The monstrous hero Swamp Thing will come to the big screen thanks to the new DCU plan of the new CEOs of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran, whose first part is titled Chapter One: Gods and Monsters (Chapter One: Gods and Monsters). monsters). It seems that We already know which section of that title Swamp Thing fits into.…
In recent years, the character has received a good deal of attention by the media, including his inclusion in the character roster of the 2017 fighting game Injustice 2, as well as his own live-action television series on DC Universe. Unfortunately, that series only lasted one season, and the service itself is long gone.
Even so, Swamp Thing has had a long and interesting history in DC Comics. Here’s everything you need to know about this character’s roots and the role he plays (and can play) in the DCU..
Who is Swamp Thing?
Alec Holland was a brilliant scientist developing a “bio-restorative formula” that promised to forever change the fields of botany and medicine. But when Holland refused to sell his formula, his lab was sabotaged. Holland was doused with flaming chemicals and dove into the nearby swamp to save himself. Instead, emerged as a giant plant-like monster. Without his old life, Holland was left wandering the swamp and punishing anyone who threatened her new home.
Swamp Thing has few real connections to the human world. One of them is Abigail Arcane, the only woman capable of seeing and loving the man under the moss. The other is John Constantine, who started out as a minor character in the Swamp Thing Saga before going on his own adventures.
Swamp Thing powers and abilities
One only has to look at Swamp Thing to realize that he is a powerful monster, but super strength is the least of his abilities. With a body that is more plant matter than human tissue, Swamp Thing can alter its shape, change its size, and extend various vines and tendrils. You can even develop wings when you need to fly from Point A to Point B.
The most impressive thing is that Swamp Thing has direct control over all plant life, not only on Earth, but anywhere in the universe. Although his body is not invulnerable, Swamp Thing is basically immortal. As long as there is plant life to cling to, be it a tree, bush, or piece of plant, Swamp Thing can transmit its consciousness and rebuild its body anew. He often uses this ability to travel from plant to plant, meaning he can go pretty much anywhere in the world where there is plant life.
It’s understandable why many consider Swamp Thing one of the most powerful heroes in the DC Universe.
Swamp Thing: origin and background
Swamp Thing debuted in 1971., in House of Secrets #92, where he appeared as a man from the early 20th century who was murdered by a jealous rival and returned as a plant monster to defend his wife. The character received his own series the following year, with creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson reworking the concept to suit a more contemporary setting. But the fundamentals didn’t change, and thus Alec Holland was born in 1972’s Swamp Thing #1.
The very existence of Swamp Thing is defined by the question: “Is it a man who looks like a plant or a plant who thinks he is a man?”. This question was at the core of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing Saga, considered by many to be the best in the character’s long history. Early on, Moore revealed that Swamp Thing isn’t actually a transformed Alec Holland. Holland died as a result of his injuries. Swamp Thing is nothing more than a mysterious form of plant life that absorbed fragments of Holland’s consciousness and memories. Naturally, he is a character prone to questioning his very existence and his place in the universe. That existence always seems to be in flux, as DC comics have recently taken a radical turn and suggested that Alec Holland continues to exist within Swamp Thing.
The mythology of Swamp Thing was further complicated by the addition of elements like The Green One and the Parliament of Trees. Green is something like The Force, in the sense that it is a field of living energy that unites all plant life in the universe and is the source of Swamp Thing’s powers.
These energy fields also exist as real places, and the Green is home to the Parliament of Trees. These powerful and eternal Plant Elementals oversee all plant life in the universe. As it turns out, Parliament has always counted on a Swamp Thing to carry out its will in the human world, and Alec Holland is simply the latest in a long line of Swamp Things.
Swamp Thing: Beyond the Comics and Into the DCU
Swamp Thing has enjoyed quite a healthy run outside of comics. In fact, he was the first DC hero, after Batman and Superman, to star in his own live-action movie. Horror icon Wes Craven directed Swamp Thing in 1982, which was fairly well received. This was followed in 1989 by the very low-budget sequel The Return of Swamp Thing, which was not.
Swamp Thing also starred in a live-action and animated television series in the early ’90s., the first of which enjoyed considerable popularity between 1990 and 1993. More recently, he has appeared in the animated series Justice League In Action and the animated film Justice League Dark. Alec Holland was mentioned in the short-lived NBC series Constantine, but unfortunately it was canceled before he could appear in the flesh (vegetable meat?). And, of course, he also had a one-season series on DC Universe starring Andy Bean and Derek Mears as Swamp Thing, Crystal Reed as Abby Arcane, and Virginia Madsen as Maria Sunderland.
Apart from Injustice 2, Swamp Thing has appeared in various games. Several video games were developed based on the 1991 animated series. Swamp Thing has also been a playable character in the MOBA game Infinite Crisis and in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
Swamp Thing was expected to return to the big screen in Dark Universe, a horror-flavored DC movie inspired by the Justice League Dark comic book series. That project seemed perpetually stuck in development hell, and now it’s clear that James Gunn and Peter Safran have found a different way to bring the character to the big screen.. In fact, Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate director James Mangold is said to be in talks to write and direct Swamp Thing for Warner Bros.
