DC’s Swamp Thing Movie Is Going To Be A Horror Film
James Mangold's Swamp Thing is going to be a gothic horror movie influenced by Frankenstein.
James Mangold recently did an expansive interview with Variety where he talked about his upcoming film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. He also briefly touched on his film for James Gunn’s DCU, Swamp Thing, which he described as a “simple, clean, Gothic horror movie about this man/monster.”
This definitely seems like the right way to go with the IP, especially since Mangold said he’s not treating it like a franchise saying he’s “just doing my own thing with this; just a standalone.”
The last time James Mangold made a standalone film based on a comic-book character was 2017’s Logan, and that was easily one of the best X-Men films of all time, if not one of the best superhero films, period. If Mangold’s Swamp Thing can live up to that level of quality, we could be in very something very special.
It’s also been revealed that it will be an origin story of sorts for the character, with Mangold referencing Frankenstein in the interview, saying how Gunn had been talking about doing a movie like that for a while.
Other than the fact it will be a horror movie, and James Mangold is writing and directing, not much is known about Swamp Thing. It was one of the more surprising announcements from James Gunn and Peter Safran’s extensive slate of upcoming DCU projects, but it wasn’t an unwelcome one. Gunn is known for elevating underused characters from the comics, notably the Guardians of the Galaxy and Peacemaker, so it definitely seems like a good fit for Gunn’s DCU.
Swamp Thing has its roots (heh) in horror, as the character was initially drawn by horror artist Bernie Wrightson and conceived by Len Wein. Wein and Wrightson brought the character to prominence in the 1970s before Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totlebe took a stab at the character in the late 1980s.
The Moore/Bissett/Totlebe run would expand the mythology of the character, and was fairly popular, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Mangold pulls elements from both the Wein/Wrightson and Moore/Bissett/Totlebe years.
There’s no telling when we might expect an official release date for Swamp Thing, but the details that they have released so far make it seem like it could be one of the DCU’s most promising projects. For now, the DCEU is gradually closing as remnants like The Flash, Blue Beetle, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom come out in the coming months.
The Flash is currently out in theaters, and given its catastrophic box office run, it seems people are ready for the Gunn-era to get started.
The Gunn and Safran era of the DCU, which has a first phase titled Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, will be kicking off with the Gunn-directed Superman: Legacy. The film is slated for a July 11, 2025, release date, but it remains to be seen if this date will need to be pushed with the WGA strike.
For now, we’ll keep you updated on Superman: Legacy, Swamp Thing, and all the other projects that will be coming to the DCU.
