Warner Bros. has never had a problem attracting talent, it’s been putting that talent to the best possible use. With James Wan under their umbrella and working on this December’s Aquaman movie, they’ve decided he’s too good to limit to just one DC Comics hero. So they’re also letting him take a stab at Swamp Thing, but it won’t be on the big screen.
Wan is set to exec-produce a new Swamp Thing series for Warner Bros.’ upcoming streaming service. Everybody’s got one! He’ll be joined by writers Mark Verheiden and Gary Dauberman, making for one Hell of a creative team. Wan’s the creative force behind The Conjuring, Saw, and other top-grossing horror franchises, not to mention Furious 7. Verheiden is a veteran comic book scribe and TV writer who has worked on Battlestar Galactica, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Daredevil, and more. Dauberman co-wrote Stephen King’s It, and is basically the driving force behind a number of the ‘Conjuring‘ spinoff movies.
The series will follow CDC researcher Abby Arcane, who returns to her childhood home in Louisiana to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. She develops a relationship with scientist Alec Holland, only for him to die shortly after. However, the swamp’s mysterious and mystical properties revive him as the Swamp Thing, defender of the environment against those who would endanger it.
I guess this is one way for DC to utilize Swamp Thing since that live-action Justice League Dark movie will probably never happen. The character has been adapted on multiple platforms before, most notably in Wes Craven’s 1982 movie that deserves to be remembered fondly, I think. It’s not great, but there have been worse comic book movies during that time period (*cough*Captain America *cough*). And with Wan, Dauberman, and Verheiden there’s every reason to think the character will be done justice.
Warner Bros.’ service, now known as DC Universe, arrives later this year. The Swamp Thing logo is below.
