Swamp Thing casting news, director, rating, crossovers… it’s all in here

While last we heard DC Universe’s Swamp Thing series would be co-directed by Aquaman Director James Wan.

However, now we’re hearing that Underworld and Live Free Or Dir Hard’s Len Wiseman will be handling directing duties on it (here). We don’t know if that means he’ll be solely directing or if Wan will be lending a hand, but we’ll keep you posted if we hear more.

In related news producer and writer Gary Dauberman who also worked on The Nun, IT and Annabelle, has said that, with it being on the subscription service, it’s not tied to being family-friendly: “This is one, when you talked earlier about the rating for The Nun, we always set out to make Swamp Thing as hard R as we could and go graphic with the violence, with the adult themes and make it as scary as possible.

“Because we’re doing it through the DC streaming service, they really pushed us, although they didn’t have to push hard, for us to go as extreme as we could.

“We really took our inspiration from the Alan Moore run in Swamp Thing, this landmark I think run,” Dauberman offered. “Fans of that series will know it gets pretty weird and extreme and scary. We really wanted to live up to that standard that Moore set up back in the ‘80s.”

Oh, and it looks like Swamp Thing himself won’t be a CGI creation but will me man-in-a-suit/practical too: “Swamp Thing himself looks incredible what Justin Raleigh and the guys over at Fractured are doing with the suit. So it’s going to look amazing and less of the ‘man in suit’ that you’ve seen in the movie and the other TV show… There is a physical costume, yes.”

In relation to tying into Titans on the same streaming service, it seems it’s not necessarily going that way but definitely not ruled out.

We know that Doom Patrol and Titans are shared universe, so we were hoping Swamp Thing would too. Dauberman had this to say on it: “I think the opportunity is there if we want to but it’s not mandated. I think we could if, in the future, it organically works itself out to be that way. I haven’t discussed that with the guys from Titans and they haven’t discussed it with us.”

And finally, we have our first two major bits of casting news (after image):

Gotham star (she played Sofia Falcone) Crystal Reed is sticking with DC TV and will be playing Abby Arcane, the woman who loves the titular hero.

Smart and caring, CDC Doctor Abby Arcane’s (Reed) strong sense of empathy puts her at the center of a horrific life-threatening epidemic in her hometown, where she faces emotional demons from her past… while a chance meeting with scientist Alec Holland takes her into a world of horror and the supernatural, and of the elemental creature known as Swamp Thing.

Joining her will be Straight Outta Compton star Maria Sten as Liz Tremayne: a close childhood friend of Abby Arcane’s, who splits her time between reporting for the local paper and bartending at her aging father’s roadhouse bar. Her no-nonsense attitude belies a deep compassion for her friends and family as she sets out in her uncompromising quest to expose the secrets that threaten her beloved hometown.

 

We can’t wait for this to hit… wha about you all?

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.

Swamp Thing will likely arrive in 2019