Although there’s plenty of well-deserved hype surrounding the next two DC Universe films — Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, directed by Cruella’s Craig Gillespie, which will share the origin story of Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El, and Clayface, James Watkins’ horror-thriller centered on Batman’s monstrous shapeshifting foe — one project that didn’t make the slate but still has us buzzing is Guillermo del Toro’s long-dreamed-about Justice League Dark.
Del Toro, a modern day horror master whose works transcend the genre and includes movies like Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone and The Shape of Water on his resume, revealed what could have been with Justice League Dark on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“It was John Constantine, and the plot made absolute sense, perfect sense,” del Toro said, confirming who would have been the lead character in Justice League Dark. “I loved that screenplay. I was in love with that screenplay. I thought it brought everybody in effortlessly, you know.”
Among the characters seamlessly woven into del Toro’s vision were the villainous Floronic Man, the powerful plant elemental Swamp Thing, and even The Dark Knight himself, Batman.
“There was a moment where Batman came in briefly. They said, ‘We need a plane,’ and he said, ‘I know a friend of mine has a plane.’ and then you were in Bruce Wayne’s office. You know I would have loved to have done that, but now I wouldn’t, you know.” The Frankenstein director also had an antagonist in mind. “We had the Floronic Man was one of the villains, and it was really great because Swamp Thing was very fleshed out.”
Del Toro’s Justice League Dark, which was first announced in 2013 and would have been based on the DC Comics series of the same name and featured the previously mentioned John Constantine, Swamp Thing, in addition to the magic-using Zatanna, Etrigan the Demon and Deadman would have seen the team taking on preternatural threats that were too outlandish and macabre for the regular Justice League to tackle and were to be part of a planned DC Dark Universe. Del Toro didn’t get to the point of casting anyone specific but had actor and contortionist Doug Jones, who previously worked with del Toro as Abe Sapien in Hellboy and the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water, in mind for Deadman.
“Physically, I could do the suit, and I know his mannerisms and all that,” del Toro explained of Jones as Deadman.
Unfortunately, del Toro’s Justice League Dark never came to fruition, largely because the DC Extended Universe looked very different in 2013. At the time, the franchise was being shaped by Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which set the tone for subsequent releases such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), as well as later entries like Aquaman, Shazam!, and Blue Beetle. While the DCEU showed early promise, it ultimately struggled to resonate with audiences. In hindsight, the rich and often eccentric DC Comics source material frequently felt at odds with Snyder’s artistic vision and hyper-stylized aesthetic, resulting in a cinematic universe that never fully found its footing.
Nonetheless, it’s fun to imagine what del Toro’s Justice League Dark could have been. Del Toro also praised James Gunn’s Superman, the start of Gunn’s new DC Universe on the big screen.
“Now and then, I write him about something else he’s doing right,” del Toro said. “I think he’s remarkably smart. I loved Superman. I really enjoy the way he’s viewing the universe… when I see James Gunn’s Superman you feel the healing power of goodness from someone that believes in it.”
Given James Gunn and Guillermo del Toro’s mutual admiration, there’s still a glimmer of hope that del Toro might one day bring his singular style to the DC Universe; an Etrigan, Swamp Thing, or Deadman movie, perhaps? Would Guillermo del Toro’s Justice League Dark have been a film you would have watched? Let us know in the comments.
