James Mangold Hints He’ll Make a ‘Swamp Thing’ Movie

DC Comics' Swamp Thing. Photo courtesy of DC.com.

Just yesterday, DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran made the first of what will likely be several big announcements about the future of DC movies, TV series and video games, which they’re aiming to link together in one unified universe (excepting the likes of ‘The Batman’ and ‘Joker’, which will exist as ‘Elseworlds’ titles).

While Gunn didn’t go into many details about other filmmakers who will be involved in crafting the movies and series in his actual announcement, he did drop a few names. “Tom King has been my partner throughout all of this. He was giving me answers to shit before I took the job,” said Gunn in a presentation. “So me, him, Christal Henry who worked on ‘Watchmen’ and is doing ‘Waller,’ Christina Hodson who wrote ‘The Flash,’ Drew Goddard, and Jeremy Slater, who just did ‘Moon Knight.’ That group of people we’ve been meeting with and, you know, putting all of this together.”

One name he didn’t drop was James Mangold, but the director dropped a teasing hint about his potential collaboration by posting a ‘Swamp Thing’ image on social media.

That immediately sparked speculation that he might be involved in the movie, which was one that Gunn mentioned in his announcement. And now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s in early talks to write and direct the ‘Swamp Thing’ film but wasn’t brought up because the deal isn’t done yet.

“This is a film that will investigate the dark origins of Swamp Thing,” Safran said on the DC blog the day of the announcement. It’s intended as a horror movie, but Swamp Thing will end up interacting with other characters down the line.

As a character, Swamp Thing was created by writer Len Wein and horror artist Bernie Wrightson, first appearing in a stand-alone story in 1971’s ‘House of Secrets # 92.’ The character proved popular enough that he got his own book soon after, although it was short-lived. Swampy achieved his peak in the 1980s during a seminal run written by Alan Moore and drawn by John Totleben and Stephen R. Bissette and has since gone on to become a key figure in the darker side of DC, spurring the creation of the Vertigo imprint.

‘Swamp Thing’ first appeared on screens in 1982 in a movie directed by Wes Craven, while ‘The Return of Swamp Thing’ landed in theaters in 1989. There was a live-action TV series that ran for three seasons in the 1990s, an animated series and a short-lived live-action show on the equally short-lived DC Universe platform.

Mangold, meanwhile, has form with comic book based movies with ‘The Wolverine’ and the acclaimed ‘Logan’. Next up for him is ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, headed to theaters on June 30th this year. And after that’s complete, he still intends to make a film about Bob Dylan’s early life starring Timothée Chalamet.

Oscar® nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay, James Mangold arrives on the red carpet of The 90th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 4, 2018. Photo: Ross Costanza Photography.