Today is a mixed bag for Swamp Thing fans. The beloved character has been begging for a modern live-action take for years and that was finally set to come our way with a new TV series being produced for the DC Universe streaming service, which launched last October. However, in the growing landscape of streaming services, it seems this one may have a tough time competing. Case in point, we’ve learned that production on theSwamp Thingseries has been shut down and that the first season of the series has been cut short. But DC has also released the first teaser trailer for the series, so we’ve gotta take the good with the bad, for now.
The teaser is very brief. We get a long, eerie shot panning across the swamp before the titular monster is revealed, emerging from the murky water. It’s apractical man in a suit, not a CGI creation, as promised. It also looks rather faithful to the comics. That’s the good news. Now the bad news.
According to a new report from a local publication in North Carolina, where the series was being filmed, the cast and crew were told to pack it in for the time being. Originally,Swamp Thingwas supposed to have a 13-episode first season. Now, according to the report, that has been cut to 10 episodes, with the producers and creative team scrambling to rewrite the tenth episode as, at the very least, the season finale, if not the series finale. So was this trailer released as a bit of damage control?
“I’m beyond sad. What a terrible decision. We have been cut to the core by those who have never set foot into the Swamp. And despite the rule I am going to use the hashtag. #swampthing.”
As of right now, DC Universe only has two original shows,TitansandDoom Patrol. They also haveStargirland an animatedHarley Quinnseries in the works, but does that really justify the price? The service costs $8 per month or $75 per year. For the sake of comparison, Disney+, which was just announced by Disney, will cost just $7 per month and will play host to a lot more premium content, in addition to the studio’s entire back catalog of movies. Plus, WarnerMedia, DC’s parent company, plans to launch their own streaming service later this year.
James Wan and Gary Dauberman, the duo behindThe Conjuringfranchise, are producers onSwamp Thing, with a cast that includes Andy Bean, Crystal Reed, Jennifer Beals, Will Patton, Derek Mears, Ian Ziering, Henderson Wade and Kevin Durand. Will this be a one-and-done situation for DC Universe? Does this spell the end of the service entirely? Or is this just an isolated situation? More questions than answers at this point.Swamp Thingis set to debut on May 31. This news was first reported byStar News Online.
