Andy Bean and Derek Mears have been cast in Swamp Thing, a live-action comic book TV series that is being developed by James Wan for the DC Universe streaming service.
Andy Bean (Here And Now, Power, It: Chapter 2) will play Dr. Alec Holland, the man who becomes Swamp Thing. Collider shared this official character description for Bean’s pre-transformation role:
“Passionate biologist Alec Holland is caught in the crosshairs of a small town nightmare when he discovers a bizarre local illness may be connected to his work in the swamp. Holland’s discovery leads him into conflict with dark forces, from which he emerges as the elemental hero known as Swamp Thing.”
Derek Mears (who played Jason Voorhees in 2009’s Friday The 13th and the Classic Predator in 2010’s Predators) will once again play a monster, taking over from Bean after Alec’s transformation into the show’s eponymous Swamp Thing. Here’s the description:
“Emerging from the swamp with a monstrous physique and strange new powers over plant life, the man who was once Alec Holland struggles to hold onto his humanity. When dark forces converge on the town of Marais, Swamp Thing must embrace what he has become in order to defend the town as well as the natural world at large.”
Bean and Mears join Virginia Madsen (who’s pictured above this paragraph) in the cast.
Madsen, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2005 for her supporting role in Sideways, is also beloved for her work in Candyman, Dune and The Haunting In Connecticut. She’s been seen on the small screen recently with roles in Designated Survivor, Elementary and The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.
Madsen’s role in Swamp Thing is described by Collider as a “local who lost her daughter, and whose husband is so obsessed with the swamp that it takes a toll on their marriage.”
Elsewhere in the cast, Crystal Reed, who recently played Sofia Falcone in Gotham, is set to lead the Swamp Thing series. Here, Reed plays an investigator that’s looking into a Louisiana town that has a weird old swamp.
The Swamp Thing series was penned by Mark Verheiden (TimeCop, The Mask, Smallville) and Gary Dauberman (Annabelle, IT – Chapter One and Chapter Two), with Len Wiseman (Die Hard 4.0, 2012’s Total Recall) calling the shots as pilot episode director (a job he also did for Sleepy Hollow and Lucifer).
We don’t have a release date yet for the show, or any info as to where it will air in the UK (which doesn’t yet have the DC Universe streaming service), but we’ll be sure to keep you posted as we hear more.