It is only three years ago since the now defunct DC Universe network premiered Swamp Thing, an ambitious live-action series based on the DC comics character, but now a new iteration is coming as part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU plans. Announced today as part of the first slate of projects for the rebooted comic book franchise, the Swamp Thing movie will seemingly be a dark entry in the franchise that will remain “interconnected” but will be tonally different to other DC projects that have been announced today. Speaking about the movie, Gunn said:

“The final film we want to talk about is Swamp Thing, and we bring it up because it’s important to point out that in these stories, although interconnected, they’re not all tonally the same. Each set of filmmakers brings their own aesthetic to these films, and the fun is seeing how these tonally different works mash up in the future. This is a film that will investigate the dark origins of Swamp Thing.”

The original Swamp Thing stories centered on scientist Alec Holland, who after an explosive accident jumped into the swamp to put out the fire and found himself fused with the plant life of the swamps. What has not been depicted on screen is that Swamp Thing’s creator Alan Moore explained years later that Swamp Thing was actually an elemental force of nature brought to life and scientist Alec Holland died after diving into the swamp, with the force that was Swamp Thing only taking on his memories as a direct result of the accident. Whether any of this will be in the new movie is yet to be revealed, but the movie certainly seems to be one of the more out there projects on the slate.
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How Can Swamp Thing Actually Be Connected To Other DC Projects?

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One thing that seems to be apparent with the new slate of DCU projects is that it has a similar problem to the old DCEU in that whatever connection there is between these project is currently thinner than a spider’s thread. Although Gunn has said that he has a long term plan, which would assumedly include where everything fits together, launching the new DCU as a cohesive universe with a seemingly unconnected group of projects scattered along an unclear timeline seems a very bold move.

Swamp Thing is about as far away from the likes of Superman and Batman, and certainly a Wonder Woman prequel, as you can get in terms of setting, tone and story. That means that fans will have to put a long term investment into the long-term DC plan without being entirely certain of where it is going. There has been a lot of excitement about some of the individual projects announced today, and reservations about others. With a two year wait for the new DCU slate to begin rolling out, there will be a lot of time to ponder and speculate on exactly how invested fans want to be.