Spoilers are increasingly getting harder and harder to avoid in today’s climate of fandoms. Diehard fans of a particular character, imprint, movie franchise, or (even more so now) film universe are hungry for inside dope months in advance. Even if studios don’t play along, everybody will get their desired dirt one way or another.
Not immune, DC Universe’s Swamp Thing, currently in production, is experiencing details leaking left and right. The latest revelation has to do with a very important plot point: the circumstances that turn Alec Holland into the titular mucky plant monster.
The site Geeks WorldWide broke the story in an exclusive. This is what they had to say.
“The majority of the episode is focused on finding a cure for a deadly swamp-born virus. For a while now, Alec has been working on an accelerant that allows him to study the virus at a faster rate. The virus causes disgusting plant mutation inside of humans and then kills them. On a trip into the swamp to retrieve more plant samples, Alec is ambushed by a mysterious assailant. They shine a giant spot light on his boat, blast him in the chest with a shotgun, and then blow him up a stick of dynamite. Whoever attacked him takes the double tap rule very seriously. Alec is completely dead, his body floating in the water with the accelerant. After some weird chemical swirls, his body is sucked down by an unknown force. Abby Arcane later goes searching for him, and the final scene of the episode is the first full reveal of The Swamp Thing.”
This is pretty close to the origin story set forth in the DC Comics, as far back as the 70s, and other iterations of the character, including two feature films and previous incarnations on TV. Holland works on a secret formula involving plants. A lab accident, due to sabotage, sets him alight and plunging into the dank, dark depths of the swamp. Chosen by the mysterious Parliament of Trees, created by Alan Moore and Stan Woch in 1986, Holland became the avatar for The Green and the protector of all verdant life.
An unknown force dragging Alec’s body down before emerging later as Swamp Thing hints heavily at swamp magic and the supernatural overtones of the comics the show aims to capture. Fortuneteller Madame Xanadu is already part of the cast. If the show goes deeper in the R-rated direction of all-out horror and the supernatural as reported, the Parliament and other elements can’t be far behind.
Swamp Thing stars Crystal Reed as Abigail Arcane who returns to her swampy Louisiana stomping grounds to investigate an outbreak. She co-stars with Andy Bean, Derek Mears, Will Patton, Virginia Madsen, and Jeryll Prescott. The show, produced by James Wan and directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld), will join DC Universe’s crop of Originals in mid-2019.