DC Universe has released a new trailer for Swamp Thing. The upcoming DC Universe series follows an investigation into a swamp-born virus on a small town in Louisiana that begins to lead to strange and inexplicable phenomenon. Watching this trailer, if you didn’t know that Swamp Thing was an actual character who has been around since 1971, you could easily assume that the title referred to the swamp virus or the swamp phenomenon instead of the character who briefly pops up among a bunch of other stuff in this trailer.

I’m in no way sold based on this trailer, but Vinnie Mancuso watched the first two episodes and enjoyed what he saw, writing:

It’s in that violence and rot that this show truly shines as a no-joke horror story, not a surprise given Wan’s involvement and a pilot script co-written by Gary Dauberman (IT, The Nun) and Mark Verheiden (Ash vs. Evil Dead). Wiseman, who also directed episode 2, shoots Marais’ swamp like a dark fairy tale, all twisted trees and moonlit ponds. The effect makes it that much more jarring in the moments that almost primordial darkness invades Abby Arcane’s world of science. There’s a scene set in a morgue that floored me in its creepiness; the swamp disease brings a corpse back to profane “life”, the body standing up off the operating table even as it’s ripped apart by twisting vines and probing branches. It’s gross, it really does have serious The Thing vibes, and most importantly, it appears to be mostly practical.

So while it may not do much for the Swamp Thing character, it appears that if you’re itching for a horror show on DC Universe, Swamp Thing will get the job done.

Check out the new Swamp Thing trailer below. The series premieres on Friday.

Here’s the official synopsis for Swamp Thing:

SWAMP THING 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.