Black Ops operative Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is betrayed on his last job before retirement by his boss Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen). The life he lived has him sent straight to Hell, where he makes a deal with its master Malebolgia (Frank Welker) to return to the land of the living to see his family again. However, his side of the bargain involves him becoming Spawn, the leader for the eventual Armageddon, overseen by the demonic Clown (John Leguizamo). As Simmons adjusts to his resurrection while taking revenge on Wynn, he starts questioning his role in the machinations of Hell, and ultimately rebels.

A reboot👁 Image
is, as of June 2023, close to entering production,👁 Image
with Jamie Foxx starring in the titular role. Tentatively titled King Spawn, it is being produced👁 Image
in collaboration with Blumhouse Productions.

This film provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Despite initially claiming he has no interest in her, Clown very quickly becomes disgustingly lecherous towards Wanda.
• Abusive Parents: Zack's father almost beats him for coughing back up the food he found in the dumpster because it was rotten. Spawn stops him before he could land a hit on the child.
• Actor Allusion: "...kickstart the Apocalypse Now!", said to Martin Sheen.
• Adapted Out: In the comics, Al Simmons was killed by Chapel, a character from Rob Liefeld's Youngblood (Image Comics) series. Rights issues made it impossible for Chapel to appear in the movie, so the character Jessica Priest was created as a replacement. McFarlane ended up replacing Chapel and inserting Priest into the comics.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: This version of Spawn while disfigured at least looks more human than his demonic and corpse-looking counterpart from the comics.
• Adaptation Distillation: Besides cutting out the connections to the other Image Comics because that would take too long to explain, the movie cuts out a lot of pointless supporting villains and makes it all about Simmons versus Wynn, and gets rid of all the mystery surrounding Simmons and explains his history right away.
• Anchovies Are Abhorrent: Clown hates anchovies on his maggot-infested pizza. The maggots themselves are his favorite part.
• Bad People Abuse Animals:
  • While it may veer into What Measure Is a Non-Cute?, it says a lot about Wynn that he uses his pet scorpions' terrarium as an ashtray. He doesn't actually extinguish his cigar on any of the scorpions, but the implication is obvious.
  • Clown tries to strangle Spawn's dog Spaz in one scene.
• Badass Biker: Spawn rides a bike, even though he really doesn't need to.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Like his comic counterpart, Violator, while he's in his clown form, looks like a fat and goofy demon who appears to be all talks and no action. Then he reveals his true form...
• Big Bad: Malebolgia, while Clown aka Violator serves as The Heavy.
• Big "NO!": Spawn gives one out after finding his locket, combined with Dramatic Thunder.
• Bittersweet Ending: Spawn stopped Malebolgia's plans, Violator is dead and Wynn is taken into custody. But Spawn has to leave Wanda forever and now has to live as an hermit forever. Not to mention that Malebolgia is still alive and well and no one is safe when he is.
• Bowdlerise: The theatrical version (as opposed to the Director's Cut) has Spawn call Clown a "foul smelling maggot" instead of a "fudge packing midget".
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Cogliostro can turn his arm into a glowing sword.
• Bullying a Dragon: Spawn repeatedly insults and beats Clown not taking him seriously. However Clown then reveals his true giant and demonic Violator appearance and gives him quite an hard time.
• The Cameo: The policemen arresting Wynn are supporting characters Sam and Twitch, who got their own spinoff book. In the party scene, eagle-eyed viewers can also spot Angela (in her iconic green dress and spawn earrings) as one of the party guests.
• Canon Immigrant: Created to replace Chapel was Al's murderer, Jessica Priest was incorporated into the comics in Spawn #61 in the lead-up to the movie — and Rob Liefeld getting kicked out of Image.
• Car Fu: Clown drives a truck into Spawn, who protects himself with his cape.
• Children Are Innocent: Spawn runs into his human daughter Cyan after secretly observing a lecture given by his former fiancé Wanda. The little girl isn't afraid of the imposing figure and innocently notes his weird (burned and scarred) face before exchanging names.
• Creator Cameo: During the Violator fight near the homeless camp, Spawn momentarily trains his gun on a hobo (played by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane) who puts his hands up and stands back as Spawn walks past him searching for the creature.
• Cult Soundtrack: The soundtrack paired rock bands with electronica groups (Filter and The Crystal Method, Butthole Surfers and Moby, Korn and The Dust Brothers, etc.) and remained on the Billboard charts for 6 months, arguably having a longer appeal than the film itself.
• Dead Man's Switch: CIA director Jason Wynn had a device installed near his heart that, if his heart ever stopped, would send a signal out to an automated system designed to release a devastating virus all over the earth. Oddly, even the "normal" members of the CIA are shown thinking that this was a good idea ("Now, no one will dare kill you, sir!). It apparently never occurred to anyone to think about what would happen if he got into a car crash or had a heart attack.
• Deadpan Snarker: The Clown/Violator has some moments.
  Cyan: You were at my birthday party.
  Clown/Violator: No, duh. What are you, a regular Einstein?
• Deal with the Devil: Al's bargain with Malebolgia, who's essentially a stand-in for Satan.
• Devil, but No God: Downplayed. While the movie centers around a character who's been to Hell and several demons, and no angels or indicators of heaven appear in the movie. God and Heaven does exist, as evidenced by one character who is a literal demon lamenting that God gets all the capable dead and they had to "recruit" Al Simmons before the other side got to him. Spawn himself never discusses or even considers the possibility of trying the other side.
• Disappointed in You: Wynn calls Al a disappointment for having a conscience as a professional killer.
• Dragon Their Feet: After Al escapes Hell and Malebolgia, Violator follows him back to Earth to make one final attempt on his life. After failing, he laments that his boss will kill him.
• Dual Wielding: All over the movie. Al likes to do this, and Priest saves Wynn from Spawn at the last second by opening fire on him with two automatic rifles.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Clown/Violator hates "weekend satanists" and anchovies on pizza.
• Everyone Has Standards: Before becoming Spawn, Al Simmons was a merciless assassin. However, he draws the line at taking the lives of innocents. After some bystanders who were not supposed to be present died during one mission, he is furious towards Wynn for tricking him.
• Evil Redhead: Jesscia Priest, Wynn's sadistic assassin.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Malebolgia's voice is very deep and thundering thanks to Frank Welker. Perfectly fitting for a giant demon lord.
• Evil Sounds Raspy:
  • Violator, on the contrary, has a very scratchy and croaky voice while he's in his Clown form.
  • Same thing for Jason Wynn thanks to Martin Sheen.
• Exact Words: Malebolgia promises to Spawn that he will see Wanda again if he'll lead the Hell's army. After he accepts he grants his wishes...if it wasn't for the fact that he revived Spawn 5 years after his death and now Wanda has a new husband.
• Facial Horror: As expected, Spawn is horribly disfigured and burned after his death.
• Forced to Watch: After Clown's plan is foiled in the climax, he prepares to rape Wanda in front of a beaten Spawn and forces him to watch. Cogliostro intervenes to prevent this, prompting Clown to retreat to Hell.
• Gasshole: Clown.
  (imitating Clarence) Uh, well, well, every time somebody farts, uh, a demon gets his wings! (farts twice) Oops! Twins!
  (farts) Oops! A wet one! I hope I didn't stain my underwear...Look at that, skid marks.
• Give My Regards in the Next World: Spawn says to Violator, just after decapitating him, "Give my regards to your boss. Tell him he's next."
• Groin Attack: Defied. Jessica Priest attempts a groin attack on Spawn, but his skull-shaped belt buckle stretches out and bites her leg hard👁 Image
  ◊.
• Guns Akimbo: Priest fights Spawn with a machine gun in each hand. Spawn then switches to this before killing her and fighting the police.
• Guns Are Worthless: Violator just shrugs off bullets that Spawn fires at him. Cogliostro points this out later on, even saying "guns are useless", and shows Spawn how to use his own powers properly.
• Healing Factor: Spawn gains the ability to heal wounds as part of his deal with Hell. He notes this with satisfaction when Jessica pumps him full of lead.
  Spawn: Damn...
• Hero Stole My Bike: Spawn rides off on a bike as the owner runs out of a bar angrily after him.
• I Love the Smell of X in the Morning:
  Clown: I love the smell of burning asphalt in the morning.
• Informed Attribute: According to Wynn, Al is a certifiable psychopath. Despite this, Al is disturbed when he finds out that he killed innocent civilians when he blew up the plane, which leads to his (attempted) retirement and subsequent death.
• Invisibility Cloak: Spawn's red cape is shown being capable of rendering him invisible. He then makes the mistake of turning it off while the cops are still looking for him, so recommence gunfight.
• Karma Houdini: Clown/Violator is killed by Spawn. Wynn is arrested, but Malebolgia is still at large and free to continue his reign of terror. He was presumably set to return in a possible sequel but it never came out.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Clown literally applies this trope when he attempts to eat Spawn's dog Spaz to get one back at him.
  • Violator kicks Spaz (who's chewing at his leg) backwards as he's crushing Spawn against the railing of the old church, causing the latter to have a Berserk Button and fire rounds point-blank into Violator's torso.
• Knighting: Clown does a comical, hellish version of this when Spawn gets his armor, striking him on the shoulders with a shovel and proclaiming:
  Clown: In the name of the people and things of Hell, I dub thee... Spawn, general of Hell's armies. Arise, Your Crispness! Arise, Duke of Deep-Fried! Sultan of Sizzling! Emir of Ooey-Gooey! All right, so I suck as a clown. Bite me.
• Large Ham: Clown, who could give Jack Nicholson's Joker a run for hammiest Monster Clown ever. Also Martin Sheen as Jason Wynn though he's more collected and calm than Clown.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Zack's father (implied to be an abusive parent) is picked up, crushed and then thrown away by the Violator during its fight with Spawn near the homeless encampment, not more than a day after he'd tried to hit his son for refusing to eat maggot-ridden food from a dumpster..
• Laughably Evil: Clowk aka Violator is an horrible and sadistic demon like in the comics but he's also the main source of all the laughable moments thanks to John Leguizamo.
• Lighter and Softer: It's much less grim than the comic and its animated adaptation, completely lacking in blood and gore (even in the R-rated cut) and the more horrific imagery associated with Hell in the comics downplayed, Al's domestic abuse of Wanda is omitted, and while the Clown always had a warped sense of humor in the source material, he mostly ends up serving as the Plucky Comic Relief all the way through.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Jason Wynn sets himself up as the ultimate load-bearing boss: He attaches a heart-rate sensor to himself, which will set off dozens of virus-bombs all over the world in the event of his death to deter assassinations (though how a would-be killer is supposed to know this ahead of time is anyone's guess). Spawn uses his nifty magic powers to just pull the sensor out of his body before turning him over to the cops.
• Male Gaze:
  • Jessica Priest tends to get this during👁 Image
    ◊ her👁 Image
    scenes👁 Image
    ◊. Given she played by Melinda Clarke doesn't hurt either.
  • Even after getting headshot by Spawn, the camera would gratuitously fixated on her leather clad ass she's falling onto a wine table to her death.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": Wynn, Priest and Terry (and by extension, the guests at the high-society party) are utterly shocked when Spawn bursts in through the roof and reveals his true identity to his three former associates.
• Ms. Fanservice: Melinda Clarke as Jessica Priest, who's first seen in a mini-skirt and then in a sleeveless Spy Catsuit.
• Monster Clown: Clown, much to his chagrin. His real form is actually a towering, emaciated demon called Violator, but Malebolgia apparently didn't give him any options what his "human" disguise would look like.
  Clown: The master and I are going to have words. He knows I hate clowns. God, I hate them. I hate them all. I hate Bozo, Ronald, Chuckles with their freakin' dumb noses and their lousy party hats!
• Morality Pet:
  • Zack, the homeless kid whom Al befriends after his resurrection.
  • Cyan is this to Spawn as well. Jason invokes this to keep Spawn from killing him and setting off Heat-16.
  Jason: IF YOU KILL ME, YOU'LL KILL HER!!!
• My God, What Have I Done?: Spawn pretty much says this when seeing the locket with the picture of him and Wanda.
• Mythology Gag: The Smiley Face badge on Clown's jacket mirrors the viewing galleries of a mud-wrestling establishment where Spawn murders a drug-dealer in cold blood early on in the comics. The symbolism really kicks in when you realize that this killing was one of the first that showed Spawn that the world is not as simple as he initially believed and that letting his anger control him blinded him to the truth.
• Neck Snap: Al does this to a North Korean guard during his final mission.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Al/Spawn's armor has several situational abilities that only come to light when he's in immediate danger of being killed, in tandem with it being explained that he's still in a "larval/growth" stage and that his armor isn't fully developed. This includes his armor tanking and ultimately repairing damage from bullets, his skull-shaped belt-buckle biting the leg of an assailant who tries a Groin Attack against him, his cape revealing itself to be an Invisibility Cloak, his hands turning into glorified suction cups as he scales up a building, his armor shooting spikes out of the headpiece when he's about to be chomped on by Violator, and the chains that shoot out of him both acting as grappling hooks and, later, as an impromptu saw that cuts off Violator's head in the climax.
• No Flow in CGI: Spawn's iconic, huge, billowing cape, which he wears constantly in the comics, only appears for about a minute total in the film for some extra dramatic shots due to the difficulty and expense in animating it with 90s-era CGI.
• Non-Action Guy: Malebolgia never gets his hands dirty. He just sends his minions while he operates in the shadows.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Just when you thought that the Clown was no match against Spawn, it's revealed that he's actually a giant and brutish demon in human form who is impervious to bullets.
• No, You:
  Simmons: You touch [Wanda], and you're a dead man!
  Wynn: You're the dead man. *sets Simmons on fire* See you in hell, Al!
• Obviously Evil: Wynn and Priest make no effort to hide that they're bad people, even from Al. This includes sitting in dark rooms, playing with tarantulas and scorpions, and doing an Evil Laugh after every unnecessary monologue.
• Oh, Crap!: Spawn when Clown transforms into his true Violator appearance.
• One-Winged Angel: Clown's Violator-form.
  Clown: No more clowning around. I'm not the Vindicator, or the Victimizer, or the Vaporizer or the Vibrator! I'm...THE VIOLATOR!
• Pretender Diss: Clown isn't impressed by three moronic Satanists.
  Clown: How come God hogs up all the good followers, and we get all the retards?
• Pretty Little Headshots: Spawn kills Jessica this way with just a single bullet.
  Jessica: (defiantly) You don't have the guts!
  [Spawn shoots her]
  Spawn: You're right.
• Protagonist Title: The movie's called Spawn, and the main character is a Hellspawn that goes by the same name.
• Psycho for Hire:
  • Jessica Priest is an even darker assassin than Al Simmons. She seems to be in it mainly for the joy of hurting people, as Simmons balks at how she always leaves a huge bodycount of innocent bystanders on her missions. Later, she sadistically burns Simmons to death on Wynn's orders.
  • Clown/Violator is also this to Malebolgia, as he's a blood-thirsty and sadistic demon with a sick love for carnage and mass murderers ("I always say destroy the cosmos ask questions later").
• Race Lift: Terry is now a Caucasian. 👁 This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.
  Todd McFarlane has gone on record as saying that this was done by the studio to avoid having too many black leads. They were worried that would create a perception the film was aimed at just a black target audience. It was also said that, with white villains, they didn't want to look racist. Amusingly, this was never a major issue with the comics.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Spawn's eyes usually glow green. They blaze red just as he's about to kill someone. The Violator also has a pair of these in his true demonic form.
• Retirony: Al Simmons goes on one last mission before he can retire with his wife to start a family. Burned to death.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Averted and then Invoked. After Al realizes that he's been dead for five years, he lets out a primal scream. Clown then says "Aww, c'mon! You scream like a little girl! Scream like a man! Here, like this!" and then lets out a very shrill, high-pitched, feminine shriek.
• See You in Hell: As Wynn burns Simmons alive for trying to quit the agency, he proclaims that he'll see him in Hell. Whether or not Wynn knew that Spawn was literally going to hell to become a demonic super soldier is left ambiguous.
• Shout-Out:
  • Clown spews out lot of references to pop culture, which include ER, It's a Wonderful Life and The Wizard Of Oz.
  • In an allusion to Apocalypse Now, Clown mentions that he loves the smell of burning asphalt in the morning, plus the obvious — while looking directly at Wynn, played by Martin Sheen — "kickstart the Apocalypse now!"
  • "See you in Hell, Jason!"
  • In another scene Clown introduces himself by saying "Here's Clowny!"
  • At the beginning of the film, as Al takes aim at his assassination target, his high-tech scan of the airport tarmac identifies one of the planes as Weyland-Yutani Flight 426.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Clown, played with scenery-chewing gusto by John Leguizamo.
• Strong and Skilled: Spawn has superhuman strength and is a former Marine and assassin who is very good at fighting and he's played here by martial arts expert Michael Jai White.
• Super Window Jump: Done by Spawn, his costume and cape acting as armor and being undead and thus unharmed even by bullets.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Clown/Violator hates "weekend satanists".
  Clown: How come God always pick up the good followers and we're left with all the retards?!
• Synthetic Plague: Heat-16. According to Wynn, it "Makes the Ebola virus look like a skin-rash!" and he intends to use it to conquer Earth, while Hell means to wipe out Earth with it.
• Tastes Like Chicken: This is paired with You Taste Delicious as Clown/Violator licks Wanda's face.
• Tested on Humans: Wynn, on Clown's orders, blows up a North Korean chemical plant to see how its experimental toxins will affect the nearby inhabitants. Several diseases that had been wiped out suddenly re-emerge in the world population.
• To Hell and Back: Spawn and Cogliostro have to pursue Violator into Hell when he retreats back to his home dimension. After kicking the demon's ass, Malebolgia is ready to have some words with Spawn, who decides to renege on his deal to become his general before traveling back to Earth through the same portal.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky: Zack's father has no issues eating food out of the garbage. Zack himself draws a line at eating rotten, maggot-infested food, however.
• Transformation Sequence: Clown turning himself into the Violator.
• Trouser Space: As established in her introductory scene, Jessica Priest carries a small handgun that is held in a holster in her garters, which only becomes visible when she crosses her legs and reveals it.
• Undying Loyalty: Simmons' dog Spaz still recognizes him after he returns from Hell as an undead.
• [Verb] This!:
  • "Eat THIS!"
  • Also, "Bite THIS!"
• Villainous Breakdown: Upset that Malebolgia chose Spawn to lead the armies of the damned instead of him, Violator throws a hissy fit, whining that it isn't fair. He catches himself in the middle of his rant, realizing that his whining really isn't making him look any better in front of his boss. This growing frustration with this apparent snub, his own hatred of the Clown guise, and Spawn's constant refusal to cooperate eventually drives Violator to ditch all subtlety and just beat Spawn into submission with his true power.
• Wall Crawl: While trying to escape from the cops, Spawn does the Spider-Man routine on the side of a building when he finds that his hand can turn into a sucker.
• We Will Meet Again: As Spawn and Cogliostro escape from Hell, Malebolgia yells to Spawn that he'll never escape him.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once he finally gets the hint that Spawn will keep refusing to carry out his orders, Malebolgia orders his minions to bring him Spawn's head.
• You Taste Delicious: Clown in his Violator-form licks Wanda's face with his demon tongue, exclaiming that she Tastes Like Chicken.