Exclusive: Swamp Thing Live-Action Project In Development
A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that a live-action Swamp Thing project is in development.
Update: This Giant Freakin Robot exclusive was confirmed, and there is a live-action Swamp Thing project in development for the DC Universe.
Every once in a while, a character becomes so big that everyone knows who they are. DC certainly has a lot of those with figures like Batman and Superman, which they’ve done a lot of work capitalizing on. But they also have stories of this nature hidden deep in their vaults that they haven’t done as much with in recent years. We’re hearing they’re looking to change that with one upcoming story in particular. A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that a live-action Swamp Thing project is in development.
Swamp Thing is a character deep from DC comics and with a lot of iterations over the years, so there’s tons of excitement around this one and a lot of possibilities. We don’t have any information that leads us to believe it’s a revival of the 2019 live-action Swamp Thing series, but we can’t confirm for sure that it’s not. That series was scary, which was an excellent move. It was well-rated on Rotten Tomatoes and saved from the DC Universe by The CW before it disappeared again.
Our hope is that this new live-action project will bring in some of those horror elements from their 2019 attempt, but give a bigger budget. Could this new project be getting the full-scale HBO Max treatment that takes live-action Swamp Thing to the next level? We hope so, but we can’t confirm. What we’ve heard so far is that a live-action Swamp Thing story, in some cinematic form, is in development.
And honestly, it really seems like the right time. The special effects have come around to make a great live-action Swamp Thing a realistic goal. The 2019 version got a rough start, platform wise, and that really hindered its ability to reach the right audience, but its high ratings proved that a great story for this character could hit well today, with all the right parts in place–a good budget, the right platform, and a writer who understands the Swamp Thing story. One of the things DC is known for on-screen is their willingness to go darker. Some of their best projects have embraced this. Hopefully, they’ll land a creator who sees the horror-driven potential of the character and embraces what that could be for a modern audience.
As mentioned above, there have been a lot of Swamp Thing iterations. Multiple characters, with varying backstories, have held the title. It’ll be interesting to see if they take up one of the known characters or if they create a whole new one for this project. The basic idea is that something dark happens in a scientist’s life, a betrayal by a friend or a deep need to prove that they can do something they’re mocked for, and they then become Swamp Thing. The character goes on to be a hero figure, sometimes fighting for environmental causes.
Hopefully, the creators behind this one will keep an eye on the possibilities for using Swamp Thing in a Justice League Dark project. They have characters like Zatanna promised to be on the way, so if enough of these characters pick up steam we’ll hopefully be headed there at some point. Of course, that’s getting ahead of things. For now, they’re working on getting a live-action Swamp Thing right, and let’s hope they nail it this time.
