Justice League Dark NYCC Panel Hints At Future Of DC Animated Films

As per usual, a DC animation panel held at a major convention bore some generous fruit. This time, it pertained to one of WB’s most ambitious projects in the superhero genre: Justice League Dark.

For those unfamiliar, Justice League Dark is an upcoming animated movie based on the comic book series of the same name that will see characters such as John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, and Zatanna join forces to combat the darkest mystical threats the DC Universe has to offer – not everything is a job for Superman. Not only that, but Batman will factor into this adaptation too because, well, he’s a proven success and will no doubt get casual fans to buy out of curiosity.

This weekend at New York Comic Con, several clips from the film were debuted to a geeked audience. But what were perhaps the most interesting talking points came from the Q&A session involving the cast and crew that followed, and what was divulged hinted at what we may see in animation over the next few years.

The most obvious, yet no less exciting, tidbit to be discussed was that if JLD moves enough copies on Blu-Ray and DVD, a sequel is in the cards. Producer James Tucker said as much coupled with his answer to a fan’s question as to whether or not Lucifer could show up in the next one:

“Just buy this one, and we’ll get a sequel, and yeah, sure.”

In addition to Lucifer Morningstar, director Jay Oliva commented on which character he wants to incorporate next:

“If this sells well and we get a sequel, I’d like to put Spectre in it.”

Furthermore, Tucker let us know what else to expect aside from this particular team:

“We’ve already announced another ‘Teen Titans.’ We discussed with Warner video, and they have ‘Wonder Woman’ on their radar in some form or fashion.”

Although it’s public knowledge that Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is arriving sometime next year, the revelation regarding another Wonder Woman animated film actually comes as somewhat of a surprise. Sure, it makes total sense to capitalize on her upcoming big screen debut starring Gal Gadot, but 2009’s animated Wonder Woman film didn’t meet the studio’s financial expectations, therefore no commitment was ever made to a sequel. Thankfully, the Amazon Princess is now being given a second chance.

One more quote that should generate some interest was that of one made by Matt Ryan, who reprises his role of John Constantine in JLD. When asked if he’ll ever return to Arrow, he had this to say:

“I think there’s always a possibility. I’ve been lucky enough as an actor to be busy since I did ‘Arrow.’ This is the first time since ‘Arrow’ that I’ve been free.”

Justice League Dark is set to arrive sometime during the first quarter of 2017.