Shortly after DC Studios announced its "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" slate, Logan director James Mangold shared a photo of Swamp-Thing on Twitter.
We later learned that he'll take the helm of the Swamp-Thing movie announced by James Gunn and Peter Safran at the end of January, though it's unclear when the filmmaker will actually have time to work on that.
Next up for Mangold is his long-awaited Timothée Chalamet-fronted Bob Dylan biopic, with the current plan being for him to follow it with his "Dawn of the Jedi" Star Wars movie. Still, it's a project he's clearly excited to tackle in the not-too-distant future.
Talking to Variety, the director shed new light on how he's approaching Swamp-Thing.
"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 confirmed, revealing he was "toying for years with the idea of making a kind of Frankenstein movie."
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Upon learning that Gunn and Safran would be taking charge of the DCU, he "put in a friendly call" to suggest he could develop Swamp-Thing while, "Just doing my own thing with this, just a standalone."
It's hard to imagine DC Studios being happy with Alec Holland being a one-and-done character, so chances are the movie will be used as a launching platform for Swamp-Thing to appear elsewhere. For Mangold, however, it's clearly a one-off rather than the opening chapter of a trilogy or anything along those lines.
The character previously appeared in a short-lived TV series on DC Universe that was loved by fans, but scrapped due to budget constraints. That news was met with a negative response, and while we don't expect this movie to be tied to that in any way, the fact Swamp Thing is returning to a live-action setting - in theaters, no less - is fantastic news.
Stay tuned for updates.