Introduced in 1971 by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing has evolved to become, arguably, DC's signature horror character. Although the monster certainly isn't the best-known hero in the publisher's library, he's appeared repeatedly across film, television and video games over the past three decades.
He returns to the screen Friday in a new live-action series on DC Universe, which 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.
After a screening of the first two episodes in Los Angeles, Swamp Thing stars Derek Mears and Henderson Wade recalled their earlier experiences with the character, and how they became fans of the concept.
When the cast was asked whether they were familiar with Swamp Thing before joining the new series, Maria Sten, who plays reporter Liz Tremayne, admitted she hadn't been. "But Mark and Gary wrote this, like, crazy, amazing pilot," she said. "And as an actor, you know, when you get something like that, you're just like, 'When can I play? Where can I sign up?'"
However, some of her co-stars revealed an affection for the character that goes back to childhood.
"I remember watching the series on the USA [Network] in the '90s, when I definitely shouldn't have been," recalled Henderson Wade, who portrays Deputy Matt Cable. "But I had cable TV in my house. I must have been like, 8 or 9. I remember back then, that was always a sign to me that I should be going to sleep at that point. That was my exposure to [Swamp Thing] before seeing this bad boy."
Fittingly, the actor with the most connection to Swamp Thing is the man who plays him, horror veteran Derek Mears.
"It's a weird full circle from when I was a child," he said. "I learned how to read by reading comic books, like a crazy person. But I remember at one point ... I have this little weird story. When I was younger, my mom would go get her hair and her nails done out of a certain salon, and right next door was a 7-Eleven, and I got to choose, like, three comic books every time she [went]. And I [remember] trying to use these comics, to like, learn the words and whatnot. I remember seeing this one issue and going 'Oh, man, Batman, I'm a huge Batman fan. Who's this guy he's with? Oh, it's some crazy green dude, with a giant trench coat and a hat, I don't know, he's kind of scary, but all right.
"So it's such a crazy full circle," continued Mears. "And that was [one of] the first appearances of Swamp Thing. And so when I booked this job and I was doing all the research ... I was familiar with the characters from being a nerd and loving comics and animation and whatnot. But I never really gotten into, like, Alan Moore Swamp Thing or Neil Gaiman. But the full circle for me, I was like 'I remember looking at these pages,' and I found the issue [they were from], and [remembered] not being able to read, but just looking at the pictures and trying to figure out what was going on in the story. And it's so weird. So it's been a wild, wild journey on my part."
Premiering Friday on DC Universe, Swamp Thing stars Crystal Reed, Andy Bean, Derek Mears, Jennifer Beals, Henderson Wade, Will Patton, Virginia Madsen, Jeryl Prescott and Kevin Durand. The series is executive produced by James Wan, Mark Verheiden, Gary Dauberman, Michael Clear and Len Wiseman.