What Does A Swamp Thing Movie Mean For Other Vertigo Characters In The New DC Universe?
James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced their initial plans for the new DC Universe, and one of the most exciting bits of news was that "Swamp Thing" is getting his own movie. While this is exciting on its own because Swamp Thing rules, it also means that some of the other characters from DC's Vertigo imprint might make their mark on the DCU. Ole Swampy himself was originally a regular DC lineup character before being rebooted by Alan Moore with "Saga of the Swamp Thing" in 1982, helping to create the Vertigo lineup, which was seen as a darker, weirder alternative to standard DC Comics fare. Many characters have crossed from Vertigo to the main DC universe and back again, so it's entirely possible that Gunn and Safran could bring some other Vertigo characters to the big or small screen sometime soon. For fans of the imprint, which sadly shuttered in 2019, the potential for some of our favorite characters to get a shot at live-action or animated adaptations is a dream come true.
The question then, is who will make the cut and who will be too far outside of the canon to ever contemplate? Given the fact that some of the biggest Vertigo characters have already had adaptations elsewhere or are currently being adapted elsewhere (Netflix's "The Sandman," for example), it's all going to be a matter of getting the rights figured out. Then again, since Gunn said that the new DCU is cool with clashing tones and grabbing from some truly out-there titles, fans can have a bit of hope for their favorite Vertigo characters coming to life in a whole new way.
Some fun possibilities
There are a few characters that lend themselves well to interacting with the rest of the comic book world, and chief among them is John Constantine, who actually got his start as a character in "Swamp Thing" in 1985. Constantine had his own Vertigo comic, "Hellblazer," that ran for hundreds of issues (and still runs today under DC Black Label), and he's a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking magician and exorcist who is pretty much always in some kind of supernatural trouble. There's currently a "Constantine 2" movie in the works starring Keanu Reeves that will be a sequel to the 2005 movie adaptation, but it has always existed outside of the DC movie canon, so that doesn't really matter. Matt Ryan's take on the character might also be done for, but there's no telling where the character could go from here. A "Swamp Thing" movie makes more "Hellblazer" adaptations a real possibility, which is stellar.
James Gunn has shared his love for the work of comic creator Grant Morrison, so two other Vertigo comics that could potentially join the DCU are "The Invisibles," about the dangers of conspiracy theories in a superpowered world, and "Animal Man," who was rebooted by Morrison in the 1980s as an empathetic everyman who went from stuntman to superhero and had to reckon with the responsibility. The comics legend was also involved in "The Flash" movie and the HBO Max series "Doom Patrol," so expect to see a lot more Morrison in the future of the DCU.
A few interesting long shots
Some Vertigo titles would make excellent movies or TV shows, but might not quite fit in with the version of the multiverse that Gunn and Safran are developing. Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson's incredible "Transmetropolitan," for example, takes place in a distant future and doesn't have any superheroes, so it could be difficult to potentially tie in to any other part of the 'verse. After all, it's not like Superman will ever cross paths with Spider Jerusalem, the gonzo journalist at the center of the series. While a "Transmetropolitan" series would definitely be a long shot, it would also be a great addition to the DC TV lineup and could prove especially relevant as we head into another presidential election cycle, since an election plays a large role in the series. Heck, you could even make the thing from the perspective of Spider's "filthy assistants" and make it a meta-commentary on Ellis's reported abusive behavior with his female fans and underlings. Gunn and Safran clearly aren't afraid to get subversive, and "Transmetro" is definitely that.
Another possible title unlikely to get the upgrade is "Fables," created by Bill Willingham, telling the story of a world where the people and creatures of fairy tales lived in an alternate realm and had to find refuge in our world after a devastating war. There have been attempts to adapt "Fables" for a while, but nothing has made it to production. What makes this one so unlikely is that there is already a great video game adaptation in Telltale Games' "The Wolf Among Us," and ABC's "Once Upon a Time" franchise might be a tad too similar for fans to accept, but a fan can always dream of seeing Bigby Wolf in all of his live-action glory, right?
Extremely unlikely candidates
There are a lot of smaller Vertigo titles that could potentially see adaptations because they're relatively unknown and anyone should know better than to bet against James Gunn's love for obscure characters, but what about the rest of the big boys?
The chances of Neil Gaiman's beloved "The Sandman" characters appearing in the DCU are slim to none, given the fact that there's an ongoing series adaptation over at Netflix. It's also very unlikely that we'll see any kind of adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon series "Preacher," because there was already a pretty recent TV adaptation from AMC, so there isn't exactly a huge fan demand for more right this second. More "Preacher" or, even better, a totally different take on "Preacher", would be amazing, but fans will probably have to wait a little while to see Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy live again.
An adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's "V for Vendetta" isn't completely off the table because the Wachowski's movie is almost 20 years old and Moore's "Watchmen" got an incredible new series on HBO, so never say never. It's just, you know, not super likely.
There are dozens of Vertigo titles and many of them have dedicated fanbases of various sizes, so hopefully, Gunn and Safran help some of them make the jump to TV or the movies so a whole world of new fans can discover them for the first time.