James Gunn’s DCU is graverobbing from the most disastrous cinematic universe of them all

You could argue that there’s something ghoulish about the way the incoming DCU reboot is being given life out of the dead carcass of the original DCEU, so maybe it’s fitting that studio co-CEO James Gunn seems determined to reflect his franchise’s origins on screen by pilfering a concept from the most notorious shared universe in cinema history, one which died its own ugly death six years ago.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s James Mangold, one of only three filmmakers attached to the DCU to date alongside Superman: Legacy’s Gunn and The Brave and the Bold‘s Andy Muschietti, is on board to helm Swamp Thing. While he’s not saying too much about his movie just yet, Mangold has confirmed that he didn’t so much want to be part of this universe as make a standalone film that has similar vibes to Frankenstein.

This isn’t the first time that Mary Shelley’s monster has influenced the DCU, as Eric Frankenstein (as voiced by David Harbour) will be a major character in the Creature Commandos animated series. Much as the “Gods & Monsters” banner teases, then, Gunn is clearly keen to lean into the monstrous anti-heroes of the DC world alongside its godlike superheroes. In this way, Gunn is finally making the dreams of Universal’s Dark Universe a reality.

If 2017’s The Mummy had managed to be a whole lot better, we would’ve had a bunch of spinoffs by now, not least a Frankenstein flick with Javier Bardem as the makeshift monster. While Universal has yet to deliver such a film, Gunn and Mangold are set to beat the rival studio at its own game and offer up a classic-style monster movie in Swamp Thing. Let’s just hope the DCU won’t fall afoul of the same curse as the Dark Universe.