One of the most intriguing creations of the DC Universe (from the brilliant minds of Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson), the Swamp Thing is looking to rise from the murky depths of its watery home in a new live-action series, and Derek Mears has been cast to play the iconic DC Comics creature!
Splash Report revealed that Mears is up for the Swamp Thing role, and Bloody Disgusting confirmed the news. Mears will be playing the creature version of Swamp Thing, but the human side of the character, Dr. Alec Holland, has yet to be cast.
Horror fans of course are no stranger to Mears, who has appeared in a wide range of genre projects over the years, including Predators, The Aggression Scale, Twin Peaks, Hatchet III, and 2009's Friday the 13th, in which he played Jason Voorhees. According to Bloody Disgusting, Mears joins a Swamp Thing cast that already includes Crystal Reed (Gotham) as Abby Arcane and Maria Sten (Channel Zero: The Dream Door) as Liz Tremayne.
Back in August, Splash Report revealed that Len Wiseman (Underworld, Lucifer) will helm the pilot episode of the Swamp Thing series, which is expected to begin principal photography this autumn in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Variety previously reported that a new Swamp Thing series has received a "script-to-series order" at the new streaming service DC Universe. Gary Dauberman (co-writer of 2017's IT, writer of IT: Chapter Two, and the writer/director of the upcoming third film in the Annabelle franchise) and Mark Verheiden (Ash vs Evil Dead) are co-writing and executive producing the series, with James Wan (Aquaman, The Conjuring) and Michael Clear also executive producing the project (through Wan's Atomic Monster label). Rob Hackett of Atomic Monster will also be on board via Atomic Monster, and Warner Bros. Television is producing in conjunction with Atomic Monster.
According to Variety, the Swamp Thing series will revolve around "CDC researcher Abby Arcane, who returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. She develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland, only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all."
Described as a "one-hour drama series," Swamp Thing is looking to premiere in 2019, although we'll have to wait and see if the project gets an official green light before it moves forward into a full-on series.
No stranger to the screen, Wein and Wrightson's Swamp Thing character was the subject of Wes Craven's 1982 movie of the same name, as well as 1989's The Return of Swamp Thing and the live-action television show Swamp Thing: The Series (that ran from 1990-1993 on the USA Network). Dick Durock played the titular character in all three projects. Are you looking forward to the latest adaptation of the iconic creature?
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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