Barely a week after its pilot episode premiered on the DC Universe streaming service, the new Swamp Thing series has been canceled. Deadline initially reported the news, which was subsequently confirmed by other trade and digital entertainment outlets. Despite the general agreement that Swamp Thing had in fact been canceled, however, no one really seemed to know why it had happened. Writer John Gholson, however, suggested that it had to do with North Carolina’s recent correction of a tax rebate error.
“North Carolina promised a $40m tax rebate that, due to a paperwork error, they were unable to deliver,” he wrote on Twitter without providing a source. “When NC discovered the error, the[y] corrected.”
https://twitter.com/gholson/status/1136656638239223810
The problem was that the estimated budget for Swamp Thing season one was around $80 million. With the presumed rebate, Warner Bros. assumed they would be getting half of that back from the state. Following the correction, however, the initial figure of $40 million was reduced to around $14 million. As Gholson put it, “That’s a massive difference.”
https://twitter.com/gholson/status/1136658228161458176
He offered some recently reported articles from local North Carolina news outlets to back up his claims, which ran counter to initial educated guesses about creative differences and other pre-cancellation woes. Either way, it seems Swamp Thing is no more at DC Universe, and folks aren’t too happy about it after shelling out for the streaming service.
https://twitter.com/wayoutstuff/status/1136663109454716928
Nothing sucks the air right out of a brand new show quite like it being cancelled before the 2nd episode even airs. I was really digging what #SwampThing was laying down, and I actually only even subscribed to DC Universe because of it. 😡 https://t.co/55G4PkcPqL
— John Squires 🎃 (@FreddyInSpace) June 6, 2019
Spending $80 mil per season on a series based on a cult character and airing on a streaming service with only marginal cultural awareness doesn’t make a lot of business sense. So no, I’m not surprised that #SwampThing is DOA. It’s a shame, but it is what it is.
— Zaki Hasan (@zakiscorner) June 6, 2019
Incredibly bad call. #SwampThing has a great first two episodes. So much potential. https://t.co/RV9xhNpaHJ
— Tara Bennett (@TaraDBennett) June 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/UberKryptonian/status/1136652953257947136
https://twitter.com/RICHARDLNEWBY/status/1136655205297266690
https://twitter.com/TalkingGoatee/status/1136696559356301312
Perhaps the angriest, however, are the fans who signed up for DC Universe subscriptions because of the series.
#SaveSwampThing@DCComics @DCUSwampThing @WBHomeEnt @TheDCUniverse
I bought a year subscription at launch for for the original programming, namely Swamp thing. I support James Wan's visions and wanted to see more, renew Swamp Thing or I may not renew to be honest.
— 'V'i has come too (@IV_Aoratos) June 6, 2019
But hey, that’s okay — at least the streamer is getting Watchmen in July!
Exciting things are coming to #DCUNIVERSE in July. Check out what’s on the way, including WATCHMEN: https://t.co/H0cOUGFV31 pic.twitter.com/FoyTiAbAUz
— DC Universe (@TheDCUniverse) June 6, 2019
(Via Deadline)