James Mangold's DCU 'Swamp Thing' Has a Clear Mission (original) (raw)

James Mangold returns to one of the many genres he's thrived in with A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothee Chalamet as the folk bard himself. Mangold, though, has spent a career reinventing himself in an almost Dylan-esque way. "In my own modest way, I do identify with [Bob Dylan's career arc]. My entire career, which has been a while now, I have really enjoyed changing what I'm doing," Mangold told MovieWeb. "I don't think I change myself. I don't think Bob reinvents his core soul, but I like to throw myself into things that people don't expect or that I don't expect." As people say, "The only constant is change."

Mangold burst into the mainstream with the powerful Cop Land, but he's danced through Oscar-winning biopics (Walk the Line), blockbuster sequels (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), psychological dramas (Girl, Interrupted), and Western epics (3:10 to Yuma). Perhaps one of his more impressive turns was taking on the final chapter of the massively popular character Wolverine and delivering one of the deepest superhero films to date with Logan.

Of all these genres, it's perhaps surprising that Mangold will return to the superhero genre, this time with the DCU's Swamp Thing. Just like with his upcoming Star Wars movie, Mangold told MovieWeb what's really important about his Swamp Thing film:

Swamp Thing at DC, it's just a matter of — do we find a way on the page to say something original?

"With Bob [Dylan] you have known quantities, yes, but there are ways to interpret them," said Mangold of A Complete Unknown, something that becomes more difficult with big, existing franchises. "With other kinds of IP, it gets to a religious level." DC fans may not get as apoplectic over different interpretations as Star Wars fans get, but Mangold is still aware of how "religious" the fans can be. It's one of many challenges he faces with Swamp Thing. Mangold has made this clear in the past, reiterating that his Swamp Thing will just be one gothic horror film:

"While I'm sure DC views Swamp Thing as a franchise, I would be viewing it as a very simple, clean, Gothic horror movie about this man/monster... Just doing my own thing with this, just a standalone."

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One of the many benefits Mangold has had in taking on so many different genres of film is the ability to pick and choose what works in each and apply these things selectively. "I've been afforded the chance [to work] in different genres, because people will finance it. If I was just a horror director and people only wanted to pay for my horror movies, that would be a different problem. But part of the joy is that you learn a lot when you are changing genres or the vernacular in some of the way you communicate in your art," explained Mangold, adding:

"I've learned a lot, whether it's making an action film, or whether it's making a Western and bringing those energies to a kind of superhero film or Marvel film. You not only learn things making one genre, but then you learn how to carry over lessons from that genre into another one that you might not expect."

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Logan is the perfect example of a situation where Mangold took the lessons of working in the Western genre and applied them to a pre-existing superhero IP. Logan is as much an 'end of the west' Western as it is anything else. It brings themes, visual motifs, and plenty of other references of that genre into the superhero world, setting itself apart.

The mission statement is simple but clear. Mangold will take a chance with his approach in order to be original, whether it works or doesn't, regardless of bothering fans. "I'm not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that it's almost immovable and you can't please anybody," the director told MovieWeb. How will Mangold deliver something original in Swamp Thing? Only time will tell. A Complete Unknown is in theaters now from Searchlight Pictures.