James Mangold sent speculation into overdrive when he Tweeted an image of the Earth Elemental earlier today, and the trades have now confirmed that the Logan director is officially in talks to helm the planned Swamp Thing movie for DC Studios.
According to THR, Mangold - whose Indiana Jones sequel, The Dial of Destiny, hits theaters this May - is in early negotiations with studio co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. It sounds like he will direct if the deal goes through, but may also write the project.
Mangold is said to be a huge fan of the character, and "has been chasing the feature for a while." The movie is in the very early stages of development, however, and the filmmaker is still attached to direct Searchlight’s Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, so Swamp Thing will likely be a long way out.
We're not too sure what to expect from this latest live-action take on the big green fella, but we do know that the film will “investigates the dark origins of Swamp Thing.” Gunn also confirmed that Swamp Thing will be "a much more horrific film, but we’ll still have Swamp Thing interact with the other characters.”
Swamp Thing and John Constantine are closely-connected characters in the comics, and with Keanu Reeves set to reprise the title role for a sequel to 2005's Constantine, fans are hoping for an eventual crossover - potentially building towards a Justice League Dark movie.
What do you guys make of this news? Do you think Mangold is the right man to bring Swamp Thing to the big screen? Drop us a comment down below.