This live-action comic-book spin-off promised to duplicate the grim and extremely violent images that were the bestselling comic's hallmarks, but ended up being distributed in a toned-down 12 certificate version; a 15 certificate "Director's Cut " followed later. Michael Jai White plays Al Simmons, a special forces assassin betrayed by boss Martin Sheen and left to die in a burning chemical factory. He goes to hell but, after making a pact with the Devil in return for a glimpse of his wife, is revived on Earth as the scarred Spawn, who becomes caught up in a plot to trigger the apocalypse. Thereafter, it's a standard battle between good and evil as the tricked Spawn (he is returned five years after his death and his wife has remarried) seeks revenge. Dark in tone and crammed with computer-generated effects, it found cult popularity and spawned a follow-up animated series.

After being murdered by corrupt colleagues in a covert government agency, Al Simmons makes a pact with the devil to be resurrected to see his beloved wife Wanda. In exchange for his return to Earth, Simmons agrees to lead Hell's Army in the destruction of mankind.