There’s a lot of buzz and excitement for the upcoming Swamp Thing movie, a DC project under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s legacy. In fact, two esteemed directors have expressed their love for the story: James Mangold and Guillermo del Toro.
Fans are very familiar with the works of del Toro in terms of horror movies, so why did Gunn choose Mangold for the job? Interestingly, the Justice League Dark has been a brewing passion project between del Toro and DC, so what has become of it?
James Gunn Addressed Swamp Thing Director Controversy
Last year, James Mangold was tapped to work on Swamp Thing, and many fans were left speculating as to why he was chosen by James Gunn. In a Threads post, the director finally put an end to this issue:
“Well, for starters, James actually expressed his interest to me (Guillermo, who I know and love, did not).”
Gunn claimed that Guillermo del Toro never spoke to him about the project, though the latter has been profusely telling fans that he is in love with the character. When asked if he still wanted to revive his plans for Justice League Dark, del Toro told Comic Book:
“Oh, I don’t know. My love for Swamp Thing, The Demon, knows no bounds, but I don’t know. You don’t get a manicure from a big machine, that’s what I learned – you lose a few fingers.”
He was clearly talking about the huge media franchise that is DC Studios. Indeed, the pressure could put a strain on his creativity, so the highly regarded filmmaker opted out of the movie. Still, he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast what he was planning for the project, which he actually wrote a script for:
“I took a little bit of the opening of the Alan Moore Constantine. And I took the dynamics of [Abby Arcane] and Swamp Thing, and I took the sort of revelatory moments when Deadman gets into a body, how he would experience the consciousness of that being. And one of my all-time favorites is [the] demon Etrigan. I love that character.”
Many fans are still hoping that del Toro will revisit this project sometime in the future, though it seems unlikely now that he chose not to speak to James Gunn about Swamp Thing.
James Mangold Describes His Dream Concept For Swamp Thing
James Mangold shared his vision for Swamp Thing as a standalone movie where he would just do his own thing. The director reveals to Variety that he has been “toying for years with the idea of making a kind of Frankenstein movie,” and after making the call and suggesting himself to Gunn, he finally gets his wish.
“While I’m sure DC views Swamp Thing as a franchise, I would be viewing it as a very simple, clean, Gothic horror movie about this man/monster.”
It remains a mystery how Mangold would weave the narrative of Swamp Thing or how he would fuse horror and superhero themes into the film. Despite no plot or cast details have been revealed yet, the popularity of the character is enough to keep fans waiting and looking forward to its release.
