Doug Liman says he’d be open to working on DC’s Justice League Dark

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While recently speaking with Screen Rant about his new JUMPER-based YouTube series IMPULSE,  THE BOURNE IDENTITY and EDGE OF TOMORROW helmer Doug Liman told the entertainment outlet that he'd be down to return to DC Entertainment for work on JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, or one of the studio's other forthcoming titles. Of course, Liman is no stranger to the comic book genre, as he was previously attached to GAMBIT, which he later abandoned to contribute to DARK UNIVERSE. No, not the now-defunct revival of Universal's classic movie monster movement – DARK UNIVERSE was at one time the working title for DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK feature. Suffice it to say, JLD has had more than a few problems getting up off the ground, though perhaps all is not lost just yet?

When asked about his interest in getting reacquainted with the JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK project, now that Walter Hamada is president of DC-based film production, Liman told Screen Rant the following: "I would be open to it," says Liman. "I have a very kind of contrarian approach to how I make things and I don’t want to do them the way other people have done them. You know, Impulse is an original take on superpower as you can imagine and still be satisfying. Because obviously there’s some things – you can be original and artsy and not… Part of the reason cliches exist is because they’re satisfying to the audience so my challenge as a filmmaker has always been to do something that’s really original and still totally satisfying on a big commercial level, which I feel we’ve done with Impulse and I’d be really interested in doing that within the DC world if the right piece of material comes along."

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK is DC's supernatural, horror-inspired team. Armed with the ability to wield dark magics, those belonging to JLD delve into the darkest corners of the publisher's universe to keep the nightmare creatures who live there from crawling into the light. In the past, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK has seen several team members come and go, though perhaps the most recognizable iteration of the group consists of the following characters: John Constantine, Deadman, Swamp Thing, Etrigan the Demon, and Zatanna.

Originally, Guillermo del Toro was attached to write and possibly direct a JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK adaptation for Warner Bros., but then broke everyone's heart by abandoning the project in mid-2015. Liman quickly picked up where del Toro left off, but then left in May of 2017, citing that the film's script was incomplete. While the fate of JLD remains undecided at this time, I would not be surprised if the project gets resurrected as a part of Hamada's restructuring of the DCEU. After all, Hamada's involvement in films like THE CONJURING and IT could find JLD in a prioritized position, once all is shuffled and ready to rock n' roll.

What do you think of Liman possibly returning to JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK? Personally, I'd rather see someone like Jennifer Kent or Andy Muschietti work on the film, though I'd be more than willing to see what Liman has to offer if it means we get a modern day Swamp Thing and Zatanna on the big screen.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.