Alex Garland Wants to Direct a Swamp Thing Movie

Ex Machina and Annihilation director Alex Garland has become a sort of critical and fan favorite over the years, and it sounds like he’d be interested in lending his talents to a very specific comic book property.

During a recent Reddit AMA, Garland was asked which comic book character he would like the chance to adapt. As the director revealed, he’d most want a go at DC Comics‘ Swamp Thing.

Considering Garland’s experience in the science fiction realm, it’s pretty easy to see him handle a Swamp Thing movie. His previous scripts for films like Ex Machina, Sunshine, and Never Let Me Go have blended sci-fi elements into reality in a breathtaking way, something that would work well for Dr. Alec Holland. Plus, Garland also has somewhat of a history in the comic book realm, previously writing the screenplay to 2012’s cult classic Judge Dredd.

While Swamp Thing has been brought into live-action quite a bit over the years – most notably in the Wes Craven-directed film – the recent ventures to bring him onscreen have been less than successful. Swamp Thing is expected to be amongst the cast of Justice League Dark, a film that has gone through several director changes since being announced in 2014.

Some inklings of how Swamp Thing could be brought to screen have been made public, largely in a stunning piece of test footage from Joseph Kahn’s Justice League Dark pitch.

Outside of that, there has been some interest in having Swamp Thing carry his own movie, with the possibility of a solo film being teased by Warner Bros. back in 2014. Interestingly, Swamp Thing almost got a solo film within DC’s animated space, with him ultimately being folded into the animated Justice League Dark film.

At the moment, it’s safe to assume that a similar thing will happen in live action, with Swamp Thing being brought to screen first in Justice League Dark. But if Garland’s interest in directing a Swamp Thing solo film gains enough traction, who knows what could happen.

Annihilation will be released on February 23rd.