Late last week, it was reported that DC Universe, the fledgling streaming service focused on Warner Bros.’ stable of superhero properties, canceled the live-action “Swamp Thing” TV series after only one episode. This came as a shock to everyone, as the first episode of the series was generally well-received by fans and was one of the most critically-acclaimed series the streaming service has released to date. And that shock was felt by none other than James Wan, the superstar director who produced the superhero horror series.
In an Instagram post, Wan simultaneously expressed his shock and sadness by the quick cancellation, while also imploring fans to give the rest of the first season a shot.
“Don’t really know or understand why #Swampthing was canceled, but I can tell you this — all the cast and crew, and producing/writing team poured their hearts into this,” wrote Wan. “Really proud of everyone’s hard work. Go watch episode 2, and immortalize these 10 episodes. Swampy deserves it.”
Unlike Netflix, Hulu, and many other streamers, DC Universe releases its original content on a weekly basis, meaning that there was only one episode of “Swamp Thing” to watch at the time of the show’s demise, leading many fans to feel frustrated and betrayed by the service, with some threatening to cancel their monthly subscriptions in light of the news.
As we stated in our report of the initial cancellation news, it’s really baffling as to why DC Universe would end the series in such a fashion. It was already reported that the first season was shortened from 13 episodes to 10, for “creative” reasons that the streaming service said had nothing to do with the series’ future. And publicly announcing that a series was ending after only the first of 10 episodes was released doesn’t make a lick of sense, especially if you’re a streaming service that makes money off of subscriptions, and you want fans to stick around for 3 months to watch all 10 entries.
This confusion led to a report of tax rebate issues running rampant on social media. A rumor (reported as fact) went around saying that DC Universe canceled the series after it was revealed that the company didn’t receive it’s $40 million rebate from North Carolina. It’s being reported that the entire first season cost around $80 million, and thus, DC Universe couldn’t keep the series going without the massive rebate. Unfortunately, as pointed out by Deadline, this rebate story is completely false.
DC Universe received $12 million in rebates, which is the pre-determined maximum that any series can receive in the state of North Carolina. Therefore, the streaming service was never caught off guard with money issues.
But this doesn’t answer the question as to why the series was axed. If Wan doesn’t know, then the rest of the cast and crew surely don’t. It would appear there’s more to the story than is being publicly announced. Reasons aside, it doesn’t change the outcome. So, sorry, “Swamp Thing” fans, we don’t have any more answers than we did last week.
