Kevin Durand Joins DC Universe’s Swamp Thing

Following last week’s news on the casting of Henderson Wade as Matt Cable, Deadline reports that DC Universe‘s Swamp Thing has added another new member to their growing cast in the form of actor Kevin Durand (I Am Number Four, Tragedy Girls). Durand has been cast for the role of Jason Woodtrue, who is described as a brilliant but abrasive scientist. In the DC Comics, Jason is also known as the super-villain Floronic Man, a hybrid of human and plant. He’s official character description is as follows:

 “Prickly genius Jason Woodrue is a biogeneticist without equal and he knows it.  Brought in to study the unique properties of a small-town Louisiana swamp, Woodrue becomes fixated on unlocking the potential contained within — leading to tragic and monstrous consequences.”

The series will also star Andy Bean as Alec Holland, Will Patton as Avery Sutherland Crystal Reed as Abby Arcane, Maria Sten as Liz Tremayne, Jeryl Prescott as Madame Xanadu, Jennifer Beals as Sheriff Lucilia Cable, and Virginia Madsen as Maria Sunderland. Also now committing to the lead role of the titular monster is The Flash‘s Derek Mears.

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The live-action DC Universe adaptation of the classic antihero originally created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson will be executive produced by Len Wiseman (Sleepy Hollow) who will also direct the pilot. Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, Netflix’s Daredevil) and Gary Dauberman (It) are attached to co-write the series and act as showrunners, with James Wan (Aquaman) set to executive-produce the series alongside Verheiden, Dauberman, and Michael Clear.

Swamp Thing made his comic book debut back in 1971 and has maintained his position as a staple of the DCU since then, including seminal runs written by Alan Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, Mark Millar, and Scott Snyder. The character was previously adapted into a feature film from Wes Craven in 1982, which spawned a sequel seven years later, and a USA Network series that ran for three seasons in the early ’90s. Dick Durock took on the role in both the films and the series. An animated Swamp Thing series also debuted in the early ’90s but only aired five episodes.

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Should Swamp Thing be picked up to series, it would join Titans in the live-action sector of DC Universe and other original series (albeit animated) Young Justice: Outsiders and Harley Quinn.

Swamp Thing comes from James Wan’s Atomic Monster in association with Warner Bros. Television. The pilot is set to premiere in 2019 on the DC Universe digital subscription service.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)