WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Bloodshot, in theaters now.
When Spawn hit cinemas in 1997, despite the gore and brutality of the Image Comics title being diluted, it still felt like an underrated rollicking supernatural-action flick. In fact, it's considered a cult favorite by many who enjoyed Michael Jai White's take on U.S. black ops agent, Al Simmons, who became an augmented and powered up soldier for hell.
Although Sony's Bloodshot doesn't involve a Faustian pact with the devil, as the film details more about the return to life of Vin Diesel's Ray Garrison as a killer with an apocalyptic upgrade, it's clear Sony has created a movie that feels like a tech Spawn has been unleashed on the world.
There are quite a few similarities between the two properties that are hard to ignore. Spawn's Simmons was betrayed by Jason Wynn, leader of his clandestine group, and then after dying, he leveled up thanks to one of the rulers of hell, Malebolgia. With the clown known as the Violator functioning as his babysitter, Spawn was to lead a demonic legion and purify the planet, allowing Armageddon to occur.
Through it all, what kept Spawn sane and tethered to humanity was his wife, Wanda, although when he found her years had gone by, and she had moved on and was happily married to some else. Still, his connection to Wanda helped Spawn realize his conscience and moral compass still belonged to the light, and he rebelled against hell, fighting off the fiery armies and becoming someone who wanted to protect mankind out of respect for the love he had for her.
Bloodshot follows a lot of these plot threads. Ray is turned into someone who can regenerate and heal in the blink of an eye, plus he's near immortal thanks to nanites. He doesn't bargain and strike a deal with Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pearce) and Rising Spirit Technologies, as Spawn does with the forces of hell, but when he is resurrected, he enjoys his powers like Spawn did. He realizes he can be a one-man army and the power he holds within is something he never imagined he could have.
It's inhuman, and as the film progresses, Ray realizes his handlers are the enemy just like Spawn did. They had a role in his death, manipulating events like Wynn did with Simmons' death, and were always planning to use him as a weapon of mass destruction, mind-wiping him so he'd kill their rivals. Ray even has his own augmented babysitters he eventually assassinates, similar to Spawn's clown babysitter, to break free.
Ultimately, Ray and Simmons are both pawns of sinister institutions, although Ray's a bit more blind to whose dirty work he's doing. Then again, both have an obviously warped view on justice, so no matter what, they're into mass murder and think they're doing the right thing by purging the planet.
The icing on the cake comes when Ray breaks free of his mental hold and heads to visit his wife, Gina, not realizing years have passed, not weeks. She's moved on, just like Wanda, with a new family of her own, a fact Ray has to stomach just like Simmons did. Their former wives inspire both men to turn on their respective employers, but while Spawn uses medieval and modern weapons, plus mystical ones like chains, Ray uses bombs, knives and guns, as well as his healing abilities, to take Rising Spirit and Emil down for good -- because this tech company definitely wanted to create its own hell on Earth.
Directed by Dave Wilson (VFX Supervisor for Avengers: Age of Ultron) with a script by Eric Heisserer (Arrival) and Jeff Wadlow (Truth or Dare), Bloodshot stars Vin Diesel, Guy Pearce and Toby Kebbell. The film is in theaters now.