Guillermo del Toro Reveals the Justice League Dark Cast Fans Never Got to See

Guillermo del Toro has a graveyard of almost-movies, and near the top is his take on DC's Justice League Dark. He just talked through the version that almost happened, and yeah, it sounds like the good kind of weird.

The version that got away

Del Toro started developing Justice League Dark more than a decade ago. At one point, Doug Liman (fresh off Road House) even signed on to direct. It still never moved.

About that Colin Farrell rumor

There was chatter he wanted Colin Farrell as John Constantine. Del Toro shut that down. He said he hadn't started casting yet. The only name he had in mind was a familiar one: Doug Jones as Deadman, purely because Jones could handle the physical suit work and del Toro knows his movement style backwards and forwards.

What his Justice League Dark actually looked like

• He says the script clicked: it introduced the team cleanly, the plot made sense, and the characters tangled together in a way he loved.
• Floronic Man was one of the villains.
• Swamp Thing was, in his words, very fleshed out.
• His favorite set piece was a chase where Deadman keeps body-hopping mid-pursuit.
• The project spent a couple of years in development, but they never got to the art phase.

Yes, Batman was going to pop in

'There was a moment when Batman came in briefly. They said, We need a plane, and A friend of mine has a plane, and then you were in Bruce Wayne's office. I would have loved to have done it. Now, I wouldn't.'

Where it stands with the current DC setup

People keep wondering if James Gunn and Peter Safran might revive Justice League Dark. Del Toro says he hasn't talked to Gunn about that. He does text him occasionally about other things and calls Gunn remarkably smart. He loved Superman and says he digs the way Gunn is shaping the universe.

So... could it ever happen?

The script exists. The set pieces are there. Del Toro, at least right now, doesn't want to make it. That's the reality.

As for me: I would absolutely watch del Toro dive into DC's supernatural corner, especially from the guy making Frankenstein. But if I only get one formerly doomed del Toro project to actually happen, I’m still voting for At the Mountains of Madness.