In the annals of MCU villains, one of the most celebrated made his mark long before his inclusion within the canonical Phases was even considered official. I speak, of course, of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, whose consistently low-key demeanor belies his hyper-vicious and deadly personality. Following his Marvel Studios debut in Disney+’s Hawkeye and the upcoming spinoff Echo, D’Onofrio will be reteaming with Charlie Cox within the cast of Daredevil: Born Again. And though the actor has teased that the new show is being set up for multiple seasons, he already knows exactly what his next comic book adaptation would be in an ideal world: Swamp Thing.
To be sure, Vincent D’Onofrio hasn’t exactly been secretive about his desire to play the organic and tortured DC hero, as it was only in April when he appreciated someone else fan-casting him in the role of Alec Holland. But when he appeared over the weekend at Fan Expo Dallas’ 2023 event, for a panel Q&A opposite Charlie Cox, D’Onofrio doubled down on his desire to go green, so to speak, for DC. The moderator hadn’t even finished the question about other characters when the actor answered with:
Swamp Thing. [Huge audience cheers.]
When his lack of hesitation was brought up, D’Onofrio followed up with a carefully worded explanation for why he’d be so interested in taking on that particular member of the Justice League Dark squad, saying:
That's what I want to do. I want to do Swamp Thing. I have to admit it. . . . I wasn't a kid with Swamp Thing, obviously, but it was a much later thing that I got into. I just think the way that character thinks and operates is something extraordinary.
And yes, it's the Alan Moore run that he's most excited by, so that would be the era from which he'd love to dive into.
Coincidentally enough, this question came right after Charlie Cox deflected from answering which comic plots he’d like to see brought to live-action, with the idea that voicing those ideas in interviews tends to void those ideas from being used by creative teams. (He did share the fairly unrealistic hope for Daredevil to team up with the Ninja Turtles, given the characters’ backstory connections.) So that could be why D’Onofrio minced his words and enthusiasm, not wanting to potentially doom his own chances by talking about them. Or it could just be that he’s a highly thoughtful and soft-spoken dude who rarely, if ever, blabs on incessantly about anything. Which, for those keeping score, is pretty inherent to Swamp Thing’s nature as well.
Even beyond surface comparisons such as voices and appearances, Vincent D’Onofrio seems to already have a big name in his corner, as DC’s co-CEO James Gunn gave a thumbs up to the aforementioned post the actor shared. (Gunn also previously hinted at his Swamp Thing intentions.) Which obviously isn’t a signed contract or anything so firm and in the books, but it’s also not the random act that it would have been a few years ago.
James Gunn holds untold amounts of power within the Warner Bros. Discovery company at this point, along with co-CEO Peter Safran, so he’s legitimately in the position to make that kind of casting call without nearly as many hoops to jump through as other creative-minded execs might've had. Had he not shown appreciation for the post, no one would have necessarily questioned his thoughts on it, either. But since he did, it's almost difficult not to start loudly petitioning for D'Onofrio to get the gig.
Not that the Full Metal Jacket vet being cast would necessarily guarantee the project coming to fruition. It wasn't so long ago when DC delivered the legitimately great Swamp Thing from James Wan, Gary Dauberman, and Mark Verheiden for its short-lived DC Universe streaming service, but it was cancelled almost immediately due to the streaming service shuttering. And there have been numerous attempts to bring the Justice League Dark's team-up to screens both big and small, without much success.
But make it happen, (Dr.) fate! Let's get Vincent D'Onofrio wearing a bunch of gross and matted vines and leaves before it's too late! In the meantime, check out all the other upcoming DCU TV projects on the way while waiting for more info on the actor's return as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil: Born Again.
