EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Durand has joined the cast of the upcoming DC Universe series Swamp Thing in the role of Jason Woodrue, the brilliant but abrasive scientist who longtime fans of DC Comics also know as the transmogrified super-villain called Floronic Man.

Durand has been a supervillain before — he portrayed Fred Dukes (a.k.a. The Blob) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine — but he may be best known for his television work, which includes Lost (as the mercenary Martin Keamy) and The Strain (as Vasiliy Fet, an exterminator of vampires).

Tony Butler

The Canadian actor started his career in stand-up comedy and took a detour toward Broadway before finding his stride as a screen actor. His feature-film credits include 3:10 To Yuma, Devil’s Knot, Fruitvale Station, Noah, Smokin’ Aces and Robin Hood. Durand will also be seen in the upcoming film Primal opposite Nicolas Cage.

No release date has been set for Swamp Thing, which will be part of the core original programming offered on DC Universe, the recently announced subscription streaming venture from Warner Digital Networks. The supernatural horror series cast includes Derek Mears (as Swamp Thing), Andy Bean (as Alec Holland), Crystal Reed (as Abby Arcane) and Jennifer Beals (as Sheriff Lucilia Cable).

The official description of Durand’s character for the series: “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.”

In the pages of DC Comics the character has roots that stretch all the way back to 1962. That’s when Woodrue was introduced in Atom issue No. 1 in “Master of the Plant World,” a story by writer Gardner Fox and artist Gil Kane. The scheming scientist — called himself the Plant Master in those days.

DC Entertainment

In 1976, Woodrue embraced a new name and a major make-over as Floronic Man, a hybrid of human and plant that looked a bit like the Jolly Green Giant (although he was, in fact, neither jolly nor a giant). In 1997 the character became a Hollywood transplant when John Glover (Smallville) donned a lab coat to play Woodrue (in his human form) in Joel Schuacher’s Batman and Robin.

Swamp Thing is from executive producers James Wan, Mark Verheiden, Gary Dauberman, Michael Clear and Len Wiseman. The title monster and many of the central characters were created in the 1970s by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. Rob Hackett is co-producer. The DC Universe series is produced by Atomic Monster in association with Warner Bros. Television. Len Wiseman will direct the first episode off of a script by Verheiden and Dauberman.

Durand is repped by ICM Partners, Alchemy Entertainment and Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal Laviolette Feldman.