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News ‘Swamp Thing’ series In works at DC Digital Service, ‘Metropolis’ in redevelopment

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The upcoming DC digital service, which was just officially named DC Universe, has given a script-to-series order to Swamp Thing, a drama based on the DC characters created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. The project hails from James Wan’s Atomic Monster in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Contingent on a script, Swamp Thing is targeting a 2019 premiere on DC Universe, which is set for a launch later this year with the live-action Titans and animatedYoung Justice: Outsiders as its first two original series. Titans was supposed to be followed by Metropolis, about Lois Lane and super villain Lex Luthor. The live-action drama, which had a 13-episode straight-to-series order for a 2019 debut, will now be redeveloped.

Written by Mark Verheiden (Ash vs. Evil Dead) and It co-writer Gary Dauberman...Verheiden and Dauberman executive produce with Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear, while the company’s Rob Hackett seres as co-producer.
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I was a big fan of the Alan Moore version of Swamp Thing so I hope they use a lot that material here. I did like the first Swamp Thing movie though I saw some of it last year and it's really kind of goofy.
 
I can easily imagine them starting with Alec Holland apparently turning into Swamp Thing... and then doing "The Anatomy Lesson" as the season finale cliffhanger.
 
Christopher said:
I can easily imagine them starting with Alec Holland apparently turning into Swamp Thing... and then doing "The Anatomy Lesson" as the season finale cliffhanger.
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Hold it off for a season or two, but do hint at it. Keep showing him trying to restore himself, but it just never working. It would give the reveal more impact if they’ve built up the hope for so long just to reveal the truth later.


I am excited for this. I love Swamp Thing, mainly due to those 80s movies, the USA show and the short lived cartoon. My brother had a few of the toys from it.
 
F--- yes! I've been waiting for a Swamp Thing project in this superhero adaptation renaissance for forever. Here's hoping it runs long enough to adapt the Moore/Snyder/Soule runs.

IT was great, and Verheiden did a superb job showrunning Ash vs Evil Dead's final season. The series finale even made me cry. If he can bring that amount of heart and passion into his work on Evil Dead, I can't wait to see what he'll do with Swamp Thing.
 
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I'd like to see them start with the early Len Wein/Bernie Wrightson issues with The Patchwork Man and the town full of mechanical people built by the clockmaker along with introducing Anton Arcane and his Un-men, before moving onto Alan Moore's interpretation.

I'm also interested in see what kind of makeup/effects they use to realize Swamp Thing.
If it will be a combination of practical and visual effects.

The suit they used for the tv series was particularly well-realized.
 
I hope they use makeup, it's only gotten better over the years and he looked great back in the 80s using what was possible then.
 
I thought the concept of Metropolis sounded awesome, and am now saddened that it's apparently been sent back to the "drawing board", although the prospect of Swamp Thing mitigates that feeling somewhat.

Edit: KSiteTV's Craig Byrne posted a news article announcing the series that included the following "logline" description:
When CDC researcher Abby Arcane returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland — only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous — and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all.
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http://www.ksitetv.com/swamp-thing/dc-adds-a-swamp-thing-series-to-their-digital-service/177583/
 
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DigificWriter said:
I thought the concept of Metropolis sounded awesome, and am now saddened that it's apparently been sent back to the "drawing board"
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As I implied above, Metropolis was the only offering they've announced so far that would have made me break down and sign up for this annoying-ass thing. (I really hate streaming-exclusive content -- TV belongs on TV. Also, get off my lawn!)
 
I was already planning on signing up for the service in order to get Titans and Metropolis, but getting Titans and Swamp Thing is just as cool.

Especially since this will be the first adaptation of the Swamp Thing property not to be directly focused on Swamp Thing himself, which should be interesting.
 
Awesome Possum said:
I hope they use makeup, it's only gotten better over the years and he looked great back in the 80s using what was possible then.
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I think it would probably have to be a suit, they can do some really impressive stuff on a TV budget these days, but I don't know if they'd be able to actually have a series lead (or secondary lead if it's focused on Abby) who was mocap/CGI.
I already mentioned in the other thread that I'm disappointed to see them going back to a character who's already gotten several adaptations.
There are a ton of DC characters who've never been adapted, I would have rather seen them go with one of them.
 
JD said:
I already mentioned in the other thread that I'm disappointed to see them going back to a character who's already gotten several adaptations.
There are a ton of DC characters who've never been adapted, I would have rather seen them go with one of them.
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And we're getting plenty of them in Titans. They've had a notable animated adaptation or two, of course, but there hasn't been a live-action Robin on TV since Burt Ward, the only live-action Wonder Girl was Debra Winger's Drusilla in 1976, and there's never been a live-action Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Hawk and Dove, or the Doom Patrol.

Anyway, I doubt their selection process is as simple as "Has this character had a show before?" It's probably more a matter of which characters they get the most interesting pitches for. You can take a character that's been used before and find a fresh or different approach to them. This series may have been picked up because it does just that. I mean, none of the previous film or TV incarnations of Swamp Thing were really all that good. I remember the live-action TV series having some merit, but apparently it got a mixed reception at best. So there's plenty of room for improvement, and maybe the intention is to get it right this time. Maybe they'll bring in some of the Alan Moore elements that none of the previous adaptations used.
 
Plus, "this worked before" is actually a plus sometimes. Means the character has a proven track record, a greater degree of name recognition, and so on. I'm honestly surprised that it's taken them this long to revive SWAMP THING, given the current popularity of comics-based TV shows and movies.

And Christopher is right in that, nostalgia aside, the previous SWAMP THING productions were hardly so amazing that they cannot possibly be surpassed. Heck, it took Hollywood at least four tries to get CAPTAIN AMERICA right, and the last SWAMP THING tv series ended a quarter-century ago, long before the current wave of modern comic-book shows and movies. To put things in perspective, that's even longer than the time gap between the Adam West BATMAN and the Michael Keaton BATMAN.

About time for a new take on SWAMP THING, for a new generation of TV viewers.
 
Yeah, I guess you guys probably have a point. I realize now that there is probably a lot of stuff from comics that none of the other adaptations ever touched on.
I saw an article on CBR talking about how this could potentially be a gateway into the bigger mystical side of the DCU, and that is something I would be very interested in seeing.
 
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