Fan favorite filmmaker Guillermo del Toro had been attached to write and direct the superhero team-up film JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, which will delve into the "Dark Universe" side of the DC Comics library, for Warner Bros. The problem was, the studio wanted to move forward a bit more quickly than del Toro could. After delivering a script that WB wanted to green light immediately, he had to drop off the project because the schedule would have conflicted with PACIFIC RIM 2, which was supposed to be heading into production.
Things haven't panned out very well on the PACIFIC RIM 2 front, but Warner Bros. is continuing to develop JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK without del Toro. The team his script assembled consists of John Constantine (the same character who was played by Keanu Reeves in the 2005 movie and Matt Ryan on the recent short-lived TV series), Swamp Thing, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, and Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon. None of the roles have been officially cast yet, but according to Latino Review the studio is pursuing actors, even though a replacement director has yet to be found.
Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor are said to have both been offered the role of Constantine. If one of them signs on, it's possible that the other could then be offered the role of Jason Blood.
Monica Bellucci, who can currently be seen in theatres getting seduced by James Bond in SPECTRE, is believed to be the favorite for the role of Madame Xanadu.
WB is said to still be keen on the actor del Toro wanted to play Swamp Thing; his frequent collaborator, Ron Perlman.
Latino Review hasn't heard any specific names being mentioned for the remaining two teammates, just that the studio is looking for a comedic performer for Deadman and a hispanic or black actress for Zatanna.
We'll have to wait and see if any of the actors mentioned above will actually close deals to be in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, but I'm liking the sound of things so far. Of this bunch, the character I'm most familiar with is Swamp Thing, and I really love the idea of Perlman taking on the role.
As I've mentioned in a previous article on this project, the villain in the first volume of the JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK comic book was The Enchantress, a character being played by Cara Delevingne in the upcoming film SUICIDE SQUAD. Apparently The Enchantress wasn't in del Toro's script, but may end up being added into the story before JLD goes into production.
Warner Bros. is hoping to have cameras rolling on JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK sometime next year.
Monica Bellucci