Just when you thought the saga of Swamp Thing was done, somehow it manages to crop up again in the oddest of ways. Last year, DC Universe premiered their premiere horror title Swamp Thing to modest praise, but it was everything else surrounding the show that was worthy of discussion, creating one of the most confusing on perplexing cancellations of the year. Long story short, the show went from having 13 episodes to 10 after the premiere aired, only to then be cancelled due to North Carolina funding issues. It was a mess to try and cover what was going on and even now things are still murky as to what actually happened.
So almost a year to the day, we have a new addition to the story, albeit one that’s more odd than anything else. The CW, who are host to most of the major Arrow-verse shows, will be adding Swamp Thing to their line-up, most likely for their Fall TV season. This doesn’t mean that fans will be getting a new season of the show though. This is just simply re-airing the first ten episodes on TV over a year after they’ve already premiered online. There’s not even an official confirmation that if the CW airing of the show does well that it will guarantee a second season.
I’m not quite sure the reason for why Warner Bros. would want to do this, but I can speculate a few possible options. With the increasing possibility that the Coronavirus will affect most of the major Fall TV premieres given how filming of any kind has yet to resume in most of the world, Warner Bros, who owns the CW, are trying to fluff out their schedule to replace shows that won’t be able to finish filming by then. It may also be an attempt by both DC and Warner Bros. to attempt to spread out its DC Universe content, as it’s doing with Stargirl premiering on DC Universe then airing on the CW one day after its digital release, possibly looming at the thought that DC Universe may not survive through the year. Or this could just be a case of giving a maligned show a chance to shine, though the odds of that being the case are slim.
Regardless, I’m happy to see more exposure given to Ol’ Swampy, since the hero has almost always had fate crap over any potential revivals of the character. Whether its films or TV shows being in production hell, or having the character’s creator Len Wein to begin writing a new comic with the character only to pass away midway through scripting, Swamp Thing has always gotten the short end of the stick. Can’t a big green guy catch a break?
‘Swamp Thing,’ Cancelled at DC Universe, Coming to The CW – [THR]
