Swamp Thing screenwriter Gary Dauberman (The Nun, It) recently provided some new details on the upcoming exclusive DC horror series being developed for the DC Universe digital streaming service.
Dauberman recently spoke with /Film about his upcoming projects such as the third film in the Annabelle trilogy, Are You Afraid of The Dark?, It: Chapter Two, and of course Swamp Thing. While information has mostly been scarce on the project outside of rumors Dauberman was able to assure fans that the series will be everything they would expect a show featuring Swamp Thing to have, including a hard R-rating.
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When asked about Swamp Thing Dauberman was able to say that the series will indeed be pushing a hard-R rating thanks to the creative freedom that the DC Universe streaming service will offer as an online subscription service. “We always set out to make Swamp Thing as hard R as we could and go graphic with the violence, with the adult themes and make it as scary as possible,” he told /Film. “Because we’re doing it through the DC Universe streaming service, they really pushed us, although they didn’t have to push hard, for us to go as extreme as we could. […] Fans of that series will know it gets pretty weird and extreme and scary. We really wanted to live up to that standard that Moore set up back in the ’80s.”
Another burdening question that fans have likely held about Swamp Thing is how will they be able to pull off the physical appearance of the chilling DC anti-hero. The last time we got to see Swamp Thing was in a less-than-impressive costume from the 1989 Swamp Thing film directed by the late Wes Craven (A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, Scream). Dauberman was able to brag that he is confident that Swamp Thing’s look in the series will really spook the audience. “Swamp Thing himself looks incredible what Justin Raleigh and the guys over at Fractured are doing with the suit. So it’s going to look amazing and less of the ‘man in suit’ that you’ve seen in the movie and the other TV show.”
However, it would still appear that Swamp Thing will still feature a costume as Dauberman does hesitantly confirm. Of course, it could just be an intermixing of practical effects with some CGI touch-ups so it may not have a cheap appearance like the 1989 film.
Swamp Thing is reportedly a reboot that is not connected to the 1989 film. Dauberman stated that it is “the origin story of the Swamp Thing and it’s Alec Holland wrestling with who he’s become.” He would also add that much of the story would not be told from Swamp Thing’s perspective, but rather from the perspective of his wife Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) and the mother of Tefe Holland.
While it has not been outright confirmed whether Swamp Thing will share continuity with other DC Universe exclusive shows such as Titans and Doom Patrol it is likely that it will feel far removed from the others as Dauberman did confirm that DC Entertainment does not require them to be connected. “I think we could if, in the future, it organically works itself out to be that way. I haven’t discussed that with the guys from Titans and they haven’t discussed it with us.”
It would also appear that Swamp Thing‘s story will touch on some real life environmental issues. Dauberman stated that “it’s hard” not to address things like “people [living] out in the swamps and what they do to the environment, how it affects things and causes things to react” because there are “some [parallels] to what’s happening today.
The live-action DC Universe adaptation of the classic anti-hero originally created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson will be executive produced by Len Wiseman (Sleepy Hollow) who will also direct the pilot. Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, Netflix’s Daredevil) and Gary Dauberman (It) are attached to co-write the series and act as showrunners, with James Wan (Aquaman) set to executive-produce the series alongside Verheiden, Dauberman, and Michael Clear.
Swamp Thing is set to premiere on the DC Universe digital streaming service sometime in 2019.
The DC Universe digital service is set to launch on September 15th to coincide with DC’s annual Batman Day event.
What do you think of this news? Are you excited for Swamp Thing?
