And just like that, Swamp Thing‘s days are numbered. Which is a real shame given how the horror-infused DC series impressed viewers the world over with its pilot episode.
Warner Bros. made the announcement earlier this morning, noting that budgetary issues and a troubled production ultimately killed off any hope of a second season seeing the warm light of day. It’s a pity, really, as Swamp Thing brought a fresh sense of terror to the DC Universe streaming service, which is now seemingly under review as its parent company, WarnerMedia, plots a central platform to rival Disney Plus.
Per Deadline, this “reevaluation” comes in light of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner and all of its precious assets – a common part of any sizeable merger – though news of an internal review is usually enough to leave fans on edge.
Like every other initiative, DC Universe is being reevaluated following the completion of AT&T acquisition of Time Warner as WarnerMedia has put an emphasis on the launch of a new streaming platform. There have been questions how DC Universe fits into those plans.
There already had been chatter that new leadership of WarnerMedia was not particularly high on Swamp Thing whose order was reduced from 13 to 10 episodes in April. The cancellation comes just one episode into the show’s run.
From a purely business perspective, it would make sense for Time Warner to consolidate all of its media assets onto a single platform – even if it comes at the expense of the DC Universe streaming service, which still has Titans and Doom Patrol in its midst, along with a forthcoming season order for Stargirl.
But if Time Warner really wants to enter the big leagues and challenge Netflix and the soon-to-be-released Disney Plus, the DC Universe platform may well have to bite the bullet. Or, at the very least, become part of a larger overall service jam-packed with the latest and greatest comic book content. Or so we hope…