It was only last month that we heard how Warner Brothers were developing a live-action Swamp Thing series for their upcoming DC streaming service, DC Universe. And now, it appears that the casting breakdowns for the show’s lead characters have surfaced online, revealing a few more plot points for the show.
The ever-reliable guys over at That Hashtag Show have reportedly got their palms on the casting breakdowns for the two main characters of Swamp Thing; those characters being Abby Arcane and Swamp Thing himself, Alec Holland.
Said breakdowns read as:
Abby Arcane
The live-action version is a 30-something intelligent woman, who is a bit of a lone wolf. She works for the Center for Disease Control who ends up assigning her to investigate the “Houma Flu”, which happens to be in her hometown. Abby’s tragic past consists of losing her mother when she was only eight years old and in turn, endued up making her move between multiple foster families. Once she was done with high school, she left Houma to pursue her dream of developing a medical career. While she performs well with her job, she has a bit of a power struggle with her employer. There is a tragic reason why Abby left Houma to begin with, that she keeps a secret and it has caused her to develop a pill addiction.
When she left her hometown, Abby left things on an awkward note with her high school ex-boyfriend Matt, who is now a cop for Houma. But when she befriends Alec Holland, who works as a researcher for the Sunderland Corporation, it starts out on a good note between them. However, their efforts of investigating the Houma flu in the swamp is not appreciated by the town people when the researchers suggest for the swamp to be shut down temporarily. For some reason, the swamp is where the Houma citizens make their living from it. Not only does Abby have to deal with a possible epidemic in her own hometown, where the people are getting hostile with her, she also begins an odd romance, in the tone of Shape of Water, with a creature that was born in the swamp.
Alec Holland
Alec is a 30-something wise man, with a hot temper and a big passion for his work as a researcher for the Sunderland Corporation. The company is seemingly building a hospital in Houma. When Abby Arcane returns to the town to investigate the Houma flu, Alec forms an instant bond with her, he discovers that they are very similar people. Both being incredibly invested in science and not caring too much about having a love life. Alex discovers that there is a connection between the Houma flu and the swamp, which is making the people in town hostile with him as well. Despite the bad attitude he gets from the citizens, Alec is determined to get to the bottom of this flu. However, things go haywire when Alec is put through an odd transformation in the form of a swamp-like creature with extraordinary abilities.
This new Swamp Thing series is being developed by James Wan’s Atomic Monster banner, with Ash vs. Evil Dead’s Mark Verheiden and IT’s Gary Dauberman on writing duties.
The early word on this new show reads:
The drama follows what happens when CDC researcher Abby Arcane returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. There, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland – only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous – and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all.
As a character, Swamp Thing began life back in 1971 and has appeared in a whole host of different mediums over the decades. Wes Craven would helm 1982’s Swamp Thing movie, with a sequel following in 1989. On the small screen, a three-season USA Network show ran during the early ‘90s, and there was similarly a far-too-short-lived animated series during those years.
At this stage, Swamp Thing is set for a to-be-confirmed 2019 premiere, joining the live-action Teen Titans show, Titans, and Doom Patrol, and the animated Harley Quinn and Young Justice: The Outsiders as announced shows for the upcoming on-demand DC Universe streaming service.
