There have been several years and creative changes since a League Dark movie was initially announced, and with possible new developments on the horizon, now may be a good time to review the project's development history. Introduced in 2011, the DC Comics series united of the DC Universe that were more supernatural and magic in nature, including John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Zatanna, Dean, and more. It wasn't long after the series launched that rumors about a movie started to appear.
Aquaman. But around the same time Man of Steel was released, it was announced that Guillermo del Toro was working on a Justice League Dark film. With all of those other movies being lined up ahead of it, Justice League Dark seemed uncertain to be part of the DCEU, and despite del Toro already handing in a script, his attachment to the film became more tenuous.
release some of the concept art he used to try and get the job.
Several writers were also attached along the way. After del Toro's departure, Michael Gilio, writer of the Bad Robot may have Justice League Dark back in development.
Justice League Dark was always an odd, but interesting choice for the early days of the DCEU. Guillermo del Toro has a proven track record with comic book adaptations with Hellboy movies under his belt. But as plans for the shared universe started to take shape, it did make sense to have more classic properties make it to the screen first. Following the critical and box office disappointment of Justice League, DC and Warner Bros. had to rethink their approach, focusing less on being interconnected and more on individual movies.
Joker's success as a standalone film brings hope that something like Justice League Dark would have a shot to exist without it having to fit neatly into the DCEU, especially considering it was never really clear whether the movie would be part of the overall continuity to begin with. There are many details that need to be worked out as things progress, but after a long delay, it seems that things may finally be back on track.
