James Mangold is currently riding high on the success of his latest feature A Complete Unknown, which stars Timothée Chalamet as iconic singer Bob Dylan. While the movie has emerged as a major award contender, Mangold already has his hands full with several other upcoming projects, including DC’s Swamp Thing and Disney’s Star Wars prequel. While details about either movie are scarce, the fan-favorite director is certainly sharing details on his process and the challenges he’s facing while writing the script.
Swamp Thing was announced by James Gunn and Peter Safran as a part of their Gods and Monsters slate as they attempted to show off how tonally diverse their DC universe will be. The announcement has fans excited to see the antihero on the big screen. “Swamp Thing at DC, it's just a matter of — do we find a way on the page to say something original?” Mangold said. This comes as good news for fans who are looking forward to a well-crafted DC universe, as Gunn has always reiterated his need for quality over quantity while envisioning his new DC Universe. Mangold also shared the challenges that he faces while writing the fan favorite IP, "With other kinds of IP, it gets to a religious level," he said. However, Mangold isn’t limited by it, as he admitted,
"I'm not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it's almost immovable, and you can't please anybody."
What’s ‘Swamp Thing’ About?
The film is set to perform an exploration on "the dark origins" of the eponymous character, once known as the brilliant scientist Alex Olsen, who was severely burned by chemicals and merged with the very swamp he studied after diving into the waters to save himself. The film is expected to lean into the supernatural horror elements of the fan-favorite character, and Mangold is a perfect choice for the project.
The director previously described the feature as “gothic adventure” about this man/monster and revealed that, while DC sees it as a franchise, he’s treating it as a standalone feature, which is another great sign for the movie as it leaves space for it to be its own thing. Meanwhile, no other top-line talents of production details are available as yet.
Currently, Swamp Thing has no release date or window, but DC's previous cult-favorite Swamp Thing series is currently available to buy on VOD. Stay tuned to Collider for more such updates and check out Mangold’s comments above.

Swamp Thing
- Release Date
- 2019 - 2018
- Network
- DC Universe
- Directors
- Deran Sarafian, Len Wiseman, Carol Banker, Greg Beeman, Michael Goi, E.L. Katz, Toa Fraser
- Writers
- Doris Egan, Rob Fresco, Erin Maher, Kay Reindl, Andrew Preston, Tania Lotia
Cast
-
Adrienne BarbeauDr. Palomar
-
Gregory Alan WilliamsMayor Riley
-
Jennifer BealsLucilia Cable
-
Jennifer GattiDoctor Fortier
- Seasons
- 1
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