James Mangold says Swamp Thing will be a Gothic horror

Swamp Thing
(Image credit: DC)

James Mangold has shared more details about his Swamp Thing DC movie – and explained why it's not a franchise movie. 

News that Mangold was in talks to helm the Swamp Thing movie, arriving as part of DCU Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, first broke in February. 

"While I'm sure DC views Swamp Thing as a franchise, I would be viewing it as a very simple, clean, Gothic horror movie about this man/monster," Mangold told Variety, adding he'd been "toying for years with the idea of making a kind of Frankenstein movie." When James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEO's of DC Studios, Mangold said he "put in a friendly call" about a Swamp Thing movie that would be "just doing my own thing with this, just a standalone." 

There are no plot details on the movie just yet, though Gunn revealed in the Chapter One announcement that Swamp Thing is a "very dark horror story" that’s "tonally outside of the rest of the DCU." 

Other projects coming as part of Chapter One include Superman: Legacy and Batman movie The Brave and the Bold, set to be helmed by The Flash director Andy Muschietti. 

Next up from Mangold is the highly anticipated Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which arrives in theaters this June 30 in the US and June 28 in the UK. Harrison Ford is back as the titular archeologist adventurer, while the rest of the cast includes Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Toby Jones, and Antonio Banderas. 

While you wait for Indiana Jones 5, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates for everything else 2023 has in store. 

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

Read more
Logan director says his Swamp Thing movie will be "a simple, clean Gothic horror" that's not connected to the wider DCU
James Gunn
James Gunn's DC Studios puts several projects on the backburner, including Waller, The Authority, Booster Gold, and its Batman reboot
Clayface in Batman: The Animated Series
Clayface attracts attention of two horror directors as the upcoming movie in James Gunn's DCU is rumored to be a "horror-thriller-tragedy"
James Mangold at Star Wars Celebration
James Mangold's Star Wars movie is set thousands of years in the past because he's "not interested in being handcuffed" by the massive canon
James Gunn
James Gunn has planned six years of DC that will culminate in an Avengers-style project
James Gunn
James Gunn reveals the characters he cut from Creature Commandos, including one of his favorite DC villains
Latest in Superhero Movies
The cast of Thunderbolts
Marvel fans are revealing who they'd like to see added to the Thunderbolts lineup, from Moon Knight to a major Hulk villain
Batman and Catwoman talking
Robert Pattinson is hoping to team up with his The Batman co-star Zoe Kravitz on another project soon
The cast of Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts director says the new Marvel movie is inspired by Toy Story 3: "Can they get out of the trash can together?"
Robert Downey Jr announces his Doctor Doom casting at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
"He is so dialed in": Robert Downey Jr. is coming up with backstory and costume ideas for Doctor Doom ahead of Avengers: Doomsday
Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in The Batman
Robert Pattinson worries he will be a "f*cking old Batman" by the time filming on The Batman 2 finally starts
Lewis Pullman as "Bob" in Thunderbolts
The first look at Thunderbolts' Sentry suit seemingly leaked in new Marvel merchandise
Latest in News
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog