'Swamp Thing': Kevin Durand Reportedly Up For Villain Role

Kevin Durand, who was a fan-favorite to be cast in the role of Negan for The Walking Dead, may turn out to be a comic book villain after all.

According to That Hashtag Show, the actor is in talks to play Jason Woodrue in Swamp Thing.

Woodrue is a scientist and one of Swamp Thing's most frequent nemeses. In the comics, he would eventually transform into the Floronic Man, a villain who has occasionally been a hero when it suited his needs or the storyline.

Woodrue was will have ties to another character announced earlier this week, when Will Patton joined the cast as General Avery Carlton Sunderland.

Sunderland's involvement in the Swamp Thing TV show is certainly interesting, considering what we already know about the series' plot. In the comics, Sunderland serves as the CEO of the Sunderland Corporation, which has ties to Alec Holland's work with the Bio-Restorative formula. Sunderland becomes intrigued with what exactly happened to Holland, employing a scientist named Jason Woodrue to do an autopsy of sorts on Swamp Thing in the iconic "The Anatomy Lesson" issue. Woodrue eventually learns that Swamp Thing is a separate being from Alec Holland, which motivates Swamp Thing to kill Sunderland.

In the comics, Woodrue (as the Floronic Man) became the villain with the closest ties to The Green, and frequently struggles with Swamp Thing for control of the force that connects Alec Holland to Earth's plant life.

The character is no stranger to other media; besides appearances on various animated TV series, Woodrue was a villain in both Justice League Dark and Batman and Harley Quinn animated movies. He has appeared once before in live action, played by Smallville's John Glover in Batman & Robin.

The series description for Swamp Thing sets up what fans can expect when the new series premieres:

Swamp Thing follows Abby Arcane as she investigates what seems to be a deadly swamp-born virus in a small town in Louisiana but soon discovers that the swamp holds mystical and terrifying secrets. When unexplainable and chilling horrors emerge from the murky marsh, no one is safe

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