When it was first announced that J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot had signed an exclusive first-look deal with Warner Bros., speculation almost instantly started that he was set to play a prominent role in reshaping the direction of the DCEU, with Superman and Green Lantern touted as the most likely potential candidates.
So it came as something of a surprise when the first project announced was Justice League Dark, with Abrams tasked to finally drag the team of antiheroes out of a decade stuck in development hell as the stars of their own TV show. While there hasn’t been any confirmation as of yet about what the series will bring us or even how heavy Abrams’ input will be beyond his role as producer, we’ve heard that the studio are toying with the idea of another small screen endeavor that isn’t likely to go down so well with fans.
According to our sources – the same ones who told us about both the Justice League Dark and Green Lantern shows for HBO Max before they were officially announced – WB are now considering a Justice League series, one that wouldn’t be attached to the DCEU in any shape or form. Meaning it would be a whole new version of the team with new actors and be set in its own continuity, likely taking place alongside the other HBO Max shows. And while nothing is set in stone yet and the idea is reportedly just one of many being kicked around behind the scenes, it may not be very smart on WB’s part to move ahead with it.
For one thing, the Snyder Cut is the elephant in the room, and the studio would face substantial backlash from a lot of fans if they went ahead and gave a Justice League TV show the green light instead of allowing Zack Snyder to finish his movie. Although, it isn’t like they haven’t already been facing backlash for years from those same fans, so perhaps they don’t care?
Leaving that aside, though, keeping it separate from the DCEU could create some confusion when you potentially have multiple versions of Batman, Superman and the like all running around at the same time. Then again, between The CW shows, the DC Universe series and the DCEU movies, we already have multiple versions of many of these heroes, so perhaps adding yet another iteration for some of them won’t be too much of an issue?
In any case, it’s still early days for this planned Justice League show and it’s unclear exactly what WB’s cooking up for it, but it’s certainly something they’re developing and as soon as we learn more, we’ll be sure to let you know.
