You may have, once or twice in your travels, heard the rumor that the legendary Guillermo del Toro wants to make a Justice League Dark film. Would be cool, wouldn’t it? Well, despite word of del Toro’s interest, DC boss James Gunn says he’s yet to hear from the filmmaker about wanting to work on the project.
“I love Guillermo, and we own a movie theater together. By the way, Guillermo’s never said that to me,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I hear all these things about, ‘Guillermo would love to do Justice League Dark.’ Well, Guillermo’s never said that to me.”
DC did make an animated Justice League Dark series in 2017, but a new incarnation with del Toro at the helm? Well, the idea was cool while it lasted.
Gunn even noted that del Toro isn’t the only major filmmaker he’s heard these types of comments about. “‘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,” he added.
The filmmaker — who is head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, as well as the writer-director of the upcoming Superman movie — said he even had the same thing happen years ago to him in relation to Thunderbolts.
“Years and years ago, I said I wanted to make a Thunderbolts movie,” the director explained. “I was [at 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.”
Gunn did not, in fact, get to make his Thunderbolts movie — director Jake Scheier ended up getting that privilege, helming the film from a script by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo. That film dropped back in May, and fans really dug it. That said, it would be interesting to see what Gunn would’ve done with the concept.
As for Gunn’s Superman, that flies into theaters on July 8 — just one week after Thunderbolts will arrive on streaming for rent or purchase.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
