Despite the very clear dominance of Marvel at the box office, DC has always reigned supreme in another medium – television. The success of the CW Arrowverse cannot be overstated. But that isn’t everything. DC also has Black Lightning on CW, as well as Krypton on SyFy. There’s a third season of Young Justice in the works and the live-action Titans series still trucks along. Harley Quinn is getting her own animated series, and now it looks like there’s one more property on DC’s To-Do List. Swamp Thing is on his way to the small screen. The series is on a script-to-series order. So when an acceptable script comes through, the series will immediately jump to series.
The character was originally created by the late Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in 1971. This series will apparently be very close to the 1972 soft-revamp of the character:
CDC researcher, Abby Arcane, returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. There, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland — only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous — and the potential love of her life may not be gone after all.
This is, of course, a rather different approach to the other DC shows, which tend to take a few liberties for one reason or another. Though believability may be a difficult argument to make when the main character of the series is a seven-foot plant man. The series picked up Mark Verheiden (Daredevil) and Gary Dauberman (It) to pen the script. What’s more, James Wan (Aquaman) was tapped to direct. This combination of creators suggests the series aims to embrace its darker roots. Swamp Thing began as a tragic sci-fi horror story. James Wan directed Annabel, for one thing. And he’s worked with Gary Dauberman in the past.
Swamp Thing isn’t new to adaptation. Wes Craven directed a film adaptation in 1982, which spawned a 1989 sequel. He also received two series in the 90s. One was a live-action run on USA, running for three seasons. The other was an animated series, created by Fox. The character has seen a comeback in recent years, after seeing his popularity wane slightly, following the 90s. Frequent reinvention has helped this, as well as inclusion in various other DC projects. For example, Swamp Thing is a playable character (albeit with a minor role) in Nether Realm’s Injustice 2.
If Swamp Thing goes to series, it won’t be joining the ranks of the CW’s Arrowverse. Instead, it joins the many adaptations coming to DC’s digital streaming service. These include the aforementioned Harley Quinn animated series, Titans, Young Justice: Outsiders, and the recently announced Metropolis series. DC did not reveal a target date for the project. However, the streaming service launches, later this year.
