Appearing on the “Happy, Sad, Confused” podcast, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (GDT) recently offered insights into his unmade DC project, “Justice League Dark”, and shared his perspective on the direction of the new “Superman” film.
Del Toro was very fond of the “Justice League Dark” screenplay, which took a couple of years to develop and brought the characters together effortlessly. While it was an ensemble, Constantine served as the protagonist. GDT had already planned for frequent collaborator Doug Jones to play Dead Man, citing his knowledge of Jones’s mannerisms and his ability to handle the physical suit.
The dark hero team would have faced villains like the Floronic Man, and the script featured a very fleshed-out Swamp Thing. The filmmaker also confirmed that Batman would have made a brief appearance; when the team needed a plane, GDT had written a moment that took them into Bruce Wayne’s office. Despite the extensive development, the project never progressed to the art stage, and del Toro noted he would not be interested in pursuing it today.
Regarding the Man of Steel, the filmmaker confirmed that the topic of working on the Superman film (“Man of Steel”) had been discussed abstractly. Del Toro admitted that his personal creative “vibe is dark,” making him naturally gravitate towards concepts like “Justice League Dark” because he finds the “grey area” more interesting than pure goodness, which he does not believe in.
However, he holds great respect for James Gunn’s current vision for the DC universe. Del Toro specifically admires Gunn’s “Superman”, noting that it successfully transmits “the healing power of goodness from someone that believes in it”.
