Swamp Thing - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your Swamp Thing Topic!

[millennium]

Clever thread title.

As I understand it, this series is not a done deal. 

Quote

if DC Entertainment approves of the script, the series will be ordered straight to series with an intended 2019 debut - bypassing the filming of a standalone pilot.

https://www.newsarama.com/39752-swamp-thing-tv-show-coming-in-2019.html

Edited May 5, 2018 by millennium

[MarkHB]

Oh, it's definitely going to be a thing.  They've announced Crystal Reed of Teen Wolf and also Sofia Falcone on Gotham as the female lead, Abby Arcane, and also Maria Sten (a main cast member in Season 4 of Channel Zero) as her friend, bartender and local reporter Liz Tremayne.

[AnimeMania]

Swamp Thing TV Show Casts Jennifer Beals In Recurring Role

[MarkHB]

We have our Alec... and our Swamp Thing!

[MarkHB]

And one more... Kevin Durand will be Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man.

[Dee]

‘Swamp Thing’: Ian Ziering To Play Daniel Cassidy In DC Universe Series

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Sharknado star Ian Ziering is set for a key recurring role opposite Crystal Reed in Swamp Thing, the upcoming streaming drama series based on the DC characters created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. The project, which hails from James Wan’s Atomic Monster in association with Warner Bros. Television, is set to premiere in 2019 on the DC Universe digital subscription service.

Ziering will play stuntman turned movie star Daniel Cassidy, who became semi-famous after playing the demonic Blue Devil. But now, eight years later, Cassidy finds himself living out his days in frustration, pining for his former fame while on a collision course with destiny.  

Edited December 13, 2018 by Dee

[BetterButter]

[MarkHB]

Well this is highly unfortunate....

Production of DC Universe’s Wilmington-shot series to end early as Warner Bros. evaluates future of DC Universe streaming service
 

The article says they're truncating at 10 episodes, rather than 13.

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Well this is highly unfortunate....

Production of DC Universe’s Wilmington-shot series to end early as Warner Bros. evaluates future of DC Universe streaming service
 

The article says they're truncating at 10 episodes, rather than 13.

Here's hoping if they do end the DC Universe streaming service that the shows go to some place like Netflix because I would really like to see them.

[BetterButter]

[MarkHB]

Strange indeed...

[BetterButter]

[ShadowHunter]

I can't invest in another streaming site. Too may already. We have more still to arrive. 

The trailer did not wow me but I would have checked it. Hopefully they make the episodes free like You Tube will do with Cobra Kai. 

Only 10 episodes that could be better but it does not sound good.

I do have fondness for Swamp Thing. Hell me and me brother use to watch Return of Swamp Thing a lot as a kid. We thought it was good lol. 

[BetterButter]

[MarkHB]

S01.E01 : Pilot (2019/05/31)

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Something unnatural is happening in the swamps outside Marais, Louisiana. When a mysterious illness strikes the town, CDC investigator (and former Marais native) Abby Arcane is sent to investigate. At the hospital, she encounters biologist Alec Holland who believes the bizarre illness might be connected to his scientific work in the swamp for powerful businessman Avery Sunderland. Abby has a history with Avery and Maria Sunderland, who still blames the young Arcane for the tragic death of her daughter years before. But with a deadly swamp-born virus out there, something is wrong in Marais right now. Along with Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Cable, Abby once again crosses paths with Alec, but this time they encounter a terrifying, dark force that’s not only killed intruders, but is also taking control of its victims. At Delroy’s Roadhouse, Abby consults her old friend and local reporter Liz Tremayne who has a lead deep in the swamp. When Alec goes missing after investigating the unnatural experiments deep in the swamp, something else rises in his place: Swamp Thing, a mysterious creature born of the depths of the swamp’s mystical and terrifying secrets. With nature wildly out of balance and coming for the people of Marais, in the end, it may take some Thing from the swamp to save it.

[starri]

It's really a shame that DC Universe has already decided to basically cut bait.  It's actually very intriguing.

[MarkHB]

4 hours ago, starri said:

It's really a shame that DC Universe has already decided to basically cut bait.  It's actually very intriguing.

I don't think they've given up on the show. Yes, they trimmed the season order, but we have no idea why and I'm unwilling to jump to the conclusion that there won't be a season 2.

Having watched the pilot, I'm very interested in seeing where it goes.

[Lokiberry]

This was a disappointment. It felt like a particularly slow moving episode of the X-Files. From one of the later seasons. Too much time spent on nonsense and vines creeping on people before we got around to swamp thinging  Alec Holland. Also, unless Crystal Reed shot Virginia Madsen's daughter just to watch her die, I don't care. 

I floved Doom Patrol, Titans irritated me with it's wangst, and this is boring and a more than a bit gross. So, that's 1 for 3 for the Dc streaming service. 

[BetterButter]

‘Swamp Thing’ Canceled After One Season at DC Universe

[Dee]

Wow. That was quick.

[ShadowHunter]

Damn canceled already on a streaming service that is not a huge hit. I hope one of the ones I already have picks it up.

[MarkHB]

Apparently, the show was cancelled not because of fan reception or even creative differences, but because there was some kind of a screwup in Raleigh and while WB thought the state was going to give them a $40 million tax break, they almost got nothing but finally are going to get c. $13 million.  I've seen one blurb that HBO and the CW are both mulling picking it up; I don't subscribe to HBO and am ROFL at the idea that "the role of the Louisiana swamps will now be played by Vancouver."

[Trini]

Did they get to finish producing the 10 episodes?

[MarkHB]

4 hours ago, Trini said:

Did they get to finish producing the 10 episodes?

Yes, and they had enough warning to come up with a true end for the series as opposed to leaving stuff hanging, from what I've read.

[starri]

17 hours ago, MarkHB said:

I've seen one blurb that HBO and the CW are both mulling picking it up

That strikes me as fanboy wishful thinking.  CW money wouldn't pay for that level of production values, and HBO already has Watchmen in the pipe for comic-based prestige television.

[MarkHB]

37 minutes ago, starri said:

That strikes me as fanboy wishful thinking.  CW money wouldn't pay for that level of production values, and HBO already has Watchmen in the pipe for comic-based prestige television.

ITA on the CW, plus the changes that would have to be made to make it suitable for broadcast television would likely gut what they were trying to do.  HBO... who knows, really?  I see your point about Watchmen but there may be corporate machinations at play with the recurring shakeups in WarnerMedia streaming.

[MarkHB]

S01.E02: Worlds Apart (2019.06.07)

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Certain that Alec's disappearance is more than an accident, Abby and Matt venture into the swamp, where she encounters Swamp Thing. Scientist Jason Woodrue comes to Marais.

Here's a more spoilery long version:

Spoiler

While Sheriff Lucilia Cable (series star JENNIFER BEALS) searches for Alec unsuccessfully, Abby theorizes that it was more than an accident and retrieves his video journals from Daniel Cassidy (special guest star IAN ZIERING). When one of her patients, Susie Coyle (guest star ELLE GRAHAM), escapes from the hospital, Abby and Matt follow her into the swamp. There, Abby encounters Swamp Thing – a creature that Susie later identifies as Alec Holland. While Alec struggles to understand his metamorphosis into the monstrous, plant-based creature, known as Swamp Thing, Avery meets with Jason Woodrue (series regular KEVIN DURAND), the scientist who initially developed the biological accelerant responsible for the “green flu” and orders him to halt the epidemic. And Maria Sunderland reaches out to Madame Xanadu (series star JERYL PRESCOTT) in order to communicates with her dead daughter, Shawna (guest star GIVEN SHARP).

[BetterButter]

North Carolina Film Office denies that tax screw-ups are what killed the Swamp Thing

[skotnikov]

That's definitely the best show of the 2019 (and I'm not a fan of comic based shows whatsoever), how they could cancel it is beyond me.

[MarkHB]

S1.E3: He Speaks (2019.06.14)

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When her friend and co-worker is stricken with the green flu, Abby searches Alec’s lab for a cure, but instead finds the latest supernatural reanimation from the Rot.

I'll add the E3 synopsis later, but right now I'll just say that, in the scene in the lab, those damn bugs were buzzing in my surround sound and it was creepy as hell... Really sounded like I was surrounded by them.

[steelyis]

I was pleasantly surprised Swamp Thing and Bug Dude's confrontation didn't devolve into them throwing each other around the room and through walls for five minutes. It was also refreshing to see Swamp Thing show so much compassion and end Bug Dude's suffering. I wasn't expecting that kind of non-violent resolution from such a gory show.

It was nice.

I don't care for Matt's crush on Abby because I know any romance between them is doomed, and inevitability is not exciting. And since the show will only have one season it feels like an even bigger waste of time. Time the show could be spending on almost anything else.

Does Jennifer Beals ever age? The woman's looked 35 for twenty years. So has Ian Ziering.

I want to look as good as them when I'm in my fifties, too.

[UNOSEZ]

2 hours ago, steelyis said:

Does Jennifer Beals ever age? The woman's looked 35 for twenty years.

Black don't crack baby.. Or as they say in my very mixed race light skin household... Beige don't age... 

[Trini]

On 6/14/2019 at 9:00 PM, skotnikov said:

That's definitely the best show of the 2019 (and I'm not a fan of comic based shows whatsoever), how they could cancel it is beyond me.

Sounds to me like it was a purely financial decision (to not make any more episodes), rather than a creative or ratings based one. (Too expensive? They think they'll get a better ROI with Lobo?)

[cdnalor]

I couldn't see this show lasting more than two or three seasons anyway if all the stories have to take place in and around the swamp, since Swamp Thing can't leave it.  One season might be enough if given a proper resolution.  I confess I don't remember much about the comic so maybe there were more story angles that I'm not seeing.  I'm pretty sure that after ten episodes, I'll have seen enough green glop to last me a while.

Edited June 16, 2019 by cdnalor

[MarkHB]

Swampy himself is not necessarily tied to the swamp (although for what we have of this series he probably will be).  There are signs in what we've seen so far that they would have gotten into a lot of DC's magical infrastructure that has built up since Alan Moore, and there were reports that the episodes that weren't filmed... (spoiler-tagged in case some of this stayed in)

Spoiler

...were going to set up the Parliament of Trees.

I'll also point out that, in the scene in Episode 2 with Madame Xanadu and Maria, Maria calls Xanadu by her actual name, so if you missed that go back and watch with closed-captioning turned on (and then Google if you need to).  It's intriguing to me that Maria actually KNOWS that name....

[MarkHB]

S01.E04: Darkness on the Edge of Town (2019.06.21)

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While Swamp Thing senses a growing darkness within the swamp, Abby’s return dredges up her dark history with the Sunderlands. We learn more about the mysterious Dan Cassidy.

[MarkHB]

I think this episode was an example of what the bosses wanted, more about Swampy defeating weird badness. It almost felt like he and Abby were doing a procedural.

[Trini]

This may be speculation, since he doesn't say who or where he heard it from (but he works in the industry and has contacts), but Marc Bernardin says one reason this was cancelled was that essentially, the sets were too expensive. At 52:00 on the Fatman Beyond podcast.

[AnimeMania]

The show was incredibly lax about portraying people who know how to work with infectious diseases.

Episode 1, Dr. Arcane is walking to a barrel to burn her hemorrhagic fever tainted gloves, but before she does that, she uses the infected gloves to grab her scrubs, rubbing her infected gloves all over it, then she grabs her favorite friend, rubbing her infected gloves all over him. She burns the scrubs and one of her gloves, the other infected glove she removes with her bare hand and leaves in her hand and proceeds to rub it all over the file she was just handed.

Dr. Arcane then goes to the hospital in Louisiana an tell everybody that when treating patients everybody must wear goggles and then the next scene she is visiting a patient without any eye protection.

Episode 3, Dr. Arcane walks in on the autopsy by Jason Woodrue and gets very close to the body of an infected cadaver wearing street clothes, Woodrue is also inadequately dressed to be working on an infectious cadaver.

[MarkHB]

Although I'm enjoying the show, I was never a huge Swamp Thing fan.  But now I found out who's coming in this week AS A RECURRING GUEST NO LESS and I'm royally PISSED about the cancellation.  (It's out there in the new synopsis, which I'll post here Friday.)

[MarkHB]

S01.E05 : Drive All Night (2019.06.28)

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While Swamp Thing struggles to come to terms with his transformation with the help of a Phantom Stranger, Jason Woodrue shares a revelation with Avery Sunderland.

[AnimeMania]

Episode 4: Boring, not a bad concept, they just chose people and situations that nobody cares about. To me this would be considered a filler episode since it didn't move the story forward one bit, except for the Sunderlands bizarre interest in raising Susie Coyle.

First guy that was infected was fine, very dramatic, but he scratches Liz Tremayne's father. Nobody knows who he is and nobody cares. Why not scratch Liz Tremayne, at least we have seen her before and know a little about her? Then Sheriff Lucilia Cable gets scratched and all we learn is that although she is constantly busting her son's balls, she loves him deeply. Then Doctor Abby Arcane gets scratched and all we learn is that she was afraid someone might take her from her mother. This coming from someone who claims she killed her best friend. This could have been the perfect time to give us a little clue about what happened that day, but instead we got nothing. Think of the possiblities that could have been introduced if they had scratched some of the more interesting characters like:

Maria Sunderland - already seeing her dead daughter, can she get any worse

Avery Sunderland - horrible man, who has done horrible things

Xanadu - even though blind, I bet she has seen some shit

Daniel Cassidy - might have given some insight into why he is hanging around this crap town

[MarkHB]

S01.E06: The Price You Pay (2019.07.05)

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While Swamp Thing finds a new way to communicate with Abby, Matt learns the truth about Alec Holland and Avery pressures Woodrue to deliver results.

On 6/29/2019 at 2:04 PM, AnimeMania said:

Maria Sunderland - already seeing her dead daughter, can she get any worse

Avery Sunderland - horrible man, who has done horrible things

Xanadu - even though blind, I bet she has seen some shit

Daniel Cassidy - might have given some insight into why he is hanging around this crap town

Have you watched Episode 5 yet? Because some of these were definitely addressed.

So far as the Phantom Stranger went, no, he didn't look like he does in the comics.  But he served as a spirit guide / exposition fairy which IS very much what he does in the comics so I was fine with it.  A white turtleneck, cloak and fedora aren't exactly the best attire for a swamp boat, after all.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Have you watched Episode 5 yet? Because some of these were definitely addressed.

Yep saw it, just saying to me episode 4 was almost filler, when choosing the right hosts could have made it compelling. An Abby nightmare recalling of Shawna Sunderland's death might explain why Abby feels so guilty about it.

Was Abby really responsible for Shawna Sunderland's death, maybe 20%.

[MarkHB]

16 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Was Abby really responsible for Shawna Sunderland's death, maybe 20%.

I haven't seen Episode 6 yet, but I'm thinking that the Black, the Rot, claimed Shawna as its own, the Avatar of Decay. Which very much gets us into the whole DC Principles of Magic.

[AnimeMania]

This Swamp Thing show is bogged down, they should have picked up the pace. An interesting show could have gotten here in half the time.

[MarkHB]

S01.E07: Brilliant Disguise (2019.07.12)

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While Maria meets with the shadowy finance group known as the Conclave, Lucilia leads Avery out into the swamp under false pretenses.

You know, with all the episode naming patterns they could have used for a show set in the Louisiana swamps, they picked.... Springsteen titles? Nothing against The Boss, but he's not who I instinctively think of for that milieu.

[cdnalor]

3 hours ago, MarkHB said:

S01.E07: Brilliant Disguise (2019.07.12)

You know, with all the episode naming patterns they could have used for a show set in the Louisiana swamps, they picked.... Springsteen titles? Nothing against The Boss, but he's not who I instinctively think of for that milieu.

Well, now I'm wondering which episode could have used Buckwheat Zydeco's "Waitin' For My Ya Ya" as a title.

[MarkHB]

Note to DCU fans: Titans discussion at Primetimer has moved to its own forum.  If you're looking for it, please go there.