James Gunn clears the air about Guillermo del Toro’s Justice League Dark movie

James Gunn is gearing up for the release of Superman, the first big screen entry of the DC Cinematic Universe (DCU), and in a recent interview he talked about how fans will ask him if there is a chance that many of the cancelled DCEU, the DCU's predecessor, projects have a chance of getting greenlit. One such project that was announced and cancelled a long time back was Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro's Justice League: Dark. The movie focuses on a team of superheroes who battle supernatural threats that the Justice League is not equipped to handle.

Rumours of the project first surfaced online in 2012, and that the film would introduce iconic DC heroes like the Swamp Thing, John Constantine, the Phantom Stranger, Zatanna, Zatara, Sargon the Sorcerer, and Etrigan as the founding members of the team. But despite Del Toro finishing the script, the project got stuck in production hell, and no new updates have been shared since 2023.

Gunn says del Toro never expressed interest directly

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Gunn was asked about del Toro's Justice League: Dark movie, to which he replied, “I love Guillermo, and we own a movie theatre together. By the way, Guillermo's never said that to me. I hear all these things about, 'Guillermo would love to do Justice League Dark.' Well, Guillermo's never said that to me. 'Just let Steven Spielberg do his Blackhawks movie that he wants to do!' Steven Spielberg, who I love above anyone else, has never said that to me. So these things get blown out of proportion.” So the ball might be in del Toro’s court, but it seems unlikely that his version of the project will ever be made.

Ideas can be misinterpreted, says Gunn

Gunn also addressed how sometimes, when directors share their ideas about projects with fans, they tend to get blown out of proportion. Speaking about his own experience, he said, "Years and years ago, I said I wanted to make a Thunderbolts movie. I was in a convention somewhere, and somebody asked me, 'What did I want to do that wasn't Guardians of the Galaxy?' I said Thunderbolts. And for years and years, it's like, 'James Gunn should be allowed to make his Thunderbolts movie.' I have a million things that I thought I wanted to do in certain moments."

Justice League Dark not on the horizon

While we might not be getting a Justice League: Dark movie any time soon, we might still get to see some of the members of the Justice League: Dark make their DCU debut in the future. Meanwhile, Gunn had shared in past interviews that we will get to see the DCU's Justice League in action in the future. That future depends on the success of Superman, which will be released worldwide on July 11, 2025.