DC Studios Reveals Why They’re Waiting for James Mangold to Make Swamp Thing

DC Studios isn’t in any rush to make the Swamp Thing movie without James Mangold. There’s an overabundance of superhero media these days across film, television, and gaming. You can’t go a month without some big new superhero media and while that’s great, it also means a lot of projects can sit in development as other projects come down the pipeline. On the Marvel side of things, fans have been waiting for any kind of update on the next Doctor Strange, Thor, and Shang-Chi movies given all of those characters have been absent from the MCU since 2021 and 2022. While they will likely show up in the next two Avengers movies, there are so many other projects beyond that there’s hardly any room for more solo films.

DC Studios has also been cramming its slate for quite some time. Although James Gunn and Peter Safran announced DC Studios with a pretty notable slate of films that included Superman, The Authority, and more, a number of projects like Clayface have only materialized in the last year or so. It’s an ever-evolving slate of projects that seems to ebb and flow as new directors/writers approach Gunn with new ideas. Some of these fit into the actual DC universe, some of these exist outside of it. But it’s clear that DC Studios is very focused on creative-driven stories with key talent backing them. Of course, there are going to be key projects like Batman, Superman, and likely a future Justice League movie that is going to need to meet studio requirements, but there are also off-shoots with specific visions.

DC’s Swamp Thing Will Happen When James Mangold Is Ready

One of the most interesting projects that was announced at DC Studios back in 2023 was Swamp Thing from Logan director James Mangold. In fact, James Mangold has spoken out against cinematic universes and has had a very specific take on superhero stories. One of his mandates for Logan was that it could be an R-rated movie for adults that didn’t have to cater to making Happy Meal toys or kid-friendly merchandise. To his credit, he succeeded and Logan went on to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars. Mangold is a pretty prestigious director these days and to have him in the DC stable is pretty exciting.

However, we’ve heard next to nothing about the project since it was announced. James Mangold is expected to tackle a new Star Wars movie which could begin filming by the beginning of next year. Nothing is set in stone, but it has raised questions about what’s going on with Swamp Thing. When speaking at a press event in support of DC Studios at which ComicBook was present, James Gunn and Peter Safran revealed that DC is being patient with Mangold and is ready to make Swamp Thing whenever he is. Gunn noted that Mangold pitched Swamp Thing himself and wasn’t something that Gunn and Safran drafted up for the slate, so it only makes sense to wait for him.

“[Swamp Thing’s] writer/director went off to make another little movie, A Complete Unknown,” said Safran. “We hope that he’ll come back to Swamp Thing when he’s ready. Because, again, that was one of those ones, we love him as a filmmaker, so we’re happy to wait for him. Swamp Thing is not integral to the larger story that we’re telling.”

Of course, Mangold could decide later that he has other projects he wants to make instead. It’s possible that Swamp Thing simply never happens, but it’s good to hear that DC itself isn’t shutting the door to it even if Mangold isn’t ready to make it right this second. It’s possible that Star Wars will take the backseat and Mangold will set his eyes on the DC film, but we’ll just have to see. We’ll almost certainly find out what his next project is later this year, but Mangold is likely currently focused on the Oscar campaign for A Complete Unknown.

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