Earlier today, it was reported by two outlets that Swamp Thing was canceled. This was one of DC Universe’s big, high-profile series, and a thousand fan voices cried out…and have yet to be silent. While I haven’t seen the episode that aired yet myself, based on initial reports, it sounded an awful lot like the series suffered from a lack of internal support, but the reason behind that internal support was completely unclear. Was it just because execs were nervous at potentially-disappointed subscriber numbers for Swamp Thing? Maybe not.

Apparently, the budget issues have been out in the open for all to see, but it’s so technical and (frankly) boring that it wasn’t really covered by any of us geek-centric sites. Luckily, Twitter user John Gholson was up to speed on the basic goings-on with this film, based on reports from the state of North Carolina, where Swamp Thing shot.

RELATED – Swamp Thing Canceled After One Season…But Not For Performance Reasons?

He cited a couple of articles from Star News Online, which I’ll link down below for your leisurely reading. Basically, it sounds like North Carolina promised a certain amount of grant money to Swamp Thing (among other productions). Apparently, North Carolina reps thought there was a lot more money available to give as grants for productions, resulting in them allocating more money than they had available. For Swamp Thing, network execs believed that around north of $30 million would be covered, but the actual number ended up being much less.

The result? DC Universe would have a lot less of the season’s $85 million-budget covered than originally planned. Hence the decrease in episodes for the first season, which ended up getting only around $13 million covered. All in all, this meant that they couldn’t continue producing the show without investing a LOT of money (I thought I noticed the show looked damn expensive), and unfortunately, given DC Universe’s “niche” audience, they likely didn’t see themselves making nearly enough to justify the costs.

In short, it was a money issue.

All of a sudden those reports of nervous execs are making a lot more sense. What do you think of these developments? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Star News Online (1), (2) (via John Gholson)