Guillermo del Toro Reveals Initial Justice League Dark Inspiration

Guillermo del Toro says his Justice League Dark movie took inspiration from Swamp Thing and Abigail Holland’s love story. The film, based on the DC Comics superhero team that specializes in the occult and supernatural threats, has been in development for several years. Long before Warner Bros. envisioned the unofficially titled DCEU, and even before Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel released in 2013, the studio was looking into potentially bringing Justice League Dark onto the big screen – but things haven’t seemed to work out just yet.

Del Toro boarded the project in 2012 and, though he didn’t initially plan on developing the movie for the studio’s burgeoning DC Comics-based universe, his plans changed after Snyder’s Superman film hit theaters and learned of the studio’s plans to eventually bring more DC Comics characters onto the big screen through a newly-formed shared universe. The ambitious filmmaker penned a screenplay with an interest in directing the project, but his packed schedule precluded him from diving into the film right away, and it wasn’t until summer 2015 that del Toro officially left the DC movie – and the project has been in a constant state of flux ever since. But it seems del Toro has shed some light on the type of story he wanted to tell.

Related: Why Doug Liman Exited Justice League Dark

In an AMA on Reddit, Guillermo del Toro expressed his love for characters such as Demon and Swamp Thing, and that his Justice League Dark movie would’ve focused on Alec and Abigail Holland’s love story, something that has been a highlight for Swamp Thing fans over the years. Del Toro said: “It’s a WB property, I am not sure I can comment. Suffice to say that Demon or Swamp Thing mean to me what Batman and Superman mean to most mortals- perhaps even more. Swamp/Abigail love was a great source of inspiration for me.“

Guillermo del Toro Reveals Initial Justice League Dark Inspiration

Del Toro is no longer attached to Justice League Dark, but that doesn’t mean the studio has given up on the film. Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman signed on to helm the project in 2016, shortly after del Toro’s departure, but Liman later exited the film due to scheduling conflicts and because he felt the script hadn’t lived up to his expectations, something Warner Bros. seemed to agree with for now the studio is in the midst of reworking the film’s script. Considering the fact that Justice League Dark was confirmed as part of the studio’s DCEU lineup at SDCC 2017, it seems they may be close to locking in a satisfactory screenplay.

Housebound screenwriter Gerard Johnstone is currently polishing Justice League Dark‘s script, which was previously rewritten by Doctor Strange scribe Jon Spaihts. At the moment, it’s unclear who will direct Justice League Dark and when it will hit screens, but at least fans can rest assured knowing that the film is still in active development.