Amit Malaviya
Ian Ziering, best remembered for his turn as poor little rich boy Steve Sanders on Beverly Hills, 90210, but currently better known as Fin Shepard, the leading character of the Sharknado franchise, has signed onto the cast of Swamp Thing, from the DC Universe streaming app. He will be essaying the role of Daniel Cassidy, a Hollywood has-been who becomes the hero known as the Blue Devil.
The official character description for Cassidy reads: “Stuntman turned movie star, Daniel Cassidy became semi-famous after playing the demonic Blue Devil. But now, eight years later, Cassidy finds himself living out his days in frustration, pining for his former fame while on a collision course with destiny.”
Blue Devil was introduced in 1984, in the pages of The Fury of Firestorm before receiving his own thirty-one issue series. A Hollywood stuntman and special effects specialist, Cassidy was trapped in the Blue Devil exoskeleton suit when a demon named Nebiros was accidentally unleashed from an ancient temple and mistook Cassidy for an actual demon. Eventually, after years of trying to free himself from the suit, Cassidy made a deal with a demon named Neron and became an actual demon who went on to fight mystical baddies, often alongside a team called the Shadowpact. It’s unsure how much of this history will be used for the Swamp Thing incarnation of the character.
The second television series to be based on Swamp Thing – the first ran from 1990-1993 on the USA Network – the subscription streamer’s take is described as an edgy, horror-infused adaptation. It follows Abby Arcane as “she investigates what seems to be a deadly swamp-born virus in a small town in Louisiana but soon discovers that the swamp holds mystical and terrifying secrets. When unexplainable and chilling horrors emerge from the murky marsh, no one is safe.”
While a solid start date hasn’t been put forth by DC Universe yet, the show is expected to debut sometime in 2019.
