DC Studios Officially Shares Major 2026 Update On The DCU's Dark Monster Movie 12 Months Later

Published Oct 14, 2026, 4:44 PM EDT Andy Behbakht has worked as an entertainment journalist since 2010, covering all the latest in Hollywood on both the big and small screens, from staying on top of the biggest breaking news, analyzing movies and television shows in Hollywood, to in-depth interviews with actors and storytellers. Andy's career includes having worked for publications such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It's Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more. Outside of his career as an established reporter, Andy is the host and producer of The Showrunner Whisperer, The Flash Podcast, the editor-in-chief of Multiverse of Color, and the network director of DC TV Podcasts. The DC Universe is a step closer to bringing more horror into James Gunn's superhero franchise. The DCU's Chapter 1: "Gods and Monsters" has been focusing on traditional superheroes like Superman, Supergirl, and multiple members of the Green Lantern Corps. However, as the franchise is getting ready to shift the spotlight to one of Batman's greatest villains, another dark character is on their way to the big screen. Deadline spoke with DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran during the Clayface premiere, and got a new update on James Mangold's upcoming Swamp Thing film, which was one of the first Chapter 1 projects that was announced as part of the slate back in January 2023. Safran revealed that “We’re working on it, absolutely, The script is being written as we speak. But it’s something we’re excited about. All these things take time – when you’ve already got a filmmaker involved, you’ve got to wait for their window [of availability] as well.” In a separate interview with Collider, Safran elaborated, “It’s moving forward. Literally, we're waiting on a draft. James Mangold’s a fantastic filmmaker — obviously one of our favorite superhero movies, but plenty of other great, great films." The executive added that Mangold "was busy making his Bob Dylan movie with [Timothée] Chalamet, so we were waiting for Mangold to come up for air, and when he did, he's like, ‘I'm ready now.’ And that was it.” Safran's update comes a year after Gunn had spoken about Mangold's monster installment in October 2025. The Superman and Man of Tomorrow filmmaker stated at the time that Swamp Thing was still something they hope to bring to fruition, as he said, "Yeah, I mean, yeah, totally. Absolutely. Yeah. We’ve talked to him. He’s still invested. So we’ll see. Some things take a long time. We’ll see what happens." If the Swamp Thing movie does go forward as planned, it won't be the first time he has been depicted in live-action. Back in 1982 and 1989, the iconic character, who was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, was adapted for cinema, as Wes Craven wrote and directed the first film, while Jim Wynorski tackled the sequel, which was penned by Neil Cuthbert and Grant Morris. While it only ran for one season, the most modern iteration of Swamp Thing outside of comics and animation happened in 2019 through his own live-action TV series. Developed by Mark Verheiden and Gary Dauberman, the short-lived drama was produced for the DC Universe streaming service. However, the critically acclaimed project was not forgotten by other DC shows, as it got honorable cameos through the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths and Titans. With the DCU's "Gods and Monsters" angle, a character like Swamp Thing certainly fits into the theme of what DC Studios is going for with Chapter 1, as it can also kick off the more supernatural side of the franchise. Whether or not Mangold's upcoming DCU movie ends up happening in the near or distant future is, however, the bigger question for now, as it remains to be seen how far he has gotten with the screenplay. Swamp Thing currently doesn't have a release date. Release Date February 19, 1982 Runtime 91 Minutes Director Wes Craven Cast Adrienne Barbeau Alice Cable