Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: Abby Arcane, DC Universe, entertainment, swamp thing, television

Abby Arcane Leads the Way in the Official Swamp Thing Synopsis

Published Thu, 28 Jun 2018 13:05:00 -0500

Last updated Thu, 28 Jun 2018 13:05:11 -0500

As part of the DC Universe announcement this morning, DC released an official synopsis for their upcoming live-action Swamp Thing series that is slated to air starting in 2019.

The character was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson and first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in July of 1971. Wein told Wizard Magazine in 2004 that he came up with the character while riding on the subway, but couldn't think of a good name. He kept referring to it as, "that swamp thing I'm working on," and the name stuck.

Swamp Thing follows Abby Arcane 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.

The character has gone through a lot of changes over the years, originally starting out as a human, Alec Holland, who got turned into a monster. That was all reworked by writer Alan Moore, who twisted the origin into it being a monster that absorbed Alec Holland's body when he died. How the new series will address the creatures origins remains to be seen, but I'd be surprised if it didn't focus on Moore's take on the character.

This is not the first time the character has been adapted for live action. In 1982 director Wes Craven made a film that cast Dick Durock as the titular creature, Ray Wise as human form, as well as Adrienne Barbeau as the love interest and Louis Jordan as the villain Arcane. Durock and Jordan would return in 1989 for a low-budget sequel with Heather Locklear called Return of the Swamp Thing. Then from 1990 to 1993 there was a television series with Durock continuing in the main role but Mark Lindsey Chapman replacing Jordan as Anton Arcane.