Noahthegrand's DC VERTIGO UNIVERSE pitch and fancast

Noahthegrand's DC VERTIGO UNIVERSE pitch and fancast

I go into the dark side of my DC universe pitch with a fancast of some of DC's magic characters, including John Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp-Thing, and more, plus ideas for movie storylines.

Editorial Opinion
By noahthegrand - Feb 01, 2018 12:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Swamp Thing
Source: ComicBookMovie.com
My DC cinematic universe I’ve created on this site is pretty big. But one subject that we’ve as of now, barely touched on, is the supernatural aspects of the DCCU. Sure, we’ve seen a bit in Wonder Woman with the gods, some elements of lovecraftian horror with Nekron in Green Lantern, but the most genuine magic we’ve seen has been with Enchantress in Suicide Squad. This changes here with
 
The DCVU
 
This is going to be in my hypothetical series of films, under a different banner than the rest of the movies. It's in the same universe, but made under a different banner. Instead of DC Cinematic Universe, it's in the DC Vertigo Universe. DCVU. So, here it is….
 
 
HELLBLAZER
 
 
 
What better way to begin than with the man that is a distillation of DC’s supernatural side in its purest form. 
 
Plot: 
 
John Constantine, a British exorcist, demonologist, and renowned trickster, learns he is both damned to hell and stricken with terminal lung cancer, and decides to use his skills to play a dangerous game, minipulating the supernatural forces of heaven and hell in a last ditch attempt to cure his lung cancer and save his soul, at least temporarily. 
 
Cast: 
 
John Constantine/ Dan Stevens
 
A selfish magician who learned magic not to help others but for personal glory. He's sarcastic, charming, manipulative, and charismatic. He may claim to have a more selfless purpose, but he's only doing this for the same reason he smokes and drinks. He is tortured by the lives he's destroyed and the friends he's killed, and wishes he had more time to fix his mistakes. He's anti-authority, has smoked 20-30 packs of cigarettes a day since he was a boy, and is fond of flipping off the devil. 
 
The First of the Fallen/ Ben Kingsley
 
 
A lord of hell, the devil, a demon with a very high view of himself, and a very low view of others. He, along with two other demons, were each put in charge of portions of hell when the true devil abandoned it. Constantine brings up the fact that The First isn't the true Lucifer often. It angers him. Constantine has humiliated him many times. Constantine cheated him out of a soul that rightfully belonged to him, and now he wants Constantine’s as pay back. 
 
Chas Chandler/ Gerard Butler
 
The closest thing Constantine has to a real friend. He's taken a lot of abuse from John over the years, but has stuck with him nevertheless, for reasons that are not at all times clear, even to him. 
 
Ellie/ Deborah Ann Woll
 
A succubus John first exorcizes, and later befriends. The romantic lead of the film, enjoys her job seducing men into sin so the First of the Fallen can gain more souls, but ends up on the run from the legions of hell when her series of one night stands with John Constantine are discovered.
 
 
 
 
 
Alright, now, the next film
 
 
 
 
Swamp-Thing
 
 
Our second Vertigo film will introduce arguably the most famous of these kinds of characters, Swamp-Thing
 
Plot:
 
Officer Matthew Cable searches for the truth behind the death of husband-wife scientist duo Alec and Linda Holland, encountering the enigmatic John Constantine, and the mysterious  entity known as Swamp-Thing. At the same time, a colony of aquatic vampires threaten the lives of every man, woman, and child in the town Matthew Cable and his fiancé Abigail Arcane call home. 
 
 
 
Cast:
 
 
Swamp-Thing/ Alexander Skarsgård 
 
A lab accident created him, and infused him with the memories of the deceased scientist Alec Holland. He is though, as human as any of us, and more human than some. He is compassionate, philosophical, and willing to fight for those he loves and what he believes in. He is in tune with nature on a fundamental level. He initially believes himself to be Alec Holland and struggles to keep his humanity. When the truth is revealed to him, he suffers an existential crisis. 
 
Abigail Arcane/ Natalie Dormer
 
A fun, incessantly cheery optimist with a dark past involving being raised by an abusive mad scientist uncle who would let his creations loose in the family castle to torture her. She eventually escaped, came to America, and met her fiancé, Matthew Cable. She works at Elysium Lawns, a school for developmentally disabled children. She puts out the attitude she has now both to hide her woes and in an effort to stave off the horrors of the past and move one. Albino except for two strands of black hair. 
 
Matthew Cable/ Jamie Dornan
 
A Louisiana cop investigating the deaths of Alec and Linda Holland. He's engaged to marry Abigail. He's not a perfect husband, he gets consumed in his work, he's a little insecure about Abigail, and he's fighting a drinking problem, but they love each other. 
 
 
John Constantine/ Dan Stevens
 
Pretty much the John we know and love, here in America to learn if there really is a new avatar of the green, and if he can use him to his own ends. 
 
 
 
The leader of the aqua-vampires/ Dacre Montgomery
 
He has led his people to the flooded town of Rosewood beneath the lake in the hopes of establishing a place to live freely, a place to raise children, somewhere to put down roots. The vampires, much like humans, only want to survive, and will do anything to do so.  
 
 
Anton Arcane/ Christoph Waltz
 
He only has a cameo appearance, but his shadow looms over several characters. He murdered Alec and Linda Holland. He killed Abigail’s parents so he could adopt her,  he abused her physically and emotionally for most of her childhood for no other reason than he enjoyed it. He is a death obsessed sadist.  He is not only a mad scientist, but also a mad sorcerer, and in a later film, will be revealed as the avatar of the Rot. He resides in a Romanian cliff side castle built over cursed land in a mountain village where Soviet Nuclear testing has made the growth of plant life impossible. The village is populated entirely by death cultists who worship Arcane and the rot. Within his castle he uses magic and science to create zombies, which he would often release into the halls at night to terrify his niece. He is the closest a human being can get to being absolute evil. 
 
 
 
 
 
Animal-Man
 
Plot: 
 
Buddy Baker is a stuntman, an animal activist, a loving husband and father, as well as the superhero known throughout San Diego as Animal-Man. But, when his family is killed mysteriously, Baker goes on the hunt for the truth, discovering in the search for his family’s killer something more horrifying than he could ever imagine: HE’S THE MAIN CHARACTER IN A DARK AND GRITTY SUPERHERO MOVIE.
 
 
Characters:
 
 
 
Animal Man/ Sam Worthington
 
A loving father, a vegetarian, an animal activist, a stuntman, and a superhero with the power to use any non human animal’s natural abilities, who has been pushed to the edge. Learning that he's really an action movie hero, he realizes that the only way to get his family back is to somehow convince the writer of the movie he's in to revive them. 
 
 
The Writer/ noahthegrand
 
The man who orchestrated the deaths of Buddy Baker’s family. The writer of the Animal Man movie who believes the only way to create a story that is meaningful and critically acclaimed is to kill off Buddy's family. He wants to create something with pathos, something that will shock the movie going audience. He not only killed Buddy’s family, but has also manipulated Buddy into changing from his blue and orange superhero suit to a “cooler” dark blue and silver costume. 
 
This movie is really about philosophy and storytelling. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And what is it all leading up to? Why Justice League Dark of course! 
 
Justice League Dark
 
 
Plot:
 
When powerful supernatural being The Floronic Man escapes from confinement and begins to wreak havoc, sorcerers, monsters, and ghosts must work together to capture him before he can take control of the mystical force : The Green, and destroy all life on Earth. 
 
Animal Man will not appear. He is unconnected to this story. I only did him because he’s cool and his story should be told. 
 
 
 
Cast:
 
John Constantine/ Dan Stevens
 
Constantine is visiting America to deliver some ancient artifacts he's discovered to Jason Blood for safe keeping, and is caught up in the search for The Floronic Man. He used to date Zatanna when he was first learning magic, that is, until he killed her father. 
 
Swamp-Thing/ Alexander Skarsgård 
 
Since the last movie, he has grown closer with Abby and Matt. He has also been training to become a better avatar of the green with the Parliament of Trees. 
 
Jason Blood/ Chiwetel Ejiofor
 
The keeper of the House of Mysteries, a supernatural abode used by magic users to store and get rid of powerful magical relics and trapped supernatural entities. Jason Blood  is far older than he appears, and that which we now see as myth and legend was once his daily life. Contained within him and bonded to his soul is the demon Etrigan, a creature he struggles to control, which  he can release with an ancient chant. 
 
Boston Brand/ Charlie Day
 
Boston Brand is a ghost. He has been given a chance to solve his own murder, and only then can he go on to the afterlife. That should be the goal, though actually, he's specifically avoided any and all clues to finding the culprit. He would rather remain on Earth with his friends and girlfriend than leave. Sure, he's incorporeal, he can't have sex, and he's trapped in the clothes he was wearing when he died(a ridiculous circus costume), but it could be worse. 
 
Zatanna Zatara/ Sofia Boutella 
 
The daughter of a renowned master sorcerer. While John Constantine and Jason Blood dabble in darker magics, she prefers to use light magic for the benefit of not just herself, but everyone. She's heroic, and works as a magician, entertaining audiences with magic and filling them with hope and wonder around the world. If John Constantine is everything dark about the DC supernatural side, she's everything great. 
 
 
Floronic Man/ Steve Buscemi( or should I say... BUSHemi?)
 
An ancient woodland sprite from the faerie dimension. He came to earth centuries ago, and was horrified to discover humanity’s lack of respect for nature. He built an army and sought to destroy humanity, but was defeated and imprisoned by the forces of Camelot. Now, he is free, and hungry for vengeance. Being a plant man, he sees plants as his equals and is able to speak to them. Plants are intelligent, so he wants to avenge their deaths. He plans to do so by stealing Swamp-Thing’s power over The Green. He is psychotic, delusional, and behaves in a manner similar to a religious fanatic. 
 
 
 
Other movie plans include:
 
 
  • Swamp-Thing 2 
 
Where he battles Anton Arcane, Abby has a dark side, and Matt dies in a way I don't want to spoil. 
 
  • Hellblazer: Guys and Dolls
 
 Ellie falls in love with and is impregnated by an angel. 
 
  • Zatanna
 
Klarion the Witch Boy is the villain
 
  • Sandman
 
Just… Sandman. 
 
  • Animal-Man 2
 
 Based on some of the New 52 stuff, with more meta, because you kinda have to be meta after the first one. 
 
  • Doom Patrol
 
This is going to be a fun one. You know how movies sometimes go off the rails? This movie is a flying bullet train that's on fire. 
 
  • Justice League Dark 2
 
Either Nick Necro, and the origin of Constantine’s coat, or maybe Rotworld
 
 
  • Swamp-Thing 3
 
Remember the Alan Moore story where Abby is photographed with Swamp-Thing, ostracized, and put on trial for her relationship with him in Gotham City. We might do that, or maybe something else. Undecided on the exact plot. 
 
 
 
Also, possibly Deadman
 
 
 
 
 
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noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 2/1/2018, 1:11 PM
Heh. Steve Bush-emi.
ILoveStargirl
ILoveStargirl - 2/1/2018, 6:14 PM
@noahthegrand - Fantastic nickname!
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 2/1/2018, 10:39 PM
@ILoveStargirl - thanks!
TheRealTomServo
TheRealTomServo - 2/1/2018, 7:58 PM
Neat.
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 7/8/2018, 1:17 PM
@TheRealTomServo - thank you
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 2/2/2018, 1:26 AM
@JaredRWebb12 - @dethpillow -

@Sickness85 - @Starman - @JaredRWebb12 - @Forager - @ChrisRed - @aresww3 - @BloodyBed - @SimplyAz - @TheRealTomServo - @DaLaBrAcK - @CultofKekistan - @TheRose - @ThouBear8 - @CicadasAmongMen -
@BlackSpiderman - @ILoveStargirl - @Ruthless -
DaLaBrAcK
DaLaBrAcK - 2/2/2018, 1:42 PM
Dude you are nailing this. Love Dan Stevens for Constantine. Love Charlie Day for Deadman. Love your Animal Man pitch to death, keep it up.
ThouBear8
ThouBear8 - 2/5/2018, 1:19 PM
I'm not as familiar with the supernatural DC characters, but from what I do know, you seemed to have nailed this. I think it's a cool idea to have a set of characters that basically run parallel to the mainstream ones, getting weird & dark where appropriate.

I think you've done a great job focusing on some of the more interesting characters (in my opinion), & yes Dan Stevens & Chiwetel Ejiofor would be [frick]ing perfect for those parts. Would there be any crossover with the other characters do you think? Or would you like to just keep them completely separate?
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 2/6/2018, 5:31 AM
@ThouBear8 - I would have it be known they're in the same world, with occasional references, and interactions would come when it feels right. Swamp Thing is someone I feel can move into the more mainstream stuff pretty easily, and the same can be said for Zatanna. Constantine has an in story reason for lack of superhero interactions, he's not really a fan of them. If it fits the story, sure. My idea for Justice League Dark will actually have portions of it set in Gotham City.
ThouBear8
ThouBear8 - 2/6/2018, 1:10 PM
@noahthegrand - gotcha, that all makes sense.
JaredRWebb12
JaredRWebb12 - 2/14/2018, 12:02 PM
I dig this pitch, also no love for Shade,The Changing Man for a Vertigo-verse(also, Sandman needs to be animated)
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 6/28/2018, 6:03 PM
@JaredRWebb12 - I don’t know shade the changing man as a character well, but I might look into him and see if anything interests me. So maybe i’ll do him in an article.
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