DC Universe’s Swamp Thing series is reportedly done after airing just one episode. This is bad news for the DC Universe, which hoped that the series would be a permanent fixture in its catalog.
According to Deadline, the cancellation comes in the wake of an earlier decision to shorten the first season from 13 episodes to 10 while the show was still in production.
It seems that DC intentionally wanted to keep Swamp Thing separate from the rest of the DC small cinematic universe shows like Titans and Doom Patrol.
The show also had a number of production woes behind-the-scenes that showed a possible lack of faith that the show would see success from the studio.
A new report says that it wasn’t the studio’s confidence canceled the show, it had to do with a government budgeting error.
Guy Gaster, director of the North Carolina film office updated io9, saying:
“North Carolina’s budget discussions had nothing to do with Swamp Thing’s cancellation.”
Recent reports indicate otherwise. Gaster went on to say:
The state offered Warner Bros. an incentive of just under $5 million for the series pilot and an additional $12 million—the maximum the state can offer as designated by state legislation
—and Warner Bros. accepted those offers before production on the series began.
Once their audit is completed to verify the production’s qualified spends, the rebate will be paid as agreed upon.
Swamp Thing takes place in Louisiana, but the set’s in North Carolina. Studios do this chasing tax credit that can be further applied to cut down the overall budget of a show. The show suppossedly qualified for a multimillion
Out of the total $31 million the state set aside, Swamp Thing qualified for up to $12 million. This only covers a part of the show’s budget, which
This amount is far less than the studio thought they were getting from the state. This communication error led to North Carolina’s House of Representatives’ appropriations committee to believe that the grant had an excess of $67 million, but they did not.
Gaster says the error has since been fixed and the studio will receive all money promised. Today, Star News published a new report saying:
David Rhoades, spokesman for N.C. Department of Commerce, which oversees the grant program, said Thursday that claim of an error on the state’s part is not true.
“The production company had a clear understanding of the resources available from the state under the grant program, and proceeded with the production here on that basis,”
Swamp Thing’s first and last season will air on DC Universe over the next few weeks. Deadline also added a possible fate for DC Universe:
“DC Universe is being reevaluated following the completion of AT&T acquisition of Time Warner. WarnerMedia has put an emphasis on the launch of a new streaming platform.
There have been questions how DC Universe fits into those plans.”
Time will tell if DC and Warner Brothers resurrect James Wan’s Swamp Thing. The show is getting good reviews from critics and fans. This cancellation news comes as a surprise to all.
