James Mangold Says He’s Writing Both His ‘Star Wars’ & ‘Swamp Thing’ Movies

James Mangold has a busy 2023 ahead of him thanks to the release of “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.” But now it looks like the next several years will be even busier. After the announcement that Mangold will helm a future “Star Wars” film, the director confirmed another long-rumored project. That is, yes: Mangold is currently writing the “Swamp Thing” movie for the new DCEU.  

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Collider reports that Mangold confirmed he’s writing “Swamp Thing” at the Star Wars Celebration in London. When asked about the project, Mangold replied, “The truth is, I’m writing both right now, and who knows what’s going to happen and what’s gonna blossom first or second? So there’s your thing, I’m doing “Swamp Thing,” there’s your scoop. It’s not a rumour, it’s happening. I put it online.”

“I put it online” references Mangold’s tweet of a Swamp Thing image shortly after James Gunn‘s big announcement about “Gods And Monsters” in late January. Since then, DC fans speculated if that post confirmed Mangold’s involvement with the upcoming film. Now the fans know it’s true. And Gunn quickly followed up Mangold’s comments on Twitter, too. “Of course when we started charting the course for the DCU one of the first people I talked to was the super talented @mang0ld about writing and directing his passion project Swamp Thing,” Gunn tweeted.

But whether “Swamp Thing” comes before or after Mangold’s “Star Wars” film remains in the air. In January, Gunn and Peter Safran disclosed that “Swamp Thing” will be “a film that will investigate the dark origins of” the character and demonstrate how tonally diverse the new DCEU line-up will be. Comics writer Len Wein and illustrator Bernie Wrightson first conceived the character in 1971: Alex Olsen, a maverick scientist, suffers a severe chemical burn and merges with the swamp he studies after he dives into its water to save himself.  

Swamp Thing’s popularity took off when Alan Moore took over the title for a run in the mid-1980s. Moore’s run introduced more mature themes to the comics and also introduced popular characters like John Constantine to readers. But given Moore’s general aversion to Hollywood and his works getting adapted, don’t expect the comics legend to have any involvement with Mangold’s script.

And along with “Swamp Thing” and his “Star Wars” film, Mangold is attached to a Buster Keaton biopic and a Bob Dylan biopic with Timothée Chalamet. So what will come first? Mangold probably won’t know that until “The Dial Of Destiny” hits theaters on June 30.