taught me that it is possible for comic book superheroes to truly grow up.10/10
gangstahippie Spawn was a 3-season long HBO animated series from 1997-1999.I was not there to watch it during it's original run, but I caught maybe one episode on Teletoon years ago.I watched the entire series on youtube about a year ago and I bought the Season 1 DVD.This review is for the third season? Why does it have it's own separate IMDb page? Well apparently, the seasons were combined and made into films for the older DVD's.I am not sure if they make it separate episodes for the new tin-case box-set DVD's.Season 1 was simply amazing, I loved it! Then Season 2 in my opinion was a disappointment.It was good just nowhere near as good as the first.Season 3 improved from Season 2 and came close to being as good as the first season.The series ended in a sort of cliffhanger and never came back, though there is talks for a continuation.You can either by the tin-case DVD set with all three seasons, or you can buy the 3 DVD's which are more like movies.At $6.00 a DVD, it's definitely worth it.The DVD for this season(the old one) has an interview with Todd McFarlane & the cast talking about the show, plus two music videos.One is "Bawbitaba" by Kid Rock and the other is "Play Around" by Lil Cease & Lil Kim.These are kinda random, they have nothing to do with Spawn.The songs are both decent in my opinion, but not great.
TheEtherWalk I love this show. It is so dark and so brilliant and so GOOD compared to the crap movie that i can't wait for the next season.Which season are they on? 6 I think. Let's recap. At the end of season 5, Jason Wynn has his face burned off by an enchanted mask, but escapes. Jade makes Spawn kill her so the bounty hunters will stop chasing them, and so she won't be sent to hell. The crooked police chief who shot Twitch is confronted in a subway by Twitch's partner, and afterwards he kills himself.There you have it; the genius that is Spawn.Things to watch for: -Terry becomes Lightbringer -Wynn returns -Tony Twist comes back?