Creating a “universe” around properties is a daunting task, as we’ve seen over the years, watching Universal stumble with their “Dark Universe” and seeing Warner Bros. pull the plug on Zack Snyder’s long term plans for several DC adaptations, all while Sony accidentally fell into success with Venom. The biggest lessons learned are not to rush – which is hard considering the hot seat and pressure many execs are under to perform immediately – and to not put all their stock in one filmmaker.
Warner Bros. was the first to take a step back, reevaluate their plans, and take it piece by piece, instead of sprinting to catch up to Marvel. After going back to the drawing board and having several solo films succeed (Joker could win several Oscars), they’re beginning to build up a universe around Harley Quinn, as James Gunn develops a reboot of Suicide Squad.
Even more exciting, Deadline reports that Warners is ready to revive Justice League Dark and its many villainous characters.
Once headed by Guillermo del Toro, the studio is allegedly offering the reigns to Star Wars filmmaker J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot, who is said to be developing both TV and film for the property.
The site outlines the possible characters who could get the live-action treatment: “Justice League Dark (or JLD team) first appeared in the September 2011 issue of Justice League Dark #1 featuring such superheroes, mostly occult and offbeat, as John Constantine, mystic and fortune teller Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Shade, the Changing Man, and Zatanna.
“The roster is much larger, and members joined later on, with Swamp Thing being added in issue 19. Other members of JLD include Andrew Bennett (a centuries old vampire), Black Orchid (a shapeshifter), Doctor Mist (a spy who worked for villain Felix Faust), Frankenstein (a erudite creature), Pandora (based on the Greek character), Nightmare Nurse (a healer of supernatural wounds), among several others.”
It’s hard to know who is to blame for the critical mess of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as the new trilogy suffered many hardships through its box office successes. If money is the end game, it’s hard to argue against Bad Robot, but anyone expecting quality is more in line to get something akin to Venom.
The good news here is that there will probably be several filmmakers attached to these projects and that it’s not directly tied to anything else Warner Bros is doing (for now). If Abrams is what it takes to get Justice League Dark on the big screen, I’m all about it, especially if he finds visionary filmmakers to leave his trust in. Shit, maybe, just maybe, James Wan will direct Swamp Thing?
