HBO Max executive gives an update on J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated Justice League Dark franchise that is in the works. The DC Universe is getting a bigger life on HBO Max as the streaming service is adding more properties. One of the new universes that Warner Bros. TV has been working on for a few years is Justice League Dark, which will be the start of a shared continuity from Abrams and his production company Bad Robot. Justice League Dark was initially eyed as a DCEU movie from Guillermo del Toro, who was working on bringing the supernatural characters to the big screen. After years of being stuck in development hell, Warner Bros. moved it from feature to television, with Abrams attached as an executive producer.
In January 2020, Warner Bros. TV began developing Justice League Dark as an upcoming ensemble drama that will see several iconic characters come together. Since the initial announcement, Abrams has slowly made progress as Bad Robot is producing a number of Justice League Dark-related projects as part of the shared universe. As far as movies go, Bad Robot is in the process of developing a Zatanna movie with Emerald Fennell penning the screenplay. Over on HBO Max, two solo shows have so far been announced, with one of them being a Constantine reboot from writer Guy Bolton. In addition to that, Abrams and Angela Robinson are working on Madame X, a series that would focus on Madame Xanadu.
Since the last announced project, it has been very quiet on the Justice League Dark front as none of the series have cast their leads or indicated when filming will start. In a new interview with THR, HBO Max executive Casey Bloys chatted briefly about Abrams’ many ongoing adventures with WarnerMedia and the streaming service. With Abrams being a busy filmmaker who is working on multiple projects, Bloys was asked what the producer’s priority is in terms of what is being worked on, including doing things for a competitor, as he responded with the following:
“Bad Robot is a big producer. It’s not like they can only do one thing at a time. I don’t want to call out what their priority is — I wouldn’t speak for them — but I feel like everything we’re working on with them feels like priority number one to us. That’s what you want in a producer. You don’t want to feel that your show is second fiddle to something else. They certainly make it feel like every show is top priority.”
With so many confirmed Justice League Dark TV shows and movies, it’s a valid concern to wonder where Abrams is at right now. Bloys makes a good point, though, that something as big as Bad Robot can easily be working on multiple projects at the same time. If a massive production company like Bad Robot could only work on one TV show or movie at a time, it would certainly be a problem. Given that Abrams signed a $250 million overall deal with WarnerMedia, being able to produce multiple films and series at the same time should be a given.
Something as beloved as Justice League Dark has great potential to thrive as an ongoing franchise across TV and film. Given the characters that are involved, there is so much Warner Bros. can do with them, especially as there isn’t a lot of supernatural or magic presence in their ongoing DC properties right now. Despite the lack of news, it’s still reassuring to hear that HBO Max is actively working on the projects. It’s also very likely that the global COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down too. As 2022 goes forward, there will hopefully be some more updates about all the various Justice League Dark TV shows and films from Abrams and Bad Robot.
