DC Comics Swamp Thing. Photo courtesy of DC.com.
Just yesterday, DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran made the first of several big announcements about future DC movies, TV series, and video games, which they aim to tie together in one unified universe (except ones like ‘The Batman’ and ‘Joker’, which would exist as the title ‘Elseworlds’).
While Gunn didn’t detail much about the other filmmakers who will be involved in making the film and series in his actual announcement, he did mention a few names. “Tom King has been my partner all along. He gave me the answers before I took the job,” Gunn said in a presentation. “So me, him, Christal Henry who did ‘Watchmen’ and did ‘Waller,’ Christina Hodson who wrote ‘The Flash,’ Drew Goddard, and Jeremy Slater, who just did ‘Moon Knight.’ A group of people that we’ve met and, you know, put all of this together.
One name he didn’t mention was James Mangold, but the director dropped a teasing hint of a potential collaboration by posting a picture of ‘Swamp Thing’ on social media.
That immediately sparked speculation that he might be involved in the film, which Gunn mentioned in his announcement. And now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he was in early talks to write and direct the film ‘Swamp Thing’ but was dropped because the deal wasn’t finalized.
“This is a film that will delve into the dark origins of Swamp Thing,” Safran said on the DC blog on announcement day. It’s meant to be a horror film, but Swamp Thing will end up interacting with other characters.
As a character, Swamp Thing was created by writer Len Wein and horror artist Bernie Wrightson, first appearing in the standalone story in 1971’s ‘House of Secrets #92.’ The character proved popular enough that he soon got his own book, albeit a short one. Swampy reached its peak in the 1980s during the seminal show written by Alan Moore and drawn by John Totleben and Stephen R. Bissette and has since become a key figure in DC’s dark side, spurring the creation of the Vertigo imprint.
‘Swamp Thing’ first hit screens in 1982 in a film directed by Wes Craven, whereas ‘The Return of Swamp Thing’ landed in theaters in 1989. There was a live-action TV series that aired for three seasons in 1990- s, a short-lived animated series and live-action show on the DC Universe platform that was also short-lived.
Mangold, meanwhile, has had his form with comic book based films with the notable ‘The Wolverine’ and ‘Logan’. Next up for him is ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, heading to theaters on June 30 this year. And after that was done, he still intended to make a film about Bob Dylan’s early life starring Timothée Chalamet.
Oscar® nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay, James Mangold arrives on the red carpet of The 90th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theater in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 4, 2018. Photo: Ross Costanza Photography.