‘Swamp Thing’ Season One Reduced to Ten Episodes
Following the success of Titans and Doom Patrol, DC Universe’s next live action series is due for release next month. However, new reports this week suggest that Swamp Thing‘s production hasn’t been smooth sailing, and the series has been cut from a planned thirteen episodes down to ten.
According to /Film. a surprised cast and crew were informed on Tuesday that production would wrap three episodes early, on the completion of the tenth episode. Several days of reshoots are now expected for previously filmed episodes, with episode ten being “rewritten as the final episode” to “bring the series to a satisfying conclusion”.
Whilst the news came as a shock to those involved, with series star Virginia Madsen calling it a “terrible decision” in a now-deleted Instagram post, /Film‘s sources are reporting that the episode reduction was “made for creative reasons”.
This isn’t the first time that a DC Universe series has been cut short for creative reasons. The first season of Titans was reduced by an episode, with the original season finale now being reworked as the second season premiere, as the creative team felt the penultimate episode worked better as a cliffhanger. Though this is a larger cut, and the new finale is said to bring the series to a satisfying conclusion, it is not being reported as a cancellation. Ultimately Swamp Thing‘s success, and renewal, likely depends on how fans receive the series when it premieres next month.
/Film has also confirmed that Swamp Thing being cut short does not reflect on the success of DC Universe itself. Despite rumors to the contrary, DC Universe is outpacing expectations. The streaming platform recently doubled its comic book library, with a view to even greater expansion in the near future, and this week announced the service would be available on Xbox One before the end of the month. The launch on Xbox One is something many fans have been requesting since the service launched last year. Hopefully this means that a PS4 launch is on the cards in the near future.
Swamp Thing premieres on DC Universe May 31, 2019.
Chris is a lifelong fan of Disney, Star Wars and super heroes who can’t quite believe this golden age of movies and TV we’re living in. Having written blogs dedicated to Disney’s Aladdin musical and Star Wars Celebration, Chris is excited to be part of the MNN team.
