The director behind Swamp Thing confirmed several key story details for the DCU's next horror movie after Clayface. Swamp Thing was one of the first movies announced for James Gunn's DCU, all the way back in January 2023, with Logan director James Mangold promptly announced to write and direct it. From the get-go, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn touted Swamp Thing as a "very dark horror story and the origins of the monster." Despite years of silence while Mangold has been busy with other projects, Gunn's co-CEO, Peter Safran, recently confirmed Swamp Thing is still "moving forward," and they are "waiting on a draft" from the Oscar-nominee.
During a previous interview with Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused, James Mangold revealed the first official details about his Swamp Thing movie's storyline, comparing it to "a version of Frankenstein." While yes, these comments come from several years back in June 2023, they have once again gained relevance following the release of the DCU's first horror, Clayface, and now that Swamp Thing appears to finally be moving forward at DC Studios:
"I've always been interested in doing a version of 'Frankenstein,' and yet I feel 'IT'S ALIVE' has been done enough. But Swamp Thing always occurred to me as kind of this wonderful version of a kind of Frankenstein, much in the same way as one of my favorite pop films growing up, 'RoboCop,' the original one. This guy, who just wakes up, and he finds he's become this kind of machine, also something that I was fascinated with 'Logan' obviously."
It's interesting to hear that Frankenstein and RoboCop are the movies that are inspiring Mangold on Swamp Thing. Similarly, Clayface took inspiration from movie history, such as David Cronenberg's The Fly, Sam Raimi's Darkman, and the 2024 body horror flick The Substance, alongside Batman: The Animated Series.
Mangold added that Swamp Thing will have an "amnesiac quality" as Alec Holland wakes up and starts piecing together "fragments of memory" to figure out what happened to him, resulting in a "Noir mystery horror film:"
"But to me, the idea of making an almost Noir mystery horror film about a guy who wakes up and he's this thing, and there's an amnesiac quality of like, 'How did I get here, and who did this to me?' So, I'm envisioning kind of a horror Noir film following a creature that can't be seen, trying to piece together what happened and who did it from fragments of memory. And none of this runs counter obviously to [Swamp Thing creators] Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, all the great work that went on, I'm just framing it up in a movie context, but that's all they were exploring in these comics, and so beautifully."
That certainly is a great contrast to the DCU's first horror, Clayface, in which Tom Rhys Harries' Matt Hagen knew exactly who had wounded him and was heavily involved in instigating his own monstrous transformation by seeking out experimental help from Naomi Ackie's Dr. Caitlin Bates.
The Oscar-nominee revealed that he pitched Swamp Thing after hearing that James Gunn was taking over DC as a "Gothic horror film [and] origin story." He noted that he doesn't "have any agenda for a universe" or setting up a character for the future, but he is open to the character being used elsewhere later:
"The second I heard that DC was going through some leadership convulsions and James was taking over, I just saw it as an opportunity to throw my hat down. I mean, I just called them, and I said, 'In all the stuff you're doing, if the idea of me making a kind of Gothic horror film origin story of 'Swamp Thing' fits in, tell me.' And, you know, it's no different speech than anyone else gets with me, I don't have any agenda for a universe I'm not building towards someone joining in some future, but have at it."
That was much the same in Clayface, which was devoid of references to Batman or the wider DCU, despite taking place in Gotham City, even though Creature Commandos already solidified his fate and trajectory beyond his origin.
Horowitz also quizzed Mangold on whether Swamp Thing will follow in Clayface's footsteps with an R-rating, to which he confirmed, "It hasn't come up in conversations," but he sees one unique benefit in the adults-only rating:
"It hasn't come up in conversations. My favorite thing about rated R isn't that I can say, 'F***,' or that we can show naked people or more blood, which all obviously can happen with that rating. But then, when you make a rated R movie, the entire marketing apparatus of a studio understands that they cannot dream on this particular picture of action figures, lunch boxes, and special tie-ins to get children to this movie, and it changes the way the script is perceived."
From Day 1, DC Studios touted Clayface as a hard R-rated body horror, so the fact that a rating was much less set in stone for Swamp Thing indicates that Mangold may not be leaning quite as heavily into brutal, adult, or grotesque elements.
Is Swamp Thing Really What DC Studios Needs Right Now?
Swamp Thing still has no confirmed release date or production start window, especially as Peter Safran's latest comments that James Mangold is "ready" for Swamp Thing now came as such a surprise. Most were expecting Mangold to direct his Timothée Chalamet-led heist thriller, High Side, before turning his attention to DC, given that the package landed at Paramount last August.
Unfortunately, comments from Mangold about Swamp Thing have been scarce in recent years, but perhaps he has been quietly working on it behind the scenes since completing his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, in 2024. That could make Swamp Thing a contender to be the next DCU movie to enter production, as the GunnVerse still has no big-screen projects set beyond Man of Tomorrow.
The "noir mystery horror" promise for Swamp Thing is certainly filled with intrigue, especially with a talent like Mangold at the helm, but one has to wonder if it's what the DCU needs right now. While Clayface received rave reviews, it also opened to just $43 million worldwide, which isn't a problem due to its low $40 million budget, but it also isn't anything special, and it may only turn a small profit.
There's no doubt that Swamp Thing has masterpiece potential, but the DCU is still missing heavy-hitters like Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Aquaman. There may come a time when Gunn and Safran must seriously consider what the DCU needs to become a larger, more connected superhero universe, as the franchise's current trajectory means the Justice League could still be a decade away.
