DC Universe’s upcoming Swamp Thing series has cast Kevin Durand (Lost, The Strain) as Jason Woodrue, a.k.a. the villainous Floronic Man.
The character, created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane, Woodrue made his first appearance as the Plant Master in 1962’s The Atom #1, and the villain went on to battle the likes of The Flash and Wonder Woman before featuring as an integral part of Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing. The character previously appeared on live-action – albeit in his human form – in 1997’s Batman and Robin, where he was played by John Glover (Smallville).
The character description for Swamp Thing’s incarnation of the character reads:
“Prickly genius Jason Woodrue is a biogeneticist without equal and he knows it. Brought in to study the unique properties of a small-town Louisiana swamp, Woodrue becomes fixated on unlocking the potential contained within — leading to tragic and monstrous consequences.”
Durand does have previous supervillain experience, having portrayed Fred Dukes / The Blob in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Swamp Thing follows what happens when CDC researcher Abby Arcane returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana, in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. There, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland — only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous — and the potential love of her life may not be gone after all.
The pilot for Swamp Thing is being directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld), with James Wan (Aquaman) executive producing. The cast of the series includes Crystal Reed (Gotham) as Abby Arcane, Andy Bean (It: Chapter Two) as Alec Holland, Will Patton (Halloween) as Avery Sutherland, Maria Sten (Channel Zero) as Liz Tremayne, Jennifer Beals (The L World) as Sheriff Lucilia Cable, Jeryl Prescott (The Walking Dead) as Madame Xanadu, Kevin Durand (The Strain) as Jason Woodrue, Virginia Madsen (American Gothic) as Maria Sunderland, Henderson Wade (Riverdale) as Matt Cable, and Derek Mears (Friday the 13th) as Swamp Thing.
