With its third original live-action series, Swamp Thing, DC Universe trades the superheroics of Titans and Doom Patrol -- as offbeat as they may have been -- for a darker, horror-tinged tone. Steeped in its Southern Gothic influences, Swamp Thing is wholly unlike any other comic book adaptation on television, and
Following the premiere screening of the series in Los Angeles, executive producers Mark Verheiden and Len Wiseman spoke to CBR and other outlets about the path to bringing the comic book character to the streaming service.
Based on the comic character introduced in 1971 by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing follows Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed), a physician for the Centers for Disease Control who returns home to Marais, Louisiana, to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. There, she crosses paths with biologist Alec Holland (Andy Bean), who goes missing in the swamp, only for something else to rise from the water in his place.
"I think when we started, what we wanted to do was do a Swamp Thing that was really true to the comics of Wein and Wrightson, and what Alan Moore and Steve Bissette did," said Verheiden, whose credits include Marvel's Daredevil and Ash vs. Evil Dead. "And so we were looking to create this sort of world that felt modern and yet still had a Southern Gothic feel to it. We were really looking to create this world in Marais, in which Abby Arcane comes into it with enormous amounts of problems and backstory that she has to deal with. So that was really the impetus to do that. And we also wanted to do a great horror show, a show that is genuinely scary and can be R-rated at times."
With its horror themes, Swamp Thing is radically different from any other DC television series, even when compared to the more mature fare like Doom Patrol.
"It's in the superhero universe, but [Swamp Thing] is not necessarily a superhero," said Wiseman, best known for the Underworld film franchise. "And so the chance to do something within the DC Universe that was more slanted towards horror was very exciting to me. And then also the time that it took in terms of really going into the origin story, I was fascinated by that. And so that's, in terms of bringing it to life. I was very excited about the tone and the horror aspect being."
Reflecting on bringing the story to the screen, Wiseman, who directed the pilot, admitted the most difficult part of filming was the water, which given the setting, is central to Swamp Thing.
"I'd say just add water to anything and it's complicated," he said. "But that swamp ... there's a scene we did when we're on the boat and coming along to the tree to the boat side of it, and the way it was shot ... That was very much a 'pinch me' moment, of playing in this just amazing sandbox. There was no imagination necessarily, being in that swamp.
"It goes back to the tone," Wiseman continued. "I hope [fans are] engaged in the world. It's not a world you get to see all that often. The swamp community, and showing all the modern facets of it. Hopefully, it's something people find is more of horrifying than they may be expected. And just seeing what their response is to the characters. You go into it in terms of Swamp Thing, and what Swamp Thing is going to look like, is a lot of anticipation. And then sitting in it and being really engaged and captured by these characters."
Premiering Friday on DC Universe, Swamp Thing stars Crystal Reed, Andy Bean, Derek Mears, Jennifer Beals, Henderson Wade, Will Patton, Virginia Madsen, Jeryl Prescot and Kevin Durand. The series is executive produced by James Wan, Mark Verheiden, Gary Dauberman, Michael Clear and Len Wiseman.