How many times has Guillermo del Toro expressed interest in a particular project, and subsequently denied any sort of involvement? We don’t necessarily blame the exceptionally talented director – we know he’s crazy busy writing a book, scripting Pacific Rim 2 and getting ready to work on Crimson Peak – but I’d certainly want to see him helm at least one feature a year, à la Woody Allen. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the Mexican filmmaker goes about things.
So, it speaks volumes that del Toro seemingly remains utterly determined to go through with Dark Universe, a cinematic adaptation of Justice League Dark (a team including DC Comics’ supernatural characters, such as John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Madame Xanadu, Deadman and Zatanna), even though a John Constantine TV show has recently entered development over at NBC.
del Toro spoke to IGN recently and expressed his thoughts on the upcoming John Constantine show:
We talked about it at DC and Warners, and I feel confident that the two properties can exist at the same times… I think that DC is trying to create a great universe of characters, and expand it and make it clear to the audience that it’s a landscape of characters, and not just one that’s dependent on one or two characters.
The director has intermittently talked up the prospect of creating Dark Universe for over a year now, but the project just doesn’t seem to be moving forward – no script has yet been written. On the other hand, David S. Goyer’s Constatine show is quickly getting closer to reality.
What do you think? Will Guillermo del Toro give up on Justice League Dark, given the similar nature of the forthcoming NBC show? Is the prolific director ready to commit to developing an entire multiverse for DC Comics and Warner Bros.? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.