I think it’s fair to say that pretty much everybody was blindsided by the cancellation of the recently launched Swamp Thing show. For those unfamiliar with the situation, know that Warner Bros. pulled the plug on the series after only one episode had the chance to air. Yes, all ten installments will be shown, but the continued marketing push that’s seen a heavy rotation of TV spots and ads printed on the backs of comic books has both baffled and enraged the fanbase.
Still, hope remains that the saga can continue on into a second season by having the series find another home. After all, a heated social media campaign helped bring another DC Comics-based show, Lucifer, back from the abyss. After being cancelled by Fox after its third season, the devilish drama was picked up for a fourth by Netflix. And more recently, it was renewed for a fifth and final season.
Similar to how series star Derek Mears expressed his heartfelt thanks to viewers for their support, so too has producer Gary Dauberman been touched. Actually, The Hollywood Reporter asked him about the possibility of the show finding a new place to call home, to which Dauberman responded:
“I can’t speak to the last question because I don’t know. I love that show. Mark Verheiden did such a great job captaining that ship. What Mark and I set out to do was to be true to the spirit of the comic, and I think we really accomplished that. I’m so happy to see that critics and fans are embracing it the way they are. We were really confident that people were going to dig it. I got giddy thinking about the idea of just being able to adapt Swamp Thing for TV. There are so many stories you could do — set within that swamp and that town. We had such big ideas for the following seasons, and it’s a shame we can’t explore those now. But, man, I’m really happy people are seeing it and loving it the way that we do.”
So, if indeed another platform such as Netflix or Hulu were to see the potential held by Swamp Thing, one would think the same passionate creative minds would stay on the project. And much like how the word “blindsided” was used at the top of this article, Dauberman agreed on how that was an appropriate way to describe how he and his colleagues felt upon cancellation, saying:
“Yeah, that’s safe to say. It was a gut punch.”
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy Swamp Thing‘s remaining episodes each Friday on DC Universe.