It seems that the first race is on to who will direct the new DC projects that were announced by DC Studios on Tuesday. James Mangold is looking to direct Swamp Thing.
Following the announcements on Tuesday, director James Mangold shared an image of Swamp Thing on social media from co-creator Bernie Wrightson. This tweet was later retweeted by DC-Studios co-chair James Gunn.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) February 1, 2023
Now, more fuel has been added to the rumor fire as The Hollywood Reporter has said that talks are underway for the director to take on the project. Mangold is currently finishing up work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which is due for release June 30.
Should Mangold pick up this project, it won’t be his first foray into comic book territory. He famously directed the last Wolverine film, Logan, which was met with both fan and critical praise for its take on the final days of Marvel’s most famous mutant.
When the 10 DC Studios projects were announced on Tuesday, no directors were named for any of the projects. Since the projects can’t move forward with casting or pre-production until a director is chosen, this is a good step to see that the talks are even moving forward at this point.
This will mark the fifth live-action take on Swamp Thing, and sixth overall. Previously there were two films released in 1982 and 1989. Two live-action TV series were released in 1990 and 2019. And there was one animated series that only had five episodes released in 1990. Which, if you have never seen its opening credits, you really need to.
No word on a release date for the Swamp Thing movie as of yet.
