One of the projects that DC Studios’ James Gunn announced while unveiling the first stage of the DC Universe last week was a Swamp Thing movie, which is set to “investigate the dark origins” of the character.
Due to this, the upcoming DCU Swamp Thing movie will be much scarier than any of DC’s other projects. Gunn notes that “this is a much more horrific film, but we’ll still have Swamp Thing interact with the other characters.”
Safran noted that Swamp Thing will be a prime example of the DC Universe being connected while still varying in tone depending on the project.
“The final film we wanted to talk about is Swamp Thing,” said Safran to DC. “We bring it up because it’s important to point out that in these stories, although they’re interconnected, they’re not all tonally the same. Each set of filmmakers bring their own aesthetic to these films, and the fun is seeing how these tonally different works mash-up in the future.”
Gunn also spoke about how successful a character like Rocket Raccoon was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe despite not being a traditional character or even a person. Gunn said they would be “one-upping” that with Swamp Thing, and leaning fully into the horror aspects.
Currently, not much is known about Swamp Thing or most of DC Studios’ slate of planned projects. However, a recent report from Variety suggests that director James Mangold is in talks to direct the Swamp Thing film. Mangold is currently in the process of finishing up the next Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and will next direct Going Electric, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, as well as a Buster Keaton biopic starring Rami Malek.
Swamp Thing is currently set to be the final film of DC’s Chapter 1, which will also feature Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, a Batman and Robin-focused movie called The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and multiple TV shows.