Swamp Thing canceled by DC Universe after one episode; no season 2
However, in this case, that doesn’t seem to be so. Multiple sources have confirmed that Swamp Thing, their new adaptation that premiered just one week ago, is already canceled and won’t be coming back for a season 2. It’s a pretty quick decision, and it’s one that makes us raise all sorts of questions as to what exactly they were thinking here.
Is this just a case of executives not being fully on board in terms of the concept? We kind of wonder that, mostly because we don’t know what else it could possibly be. It seems far too early to gauge the show’s ratings, given that we’re just at the very start of its run. It also feels like this show could still have a lot of room to grow.
What we wonder about here is mostly this — what if Swamp Thing, for whatever reason, takes off and becomes a somewhat bigger hit? Could DC Universe end up reversing their decision? We’re sure that there are more issues here then we are probably aware of, including that this show may be particularly expensive to film or there may just be some issue with the creative direction. After all, we had already heard that the episode order for season 1 was trimmed down, which was probably a troublesome sign from the get-go.
As for what the potential blowback for this could be with DC Universe, that is certainly a really good question. After all, it’s not exactly like the streaming service still has a bevy of original programming compared to the likes of Netflix and Amazon. They’ve got a handful of interesting original shows, and we’re sure that some of it will be very popular with subscribers in the weeks and months to come. Still, given that people are paying a la carte for this service and this service only, you got to build up a good bit of brand loyalty. You don’t want to burn people for spending their money to watch a specific show!
Maybe with that in mind, DC Universe is actually doing what they think is a smarter move — canceling the show now if they don’t believe in it. Otherwise, people would watch the remainder of this season, get really invested, and then get angrier at them when they pull the plug. Maybe this is a way for them to try to mitigate that and nip it in the bud a little bit. It’s just a weird decision regardless, given that you need people to think that you’re interested in keeping around your properties in the long-term. That’s what Netflix at least did in its early years, though now they’re pretty much an executioner when it comes to how quickly they’ll get rid of stuff that they don’t think it’s performing well enough.
Are you surprised about Swamp Thing being canceled, or are you more surprised that it’s happening so fast? Be sure to share in the comments. (Photo: DC Universe.)