The movie begins when angry conflicts arise between an oil tycoon developer and the Seminole Indians who are being pushed out of their ancestral homelands. When construction crewmembers start turning up dead, law enforcement immediately suspects the Seminoles. But further investigation points to the swamp creature know as Man-Thing, a dangerous entity that feeds off human emotion and literally burns those who know fear.
Man-Thing starred Matthew Le Nevez, Rachael Taylor, and Jack Thompson. The film, from Lions Gate and Marvel, was shot during eight weeks last year in Sydney, Australia for a small budget and was originally intended for a 2004 video release, then upgraded to a theatrical release for Halloween to capitalize on the rising popularity of superhero-based films. Marvel did not think the film would be bankable in a theatrical release, then put it back to video. The movie was later released as a "Sci-Fi Original" on the Sci Fi Channel in 2005.
The movie's plot took many liberties with the source material (most of which seem to have been intended to conform the character more closely to the more popular Swamp Thing). Among these are: moving the setting from the Florida Everglades to Louisiana (though the film was actually made in Australia), and changing the creature's powers from burning those who "know fear" to being able to manipulate the swamp's vegetation. The movie character is also represented in a significantly more antagonistic light than the comic-book version. Man-Thing's former identity remained Ted Sallis, though in the film he is portrayed as a Native American shaman instead of a scientist.
Consequently, the Man-Thing's origin is somewhat different, though the Nexus of All Realities is still involved. Additionally, in a nice tip-of-the-hat to the original comics series, major characters are named after Man-Thing authors Mike Ploog, Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik.
