DC Studios co-head James Gunn offers a disappointing update on the possibility of Guillermo del Toro helming a Justice League Dark movie. In a wide-ranging interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn discussed a multitude of DC projects, including some that have fallen by the wayside. At one point, the topic of del Toro’s long-gestating Justice League Dark adaptation was brought up. It was mentioned as a film Gunn could potentially look to revive, but it does not appear as if that’s in the cards. Gunn remarked that he hasn’t had any conversations with del Toro about Justice League Dark.
“By the way, Guillermo’s never said that to me. I hear all these things about, ‘Guillermo would love to do Justice League Dark,’” Gunn said. “Well, Guillermo’s never said that to me. ‘Just let Steven Spielberg do his Blackhawks movie that he wants to do!’ Steven Spielberg, who I love above anyone else, has never said that to me. So these things get blown out of proportion. Years and years ago, I said I wanted to make a Thunderbolts movie. I was in a convention somewhere, and somebody asked me, ‘What did I want to do that wasn’t Guardians of the Galaxy?’ I said Thunderbolts. And for years and years, it’s like, ‘James Gunn should be allowed to make his Thunderbolts movie.’ I have a million things that I thought I wanted to do in certain moments.”
For a while, del Toro was developing Justice League Dark, drawing from his personal interest in characters like Deadman, Swamp Thing, and Zatanna. The prospect of telling a straightforward superhero story doesn’t appeal to the Oscar-winning director, but he’s drawn to the corner of the DC Universe that features a team of monsters. Unfortunately, Justice League Dark never came to fruition. Del Toro stopped working on the project back in 2018 and a live-action adaptation hasn’t moved forward since. There was talk of Justice League Dark films and TV shows from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, but nothing happened on that front either.
Though his dream DC film fell apart, del Toro has found a tremendous amount of success elsewhere. Several of his films, including The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley, and Pinocchio have won or been nominated for prestigious awards, and his upcoming adaptation of Frankenstein is one of Netflix’s most anticipated releases of the fall. Despite the clout he has in the industry, del Toro does not believe he will make Justice League Dark at DC Studios.
It’s unfortunate that there haven’t been any discussions about Justice League Dark in the years since Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios. Many viewers would enjoy seeing del Toro’s take on the material. Over the course of his career, del Toro has earned a loyal following thanks to his distinct visual style and heartfelt narratives that shine a spotlight on the outsiders. Plus, he’s proven he’s more than capable of handling comic book adaptations, with his Hellboy films earning praise for their standout action sequences and fan-favorite characters. Del Toro would have been the perfect fit for a title like Justice League Dark, a superhero team well within his wheelhouse.
Hopefully, there can be an opportunity down the line for Justice League Dark to be revisited. Though the DC Universe franchise is a shared universe with interconnecting parts, Gunn is attempting to make DC Studios as filmmaker-friendly a sandbox as possible. One way he’s working towards that goal is the Elseworlds label, which will be for projects separate from the main DCU continuity (i.e. Matt Reeves’ The Batman). Perhaps that could be a way for del Toro to realize his Justice League Dark dream. He would be able to come in and make a Guillermo del Toro film that doesn’t have to operate within the framework of a larger machine. Being able to craft a standalone movie like that could be an appealing prospect for an auteur like del Toro, especially if he gets to work alongside a friend in Gunn.
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