It’s been quite a while since the last update on Guillermo del Toro’s planned Justice League Dark movie that would explore the shadowy, occult corners of the DC Comics universe, and the project was assumed to be scuttled after it wasn’t among the slate of upcoming superhero films announced by Warner Bros. Rumors of its demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated, however, as del Toro recently revealed that he’s sent off the first draft of a finished script to the studio.
In an interview with Forbes tied to his FX horror series The Strain, del Toro not only revealed that the completed screenplay for Justice League Dark was in the studio’s hands, but that the title had also been tentatively changed to Dark Universe.
The initial title for the project was based on the recent DC comic book series of the same name featuring a team of superheroes tasked with handling trouble involving magic and supernatural elements. The team debuted in 2011 with a roster that included John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Shade the Changing Man, and Zatanna.
According to the report, Del Toro will receive the studio’s feedback soon and the project could move forward if initial reactions are positive. The film is expected to be a standalone story that exists outside the studio’s DC Comics cinematic universe with Superman and Batman, though it’s likely to feature some prominent characters from the publisher’s superhero stable, including John Constantine — who already has a television series of his own on NBC.
