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The CW boss on Swamp Thing's possible return and how COVID could affect episode counts
Swamp Thing may not be left to wallow in the muck for too long. If Mark Pedowitz has his way, Alec Holland (and his marshy alter ego) could be brought back to the small screen in another comic book-inspired series.
"It’d be interesting to have Swamp Thing on Legends of Tomorrow, that would be a fun way to do it, but I’m not sure that would happen,” The CW boss recently told Deadline.
Based on the character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing ran for just one season on the now-defunct DC Universe streaming platform. The episodes were later aired by The CW in the fall of 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused a lengthy production hiatus throughout the spring and summer of last year. Bringing Swamp Thing back via Legends of Tomorrow isn't that outlandish of an idea. The series (on the verge of airing its sixth season) already set a powerful precedent when it allowed Matt Ryan to reprise the role of John Constantine following the cancellation of NBC's standalone show about the jaded paranormal investigator.
And speaking of the novel coronavirus, Pedowitz admitted that the network will have to "start making hard decisions" in the face of the global health crisis, which continues, even with several vaccines now available. "Do you cut the orders of some of the shows this season so that they have time to ramp up for next season?" he asked rhetorically. "If it’s an issue, we’ll know by March. You have to end production on whatever you’re doing now in time to turn it around to have a fall."
In addition, The CW will most likely renew its current slate of shows, as its president would "rather have a known quantity on the air than an unknown quantity."
The idea of foregoing pilot season and handing down straight-to-series orders is also on the table during the age of COVID. “First part of the answer is, I believe in pilots, I believe you see things in pilots,” Pedowitz said. “Second part of the answer — we are faced with a production issue, and you may not have a real opportunity because financially, it’s easier to go straight to series. So we may probably move in that direction this year again not for any other reason but to get them up and going because you don’t know what is going to happen next; if you believe in a show, you should go forward. I believe pilot process should be alive, but it may be a financial issue.”
Other programs — like The Lost Boys and a prequel to The 100 — are still up in the air, but HBO Max could become a partner on the latter.
