Exclusive: The DC Universe Streaming Service Is Not In Danger, Even As 'Swamp Thing' Ends Production Early
Earlier today, we reported that Swamp Thing wrapped production early due to "creative differences," with a truncated 10-episode season set to debut on the DC Universe streaming at the end of May. However, with the reports of the show's filming ending sooner than expected came rumors that this indicated trouble for DC Universe. /Film can confirm that this is not the case.
/Film has exclusively learned that the potential issues with Swamp Thing's production do not reflect the health of the DC Universe service. Reports from various outlets suggested that the future of DC Universe was in doubt amid the early production wrap for its latest original series. However /Film confirmed with sources close to the studio that those two topics are unrelated to each other.
Since DC Universe launched in October, it is outpacing expectations, according to /Film's sources. The streaming service recently doubled its comic book library in March, while a surprise XBox One launch has also been recently announced. Swamp Thing is not the only original title it has planned down the line through 2020 either, with series like Stargirl and Harley Quinn still set to debut.
However, the DC Universe's bright future may not extend to Swamp Thing, which has seen some bumps and swerves in production, as shown by reports of the crew's surprised reaction to the episode-length cut and the now-deleted Instagram comments of cast member Virginia Madsen. However, the "creative reasons" for Swamp Thing's behind-the-scenes changes may not totally spell doom for the show. We shall see how this show itself fares, but for now, the service on which it is set to debut on May 31 is doing just fine.