Todd McFarlane

Todd McFarlane, born March 16, 1961, in the frozen wonderland of Calgary (seriously, those winters are no joke), has left a mark on the entertainment world that's hard to ignore. If you’ve ever dipped your toes into comics or superhero movies, you’ve probably bumped into his work—sometimes literally, considering how many action figures exist with his name on the box. He’s got this wild imagination that took Venom from just another Spider-Man baddie to a full-blown pop culture icon, and then managed to drag the symbiote onto the big screen in the 2018 Venom movie, and again for Venom: The Last Dance in 2024. Not bad for a guy who probably grew up sketching monsters in his math notebooks. But the real crown jewel? Spawn. Back in 1997, it hit theaters and, yeah, it’s got its rough edges, but you have to admit—nobody was doing dark, gritty antiheroes quite like McFarlane. The dude basically threw a Molotov cocktail into the superhero genre and said, “Let’s get weird.” Off-screen, he’s been married to Wanda Kolomyjec since 1985 (which is, like, forever by Hollywood standards), and somehow, they’ve managed to raise three kids without turning them into supervillains. So, whether you’re a comic book nerd, a movie buff, or just someone who likes a good underdog story, McFarlane’s journey from Canadian kid to industry heavyweight is one for the books.