Todd McFarlane, for the first time in years, seems open to the idea of doing work with Marvel Comics again. Specifically, the legendary comic book artist and writer has revealed that, if a Spawn/Spider-Man crossover were to happen, he would write it and do the art for it. That is, perhaps, a big if. Even so, this would be a huge deal for the industry as a whole at a time of utter turmoil.

During an interview on Joe Q's Mornin' Warm Up with Marvel's Joe Quesada, Todd McFarlane addressed the proposed crossover. McFarlane got his start with Marvel in the late 80s, and reinvented the webslinger with 1990's Spider-Man #1, which remains one of the best-selling comics ever. But McFarlane hasn't worked with Marvel since starting his company, Image Comics. However, he appears to be open to it now. Here's what McFarlane had to say.

"To do that crossover, if it ever happens, and I'm not saying it ever will. But, if it ever comes to be, then I will write it, pencil it, and ink it. It would be this Todd doing Spawn, Todd doing Spider-Man, and amalgamating those two careers into one spot. Stepping back and seeing if the fans care anything about it...Spawn/Spider-Man has to be a McFarlane book, because I'm just saying, if I'm a 16-year-old fan, what would I want? I'd want that."

DC Comics recently was handed massive layoffs, comic book shops are struggling and the future of the comic book industry is highly uncertain. This, despite the fact that comic books have inspired the biggest franchises in all of pop culture. Todd McFarlane and others in the industry have stated that big events are probably needed to draw in readers and help boost sales. McFarlane previously teased that he might be willing to do a crossover with Venom.

Bringing McFarlane back to Spider-Man would be a big way to do that. Especially with bringing Spawn into the picture. Spawn launched in 1992 at Image Comics and recently passed 300 issues, making it the longest-running creator-owned superhero comic book ever. Speaking further, Todd McFarlane laid out how it would work.

"Here would be my process of it. If McFarlane was to come back and do any work at Marvel, What's the character that we think the fans want to see him draw? The answer, I think it's obvious is Spider-Man. Right? They've been waiting a long time, they've been waiting decades, some of them. More than three decades now to go, 'Oh my God, I want to see Spider-Man!' I mean, that was the first time I did those two characters on the same page. When I was drawing it, I was like, 'Have I ever done this before?' And it hit me like 'no.' So they're gonna want to see Spider-Man... Then I go, 'So, even if we were tag-teaming, then I got to get somebody who knows how to draw a Spawn. Then I go through my rolodex and I go, 'Who do I know that can draw a Spawn?' I'm like God, that would be me again. So, I go okay, I can do that, and then I go okay, now we've got to do The clown. Okay, I invented The Clown. Who's gonna be the bad guy? I gotta have some Venom in there, who can I get to draw Venom, maybe even created it, oh that would be me again."

Now comes the big question; can Marvel make this happen? That is a big if. Todd McFarlane has been adamant over the years about not working for the competition. But if they can work together on a crossover, who knows? You can check out the full interview from the Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel.