Two big things happened in the world of Swamp Thing this week.
1) Production of the Swamp Thing series was cancelled
2) The series costume was revealed in a teaser

In a seemingly sudden change of direction, DC/Warner Bros. has decided to cancel the remaining production of the Swamp Thing series. The first season was intended to be 13 episodes long but, last night cast and crew members were notified that production will be cancelled except to finish the tenth episode (they are currently working on), along with re shoots they may need. Without a teaser, leaked photo from the set or much of anything at all to entice, eager fans woke up this morning to the unfortunate news. Although the season will not be the full 13 episodes, DC/Warner still plans to release the 10 episode series. The show debuts on May 31st on DC’s streaming service, DC Universe.

Last night (4/16) I was contacted by a crew member who’s working on the series. He relayed the following information.

“We just got told they’re stopping production on Swamp Thing… we had three episodes left and we’re finishing this one and some re shoots and it sounds like that’s it for now. DC streaming is apparently not doing well. Not sure if Warner Bros will try to find Swamp Thing a home elsewhere or what. We were all basically under the presumption this was gonna go five seasons minimum… not good. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

To make things even more confusing, less than 24 hours after the news broke that production cancelled, DC released the following teaser for the series.
Swamp Thing series teaser

It’s a shame Swamp Thing fans weren’t shown the teaser before hearing about the production cancellation. The suit looks great and I have no doubt it will be a fun series.

On Wednesday afternoon, the DC Universe Community Manager posted the following message to fans.

“Hi Everybody,
We have some updates to share regarding the details of the upcoming DC Universe original series, Swamp Thing. We remain as excited as ever for the thrills and chills to come, but we would like to share a few notes regarding the series and DC Universe:

– Swamp Thing is still set to release on 5/31 on DC Universe.
– Swamp Thing’s first season will run for 10 episodes, versus the previously announced 13 episodes. This was made for creative reasons, and do not reflect the future of DC Universe.”

The post goes on to briefly discuss the additional features the streaming service plans to add to their content, unrelated to the Swamp Thing series.

Despite optimism shown by DC/Warner, fans appear to be concerned with the state of the steaming service as well as the fate of the Swamp Thing series. Some of the cast and crew feel the same way. Earlier today, Swamp Thing series writer, Joan Rink posted the following reply on twitter.

Actor, Virginia Madsen (who’s playing the part of Maria Sunderland) took to instagram to share her thoughts on the cancellation as well.

As the show stumbles out the gate in the most clumsy of ways, fans can’t help to feel some trepidation. I look forward to seeing how it all plays out leading up to its debut.