After more than a year of near silence, DC Studios has confirmed that James Mangold‘s gothic horror take on Swamp Thing has not quietly rotted away. Speaking with Deadline at the premiere of Clayface, studio co-CEO Peter Safran said the long gestating creature feature remains in active development.
“We’re working on it, absolutely,” Safran said, adding that “the script is being written as we speak.” He noted that because Mangold is already attached to write and direct, the project’s timeline hinges on the filmmaker’s own availability rather than any creative holdup behind the scenes.
The reassurance arrives amid uncertainty around DC Studios’ broader slate: projects including Paradise Lost, The Authority and Sgt. Rock have reportedly been shelved indefinitely, and Swamp Thing‘s own radio silence since
Mangold, who directed Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, has previously described his pitch as a stripped down, atmospheric gothic horror story about “a man who is also a monster,” rather than a conventional superhero origin wedged into the wider DC universe. That premise, floated not long after James Gunn and Safran took the reins at DC Studios, has reportedly stayed intact even as other titles around it have come and gone.
No director’s start date, cast or release window has been confirmed. For now, the project remains alive but submerged.
