Gunslinger power Gunslinger Spawn is working with ahead of his new series.
In an announcement made on Twitter, Todd McFarlane revealed Gunslinger Spawn’s power meter which reads at 0:6:1:3. For reference, Spawn’s power meter when he was first revealed in Spawn #1 by Todd McFarlane was 9:9:9:9. Given that comparison, it is fair to say Gunslinger is at a bit of a disadvantage with less power available to him going into his first issue than Spawn had for his first book. While it is true Gunslinger has depleted most of his initially available necroplasm, this doesn’t necessarily mean he is weaker than Spawn, only that he’ll have to depend on his skills outside of the hell-suit.
Fans will know that Gunslinger Spawn has been around for more than two hundred years after making a deal with a demon to enact his brutal vengeance upon the town that sentenced him to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Since then, Gunslinger has honed his skills in order to live up to his name, using mainly earthly weapons when faced against an enemy. While his power level is low, that doesn’t mean Gunslinger doesn’t have access to similar abilities Spawn has shown throughout his comic book career, it just means he can’t use those powers as often. Once the necroplasm meter reaches zero, the hellspawn’s powers are stripped and their soul is lost to hell for all eternity.
While Gunslinger Spawn’s lower power level will make his life more challenging within the series, it will make for more interesting storytelling and less of the same in regard to a Spawn story. Gunslinger is his own kind of Spawn relatively unrelated to Al Simmons, and now Todd McFarlane has established that he will face different obstacles. Spawn has gotten so powerful in the comics that he once literally fought God and Satan, defeated them, then recreated the world in his image. Gunslinger Spawn will likely never be as cosmically epic as the original series, but will offer fans a more grounded and street level story within the Spawn universe.
Todd McFarlane recently compared Gunslinger to Batman and Spawn to Superman, a comparison that seems accurate given the information about both characters. Spawn is the most powerful hellspawn that has ever existed, regularly using his supernatural abilities to win against his foes. Gunslinger doesn’t have the luxury of constantly tapping into his necroplasm-powered abilities since he just has less of it at the start of his series compared to Spawn. Just as Batman is more vulnerable when one takes away his utility belt while Superman stays Superman barring any nearby Kryptonite, Gunslinger is more vulnerable than Spawn because of his lower power level due to the depletion of necroplasm, a hardship that will be inconvenient for him but wildly entertaining for readers as solo Gunslinger Spawn adventures commence!
