While the thought of having a series called ‘Swamp Thing’ doesn’t sound all that appealing, it was something that began production. However, it didn’t get very far, and a lot of money was basically poured down the drain. Why? What made people begin this series only to back out once it had a load of money thrown at it?
Conflicting rumors
‘Swamp Thing’ was actually an exceptionally highly anticipated series that was much darker than some of its other DC counterparts. However, it seems people’s excitement would come to nothing after the show was canceled. People realized that some things were going on behind the scenes when rumors surfaced about how long the series was going to run for. A claim made the rounds that the series had been reduced from 13 episodes, all an hour-long, down to just ten.
Why did they reduce them?
People started to read into these rumors, believing that the reason behind it was something to do with lacking the budget they needed. Of course, when people caught wind that the show had actually been canceled altogether, these rumors were even more profound. Not to mention that there was no official statement explaining why the plans for ‘Swamp Thing’ was shut down. It turns out, there was a whole load of things that caused the show to be shut down, rather than one straightforward reason.
The quality was fine
Many people were concerned that, along with the budget issues rumors, there might be some problems with the quality of the show. Not to mention that there were also rumored problems regarding creative differences where the show was concerned. It just didn’t seem like it was working out, which is remarkably strange. However, the rumors surrounding quality issues were debunked when people who had viewed the first episode confirmed it.
They had more than enough money
There were also rumors that they had some trouble where grant money was concerned, which would explain why there were issues with how many episodes there were going to be – before eventual cancellation. The cartoonist, John Gholson, was the person to raise this issue on social media, and if his claims were valid, it would suggest that the $85 million budget was halved by this issue alone. Gholson was forced to retract his message as a result of evidence being found to contradict the rumours.
The dark truth
It seems that considering there has been no official reason released to the public that can explicitly be proven, there is no innocent reason. Unfortunately, it appears that there is nothing more than rumors to go by, although no news has had people concerned for the future of the show and what might have been happening behind the scenes. One suggestion for the show being pulled was that they were considering making it more family-friendly, rather than continuing with the horror theme.
It wasn’t a good financial decision
Despite rumors about production, people believe that it simply didn’t fit into DC’s broader production plans in the end. With the development of numerous streaming services, ‘Swamp Thing’ apparently didn’t seem to fit in with their new plan or image, or even be a financially viable plan to continue with.
While we might never know the truth about ‘Swamp Thing’, it is sad that they rolled out a whole episode before deciding to cancel the show and disappoint waiting fans.
