A Justice League Dark film has been in an out of development for the better part of 4 years now. Originally meant to be a live-action film starring some of DC's biggest mystical characters, it was recently announced the Justice League Dark is making its feature debut as an animated film. The movie comes from director Jay Oliva (Young Justice, Batman: Assault on Arkham), along with Director of Animation at DC, Mike Carlin.

Justice League Dark has contained many otherworldly characters, but the film version focuses on Zatana, John Constantine (with Matt Ryan reprising his role from the NBC series), Deadman, The Demon (Etrigan), Black Orchid, and Swamp Thing. Batman is also a big part of this film, which operates in a totally different realm than Batman: The Killing Joke, which was the last animated feature to get a wide release.

Prolific music video director Joseph Kahn revealed on Twitter that he'd pitched his own version of Dark Universe before DC chose to bring Justice League Dark to light as an animated feature. Kahn put 8 seconds of Swamp Thing test footage up on his Vimeo page, and it's one of the creepiest versions of the character ever seen. Judge for yourself:

Swamp Thing Animation from Joseph Kahn on Vimeo.

Even though the clip is short, the attention to detail is phenomenal - with what appears to be algae and water falling off him as he walks (and the swarm of tiny bugs that follow in his wake). Those heavy, ominous footsteps, glowing eyes, and large stature are the stuff of nightmares. The idea of Swamp Thing has always seemed a bit theatrical given his ability to manipulate vegetation, but this eight-second version embodies all of the superhuman strength the character is renowned for. It's a shame fans won't get to see this version of Swamp Thing on film. Not yet, anyway.

The character has his own storied history dating back to his first appearance in the pages of DC Comics in 1971, and the character was included in DC's New 52 relaunch back in 2011. Swamp Thing even served as a major linchpin for the Blackest Night/Brightest Day cross-over even that saw many characters from all walks of the DC Universe team up to stop Nekron and his Black Lanterns from destroying the world.

Aside from his history of making pop-stars look good, Kahn was part of Adi Shankar's unauthorized Power/Rangers bootleg short film that is now up to almost 19 million views.

NEXT: Justice League Dark Sneak Peek Video

Justice League Dark will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD Video sometime during fall 2016.

Source: Joseph Kahn