‘Swamp Thing’ Villain Revealed in New Character Descriptions

Earlier this year, DC fans were surprised to discover that a Swamp Thing television series is headed to the DC Universe streaming service. And now, we have a better idea of who the series’ first big bad could be.

That Hashtag Show recently uncovered a pair of casting descriptions for Swamp Thing, which hint at two new male characters joining the series. Perhaps the most notable – and most ambiguous – one calls for a late-40s to late-50s actor “in the mold of Lawrence Fishburne or Jeff Goldblum”, to play a “smart, slick, and cunning” villain.

While it’s too early to tell exactly who that villain could be, there are quite a few established characters that feel entirely possible. The first is Anton Arcane, the scientist and magician uncle of Abby Arcane. In an attempt to cure Alec Holland/Swamp Thing, he ends up taking on the sort of swamp powers for himself — and uses them for evil reasons. For diehard fans, Anton is a pretty familiar villain, thanks to Louis Jourdan’s portrayal in the early Swamp Thing films.

But there’s also a chance that this mystery villain could be General Avery Carlton Sunderland, the president and CEO of the company that Abby works for. Sunderland’s main role is to uncover the mystery of Swamp Thing, with some pretty dire consequences.

The second casting description is a little more clear, as it appears to be for Matthew Cable. The series is looking for a James Marsden-esque actor in their mid-30s, who is “the sheriff of the town and former high school sweetheart of Abby”. Cable, who is described as “a good guy with anger issues”, has a pretty unique story within the pages of DC Comics, eventually being resurrected and given powers, and crossing paths with the Doom Patrol.

It’s unclear exactly how that could play out within Swamp Thing (especially with Doom Patrol also among DC Universe’s original shows), but some fans will surely be delighted to see Cable play a role.

Swamp Thing was first given a script-to-series order in May of this year, to the delight of DC Comics and horror fans alike. The project will be co-written by Mark Verheiden (Daredevil, Battlestar Galactica) and Gary Dauberman (It), who would serve as showrunners if the series gets picked up. Aquaman director James Wan is set to executive produce, alongside Atomic Monster’s Michael Clear, with Atomic Monster’s Rob Hackett set to co-produce.

What do you think about these latest casting descriptions for Swamp Thing? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Swamp Thing is expected to debut on DC Universe sometime in 2019.