Gary Dauberman says Swamp Thing series will be going for a hard R-rating

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Unsurprisingly, DC's upcoming streaming service seems to be going out of their way to strike a darker tone, and the upcoming Swamp Thing series will be no exception. During an interview with /Film, Swamp Thing co-writer Gary Dauberman (THE NUN) said that DC has given them enormous creative freedom which has enabled them to go as graphic as they want, even pushing the series into hard R territory.

We always set out to make Swamp Thing as hard R as we could and go graphic with the violence, with the adult themes and make it as scary as possible. Because we’re doing it through the DC streaming service, they really pushed us, although they didn’t have to push hard, for us to go as extreme as we could. We really took our inspiration from the Alan Moore run in Swamp Thing, this landmark I think run. Fans of that series will know it gets pretty weird and extreme and scary. We really wanted to live up to that standard that Moore set up back in the ‘80s.

Are we going to get a "f**k, Batman" equivalent? Gary Dauberman went on to add that the Swamp Thing suit, which he confirms will be a physical costume, looks incredible and will be "less of the 'man in suit' that you’ve seen in the movie and the other TV show."  The writer added that the series will also address modern day environmental concerns, although will avoid getting overly preachy about the subject. "That stuff is hard not to address when you’re doing a show like this. Certainly, it’s not Captain Planet but there is an underlying eco message there," Dauberman said. "We don’t want to become too preachy with that stuff but it’s more of dealing with people who are living out in the swamps and what they do to the environment, how it affects things and causes things to react. It’s hard not to draw some parallel there to what’s happening today."

The series will follow Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) as she "investigates what seems to be a deadly swamp-born virus in a small town in Louisiana but soon discovers that the swamp holds mystical and terrifying secrets. When unexplainable and chilling horrors emerge from the murky marsh, no one is safe." Described as smart and caring, CDC doctor Arcane's strong sense of empathy puts her at the center of a horrific life-threatening epidemic in her hometown, where she faces emotional demons from her past and a chance meeting with scientist Alec Holland takes her into a world of horror and the supernatural, and of the elemental creature known as Swamp Thing. Len Wiseman will direct the first episode of the series with Dauberman penning the script along with Mark Verheiden.