For those of you who’ve been waiting an eternity for Swamp Thing to return live action, the past few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster of sorts. On the one hand, you have reason to rejoice because the DC Universe series is now unfolding, but there was also news of the production being shutdown, with the first season’s episode count being reduced from thirteen to ten.
Then, the icing on the cake came when it was revealed earlier today that, yes, the series is already cancelled. This is somewhat confusing because there’s actually been a strong marketing push (I’m always seeing TV ads for it), not to mention that both Titans and Doom Patrol were renewed for second seasons of their own at an early stage. Then again, those two shows are way better than Swamp Thing in my view, though I stated in my review of the first two episodes that much potential exists.
Believe it or not, it appears as though money played a big factor in the decision to pull the plug. Despite the major entertainment trades not being informed, word did get out in North Carolina, where Swamp Thing filmed. Here’s how industry reporter John Gholson broke it down on Twitter:
“North Carolina promised a $40m tax rebate that, due to a paperwork error, they were unable to deliver. That was roughly half the proposed budget for s1 (which is estimated at $80m). When NC discovered the error, the corrected. WB shut down production, realizing they’d be taking a bath on the rebate and paying for far more of it than assumed. The adjusted number from NC is something like $14m. That’s a massive difference.”
Well, there you have it. Turns out financial woes are the real way to take down the Avatar of the Green. Eat your heart out, Anton Arcane.
On the plus side, all ten episodes will still debut each week until the finale arrives. I’m glad the Powers That Be are at least doing that because flushing everything down the toilet would be unwise. Plus, we still have a few month to go before Stargirl premieres and fills the void.
Swamp Thing airs on Fridays on DC Universe.