Guillermo del Toro is undoubtedly one of the busiest filmmakers in Hollywood. He has a handful of projects in development at any given time and is constantly adding more. Right now he’s working on the haunted house film Crimson Peak, and is gearing up production on a smaller film to be directed before he helms Pacific Rim 2.
He’s also in consideration to helm Frankenstein for Alex Kurtzman’s burgeoning Universal Monster shared universe, and is a producer on several projects, including the new FX series The Strain and the animated film Book of Life (which he also wrote). Because of his busy schedule, it’s hard to keep track of which projects are and aren’t in development. One such film he’s been talking about for quite some time now is DC’s Justice League Dark, which was nowhere to be found on the supposed list of upcoming DC film adaptations.
del Toro spoke with SuperHeroHype after the Book of Life panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and was asked about the status of Justice League Dark. When asked if he was still interested in taking on the darker elements of the DC cinematic universe, he said:
“I’m still working on it. Sandman doesn’t figure into the Dark Universe. We have Deadman, we have the Demon, we have Swamp Thing, we have Zatanna, we have Constantine, but DC and Warners have been very clear that they are trying to keep those properties separate so when the time comes they can unite them, once they know they’re quantifiable. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern… everyone eventually will come together. Right now, they’re allowing us independence.”
I’ll be honest here, I was not expecting him to say that. There has been little to no talk of Justice League Dark from anyone but del Toro, so I had chalked it up as wishful thinking that we’d ever see it happen. It’s great then to hear that the studio is trying to find a way to make the property work for him and to someday cross the characters over into the “Light” Universe of DC films.
We’re going to start seeing some of the darker DC characters on screen this fall, when NBC’s Constantine premieres. We know that the show will explore some of the more supernatural elements of the DCU, so will that cause any trouble with del Toro’s Justice League Dark? Apparently not, as del Toro stated:
“No. I had that conversation when the Constantine show was pitched. I said, ‘Do I have to have continuity with that?’ and they said, ‘No, feel free to continue the way you’re going.”
So, not only will we likely have two versions of the Justice League on screen at once, we’ll also have some of the Justice League Dark characters co-existing in film and television as well. Will modern audiences be able to handle two John Constantines? I guess we’ll find out (assuming Justice League Dark ever gets made, that is).