SWAMP THING Director James Mangold Confirms His DCU Debut Will Be A "Standalone Gothic Horror Movie"

Swamp Thing director James Mangold has confirmed he's approaching the DCU movie as a "standalone" project, even if DC Studios has franchise plans for Alec Holland! You can find his comments in full here...

News

By JoshWilding - Jan 15, 2025 10:01 AM EST

Filed Under: Swamp Thing

Source: MovieWeb

Filmmaker James Mangold has tackled many genres, whether it's biopics like Ford v Ferrari and his latest film A Different Man or action blockbusters Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

As well as a Star Wars movie exploring the origin of the Jedi set 25,000 years in the past, Mangold has been tapped by DC Studios to take the helm of Swamp Thing. The character has starred in a short-lived TV series but this would mark a big screen return for a character who fits well into the latter part of James Gunn's "Gods and Monsters" slate.

Talking to MovieWeb, Mangold addressed how he plans to address the DCU movie.

"With Bob [Dylan] you have known quantities, yes, but there are ways to interpret them," he started. "With other kinds of IP, it gets to a religious level. Swamp Thing at DC, it's just a matter of - do we find a way on the page to say something original?"

"While I'm sure DC views Swamp Thing as a franchise, I would be viewing it as a very simple, clean, Gothic horror movie about this man/monster," Mangold continued. "Just doing my own thing with this, just a standalone."

That sounds similar to Clayface, for example, and we can't imagine Gunn will have an issue with Swamp Thing being a standalone tale (plus, he can always use Mangold's movie as a launching platform for projects he won't be involved with; Justice League Dark immediately springs to mind).

"I've been afforded the chance [to work] in different genres, because people will finance it. If I was just a horror director and people only wanted to pay for my horror movies, that would be a different problem," the director later acknowledged. "But part of the joy is that you learn a lot when you are changing genres or the vernacular in some of the way you communicate in your art."

"I've learned a lot, whether it's making an action film, or whether it's making a Western and bringing those energies to a kind of superhero film or Marvel film. You not only learn things making one genre, but then you learn how to carry over lessons from that genre into another one that you might not expect," Mangold concluded.

Swamp Thing will investigate the dark origins of its title character. A release date hasn't been announced by DC Studios and it's unclear whether Mangold plans to start work on this or Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi first.

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64 Comments

1 2

bobevanz - 1/15/2025, 10:18 AM

Fantastic

Urubrodi - 1/15/2025, 10:18 AM

For a character like Swamp Thing doing something isolated is probably for the best.

UncleHarm1 - 1/15/2025, 12:07 PM

@Urubrodi - Probably for the best, but I would love to see some Alan Moore trippiness. Traveling across the universe in his mind through his connection to all the plants. Gimme Altered States with a giant vegetable man

KennKathleen - 1/15/2025, 12:13 PM

@UncleHarm1 -

marvel72 - 1/15/2025, 12:43 PM

@UncleHarm1 - The Bernie Wrightson run is also fantastic, I would love to see that adapted.

JustAWaffle - 1/15/2025, 2:00 PM

@Urubrodi - 100%. This should be an isolated thing. It’s ok if it’s given the feeling of a wider world, but the story should be completely isolated for Swamp Thing to be good

ObserverIO - 1/15/2025, 3:19 PM

@marvel72 - Craven did an okay job. He made a composite of Cable and Abby and it's a hammy old early '80s flick, but it adapts a lot of the early Wein/Wrightson stuff fairly well.

Urubrodi - 1/16/2025, 6:07 AM

@UncleHarm1 - Have my doubts if Mangold would be able to pull this off (Indy 5 was very underwhelming) but that sounds amazing.

Urubrodi - 1/16/2025, 6:09 AM

@JustAWaffle - If they do a Justice League Dark down the road, then sure, have him with other characters, but for his first solo movie, I'd be totally fine having very few DC references.

UncleHarm1 - 1/16/2025, 10:57 AM

@Urubrodi - Sadly, yeah. Dude's talented but besides Logan and 3:10 to Yuma I haven't liked any of his movies. Just give Swamp Thing a cowboy hat and a road trip with someone he doesn't get along with, that's Mangold's wheelhouse.

harryba11zack - 1/15/2025, 10:20 AM

sounds good, just aim for a good film, no more shared universe bs

AgentofSH1ELD - 1/15/2025, 10:35 AM

@harryba11zack - huge fan of the campy 80s movie.

krayzeman - 1/15/2025, 12:02 PM

@harryba11zack - it can be shared but it doesnt have to connect to an overall story. Thats what Gunn said this universe ids going to be

KennKathleen - 1/15/2025, 12:16 PM

@krayzeman - right. It'd be a pleasant Suprise to see someone like Batman interact with swamp thing, as a means to finding an antidote against Poison Ivy. A nice nod is welcomed, not a necessity.

ObserverIO - 1/15/2025, 3:23 PM

@krayzeman - exactly. People get worried when they hear Battinson might be folded into the DCU, but it wouldn't actually change a damn thing about what Reeves is gonna do with those movies. I'm sure Ginn would let them remain standalone in nature and gritty and grounded in tone.

McMurdo - 1/15/2025, 10:38 PM

@ObserverIO - no one's worried about Pattinson because it's simply not happening.

ObserverIO - 1/16/2025, 3:13 AM

@McMurdo - You got more scoops than MTTS huh?

BraveNewClunge - 1/15/2025, 10:20 AM

I never finished the show but from what I remember the first few episodes were great.

Hopefully this is too, even if the DCU seems super random 😒

krayzeman - 1/15/2025, 12:02 PM

@BraveNewClunge - I was so mad they cancelled the show

BraveNewClunge - 1/15/2025, 12:08 PM

@krayzeman - it wasn't on tv where I lived so I had to watch it online but the damn site went down 🤣 which is why I never finished it. I only have good memories of those first few eps

Izaizaiza - 1/15/2025, 10:21 AM

Sounds fantastic. I hope it's a great movie, cuz it's a great character

MisterBones - 1/15/2025, 10:22 AM

This makes thew most sense and is easy for a character like Swamp Thing when you consider his legacy as an Avatar of the Green. There have been multiple Swamp Things. Nice standalone about one of them.

ObserverIO - 1/15/2025, 3:31 PM

@MisterBones - Oh shit yeah, it could be another Swamp Thing. I never thought of that. Could be Ram V's Swamp Thing or Brian K Vaughn's Swamp Thing (Constantine's daughter). That'd be interesting.

ObserverIO - 1/15/2025, 3:35 PM

Could be the original Swamp Thing. The one that only ever appeared in that one self-contained story told in one single issue.

DocSpock - 1/15/2025, 6:49 PM

@ObserverIO -

This and the original Swamp Thing run are some of my favorite collectables. I bought some used well-worn copies because I love rereading and again seeing the epic artwork of it.

McMurdo - 1/15/2025, 10:40 PM

@ObserverIO - such an amazing cover.

ZiggyStarman - 1/15/2025, 10:23 AM

It doesn’t have to lead into another film, just as long as it feels apart of the vast universe and doesn’t contradict or conflict with it.

HulkisHoly - 1/15/2025, 3:58 PM

@ZiggyStarman -

THIS.

Even if it just has characters that may also appear in other DCU stuff then I’m good.

Doesn’t need a nick fury tease at the end kind of crap

BruceWayng - 1/15/2025, 10:24 AM

I’d be ok with this as long as we get a JL Dark movie are another project we’re Swamp Thing pops up in a cameo or a supporting role

We’ve already seen a solo/isolated Swamp Thing in the show that came out a few years ago on the short lived DC app. Granted there were cameos from Blue Devil and Xanadu(that Phantom Stranger cameo doesn’t count) but I love seeing Swamp Thing is a larger universe interacting with the likes of Dead Man and Constantine.

bkmeijer1 - 1/15/2025, 10:25 AM

@BruceWayng - I wouldn't mind Chapter 1 wrapping up with Justice League Dark at all, but I think Justice League International might actually do so instead

bkmeijer1 - 1/15/2025, 10:24 AM

I wonder when we'll see it though, and whether or not that's earlier than his Star Wars movie

TheVisionary25 - 1/15/2025, 10:27 AM

@bkmeijer1 - yeah , I’m curious about which will be sooner

I honestly think both sound interesting especially the SW one so hope they happen.

bkmeijer1 - 1/15/2025, 10:36 AM

@TheVisionary25 - it's probably gonna be a long while though. Same with Waititi's Incal and Star Wars movies.

TheVisionary25 - 1/15/2025, 10:38 AM

@bkmeijer1 - yeah most likely

Hoping for the best!!.

GeneralZod - 1/15/2025, 10:27 AM

This is exciting news, but we could still be several years away from a Swamp Thing movie: "it's unclear whether Mangold plans to start work on this or Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi first."

slickrickdesigns - 1/15/2025, 10:33 AM

It’ll be a great time to bring back the theme/commentary of ruining our environment with toxic waste, oil spoils, dumping dead bodies in the swamp and bad content creators.
Ok maybe the last one isn’t a swamp thing problem.

KurtCrawler - 1/15/2025, 10:34 AM

Love the sound of that, just hoping this movie actually happens. He's easily my favorite DC character.

TheJok3r - 1/15/2025, 10:36 AM

This is something that will give DC a major edge over Marvel, as Marvel's obsession with everything being connected has likely resulted in very good projects being ignored due to them not fitting in the "wider narrative".

HulkisHoly - 1/15/2025, 3:59 PM

@TheJok3r -

THIS.

Gunn is smart to just greenlight good stories so the products stay at a higher quality.

SWAMP THING Director James Mangold Confirms His DCU Debut Will Be A "Standalone Gothic Horror Movie"

Swamp Thing director James Mangold has confirmed he's approaching the DCU movie as a "standalone" project, even if DC Studios has franchise plans for Alec Holland! You can find his comments in full here...

SWAMP THING Showrunner Clears Up Cancelation Reports And Reveals Scrapped Season 2 Plans

Former SWAMP THING Showrunner Mark Verheiden Weighs In On James Mangold's Upcoming Movie

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

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