The long-dormant Dark Universe, aka Justice League Dark, took a big step forward back in August when WB hired director Doug Liman to helm the feature film. Since then, there’s been little word on how the film continues to develop, but Liman offered an update to IGN, saying:
“I love those characters, and I love Warner Bros., and I love [producer] Scott Rudin, and it’s — and you know, I get asked to come in and do things that are “unconventional.” If people want conventional, they don’t come to me. It’s why doing Invisible was like right up my alley — because how can you be conventional when there aren’t even conventions that exist? And so you know when Warner Bros. wants to sort of turn the comic book genre on its head, they call me.”
Liman is no stranger to comic book adaptations having brought us 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow (based on the graphic novel All You Need is Kill) and he had long been attached to 20th Century Fox’s Gambit film before exiting earlier this year.
Fan-favorite director Guillermo del Toro fanned the flames of Justice League Dark for a long time despite no official announcement about the project ever being made. Rumors previously pointed toward Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman, as playing Swamp Thing, with Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor reportedly in the mix for John Constantine, and another rumor also gained traction saying Rogue One: A Star Wars Story villain Ben Mendelsohn was being eyed for the film’s primary villain, Anton Arcane.
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No official release date or screenwriter for the film has ever been announced, but Warner Bros. has previously set release dates for Untitled DC movies on October 5, 2018 and November 1, 2019.
The Justice League Dark made their debut when DC Comics began The New 52 publishing initiative in 2011. A paranormal-leaning super team, the group featured the likes of John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Zatanna, Frankenstein, Deadman, Madame Xanadu, and The Phantom Stranger among its ranks.
