James Gunn has revealed some of his and Peter Safran's plans for the first phase of the new DCU, with one of the projects being a horror film based on the DC character of Swamp Thing. Since Gunn and Safran took over DC Studios as the creative heads in November 2022, news on how they would alter the DCU to become a connected universe has been sorely anticipated. With Gunn taking to Twitter in December 2022 promising to deliver news in January 2023, the new DC Studios boss has delivered on his promise.
From a new Superman movie titled Superman: Legacy to Lanterns, a detective-themed Green Lantern series, Gunn and Safran’s plans caused much excitement surrounding DC film and TV. However, alongside these announcements came something unexpected: a reboot of Swamp Thing, formerly part of the Arrowverse. The character of Swamp Thing has been a staple of DC Comics for a long time and has had different iterations over the years.
Swamp Thing's Origin In DC Comics
The most popular of Swamp Thing's iterations, and likely the one that will serve as the basis for the DCU's Swamp Thing is Alec Hollands whose memories serve as the basis for Swamp Thing's superhero actions. In the DC Universe, Alec Holland was a scientist working with his wife Linda to invent something known as the Bio-Restorative Formula. This formula was intended by the Hollands to end the world's natural food shortages, as it was supposed to stimulate the hormonal growth of plant life, allowing it to grow in usually hostile terrain.
While Alec — highly considered to be in the DC Universe's movie of Swamp Thing — was working one night, thugs were hired to blow up his lab because Alec refused to give a criminal organization known as the Conclave the Bio-Restorative Formula. Alec was knocked out by the thugs as the bomb was planted, waking up shortly after its detonation. Engulfed in flames, Alec ran into the nearby swamp not knowing that his body had been drenched in the formula. This altered the plant life of the swamp, imbuing it with Alec's consciousness. This plant life formed a humanoid body and became the superhero known as Swamp Thing.
Swamp Thing's Powers In DC Comics
As with every DC superhero, Swamp Thing has his fair share of powers and attributes that will help him stand tall next to James Gunn's Superman. Due to his nature as an Elemental — a being composed of sentient matter — Swamp Thing has a self-sustaining power that means he can be healed through processes such as photosynthesis or composting. Swamp Thing also has superhuman strength which can become nearly limitless when connected to The Green, the elemental force connected to plant life. Swamp Thing's elemental status means he can control all plant life meaning he is also in constant communication with Earth's essence.
Swamp Thing's connection to all plant life also enables him to have a form of teleportation. He can grow a body in another area through The Green and imbue his consciousness within it. Through this, Swamp Thing can also be considered immortal as long as there is plant life somewhere on Earth to which his consciousness can be transferred. All this, among a few other powers linked to his Chlorokinesis, makes Swamp Thing a very powerful superhero.
How Swamp Thing Will Fit In The DC Universe
This begs the question of how Swamp Thing will fit into James Gunn and Peter Safran's upcoming DCU. As per Gunn's comments, the Swamp Thing movie will be a dark horror movie that will explore the origins of Swamp Thing. Gunn also stated that it would be very tonally different from everything else announced thus far in the DCU while still linking to the universe. This likely means that Swamp Thing will tell the story of Alec Holland, his wife, and the Bio-Restorative Formula. This story has the potential to be very tragic, tying into the dark story Gunn teased.
Another thing Gunn mentioned in his DCU announcement video — that mentions a new DCU Batman and Robin story — is that every different project will have the director/writer's distinct tone and feel. This ties to Swamp Thing, which will be imbued with horror elements. While this is the case, Gunn reiterated that every project would fit into the story, making it clear that Swamp Thing will be no different despite its dark, DC Comics-inspired origins.