'Swamp Thing' Casts Virginia Madsen in Recurring Role

Dune and Candyman veteran Virginia Madsen has been cast in the role of Maria Sunderland on DC Universe's Swamp Thing.

According to Deadline, who first reported the news, Madsen will play Maria Sunderland, who traded in her privileged upbringing for the swamps of Marais when she married local business magnate Avery Sunderland (not yet cast), but Avery's life-time obsession with the swamp has driven a wedge between him and Maria. Her poised existence is shaken further when the return of Abby Arcane reawakens a deep grief over the loss of Maria's daughter, Shawna, drawing her into the dark supernatural mysteries emerging from the swamp.

Madsen has never appeared in a comic book project before, although her brother Michael was in Sin City in 2005 and in the Playstation Network adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's Powers.

Swamp Thing 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.

The official description for the series can be found below.

"When CDC researcher Abby Arcane returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland — only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp's mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous — and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all."

Swamp Thing, who was first introduced to DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s, has had a weird history of making it into live action. Most notably, Wes Craven wrote and directed a 1982 live-action film about the character, which was followed by live-action and animated series in the 1990s.

Despite popping up in animated movies in recent years, there have been several attempts to bring Swamp Thing back into live-action, most notably in the Justice League Dark ensemble film. While the Justice League Dark film still has legs at Warner Bros., there's no telling what this TV series could mean for Swamp Thing's role in that film.

Are you excited to see Swamp Thing make it to the small screen? Let us know what you think in the comments below.