Todd McFarlane Launches TV Production Unit, Announces 'McFarland' & 'Thumbs' Series

Deadline is reporting that Spawn comic book creator, Todd McFarlane, has created a dedicated television development and production arm of his McFarlane Films, which has a first-look television deal with wiip (Mare of Easttown).

McFarlane Films, overseen by McFarlane and his President of Television, Sean Canino, includes two projects, McFarland and Thumbs, from Thomas Lennon, co-creator of Reno 911! and co-writer of Night at the Museum; Anders Weidemann.

They join Sam & Twitch, a live-action TV series inspired by the popular characters from McFarlane’s Spawn comic, which was announced in June, with Jason Smilovic and Todd Katzberg writing the adaptation for McFarlane Films and wiip.

“The rare combination of artistic genius and trailblazing entrepreneurship that defines Todd’s career over the last 30 years is a true marvel,” said wiip’s Mark Roybal. “Wiip’s strategic partnership in television with McFarlane Films, led by Sean Canino, allows us to tap into a pipeline of global IP and collaborate with emerging voices in the comic book world which will bring audiences into new universes infused with Todd’s wonderfully twisted vision of the world.”

McFarland is a stop-motion, animated event series created by Lennon in partnership with ShadowMachine and wiip. The project is described as Night at the Museum meets Toy Story in Twin Peaks and will feature original McFarlane Toys. McFarlane and Lennon will executive produce the series, along with Canino and ShadowMachine.

Thumbs, on which McFarlane Films has partnered with wiip and Epicenter (Judas and the Black Messiah), is a live-action drama based on the bestselling graphic novel written by Sean Lewis (Coyotes) with art by Hayden Sherman. Weidemann will write the adaptation of the story, which follows 17-year-old Charlie “Thumbs” James, gamer and social outsider, who enters an esports tournament hoping to win a scholarship from tech billionaire Adrien Camus gamer academy so he can get his ticket out of his neighborhood. But soon he finds himself fighting real-life-and-death battles in a covert war between Camus’ teenage army and a neo-fascist anti-tech movement that is about to take over the U.S.

Weidemann, McFarlane, and Canino will executive produce, along with Allard Cantor and Jarrod Murray through Epicenter, with Lewis on board as a producer.

“It’s exciting, obviously, and a bit overwhelming as I remember buying Todd’s books at my local pharmacy store,” said Lewis. “And when someone wants to do your’s and Hayden’s comic, Thumbs, as a show, whoa! And that person is Todd McFarlane. Wait, what? I’ve been lucky enough to work with Todd on his comics, and he’s a force of nature. He tends to will things into existence. From day one, it’s just been forward momentum for this project.”

Check out Deadline's exclusive interview with Todd McFarlane as he talks about HBO's Spawn, wiip, and the new projects, McFarland and Thumbs.