Last November there were rumors that Del Toro was involved in superhero project for Warner Bros. more specifically DC’s magical beings/characters effectively joining them all together much like what Marvel has worked towards with The Avengers. Back then the characters talks included: Deadman, The Spectre, Swamp Thing, Constantine Hellblazer, Phantom Stranger, Zatanna, Zatara, Sargon and Etrigan the Demon. The project/film at the time was rumored to be called HEAVEN SENT.
Today, Del Toro confirmed the official working title is ‘Dark Universe’, as per his interview with IGNabout the project and the transcript of the interview is courtesy of The Mary Sue.
“Yeah I’m doing it, I’m working on it. I’m writing the outline and we already are in talks with a writer. A very, very good writer. I think people are going to be happy with who we have chosen. And he accepted. I’ve been courting this writer because I think he is the perfect guy for this job. And we’re doing it. Hopefully it will happen. We don’t know until they green-light the movie.”
“Oh my god, those are…you’re talking about my childhood,” he said when asked if he had a favorite character from the magic realm. “I mean, Swamp Thing, for me, is a rock star. You know demon, the Jack Kirby demon, Etrigan, is amazing. And then you know, you go to Constantine, who I thought was an amazing creation, and I want to do the Constantine of the comics. Deadman. You know it’s really, really a lot of work but a lot of fun.”
He also mentioned The Spectre but tried to hold back after that. “I don’t want to say because then you’ll know the plot a little bit but there’s…who am I gonna say? I can say Zatanna, Zatara, Deadman.”
“The movements for this happened before [The Avengers]. They were already galvanized to launch Justice League and they were galvanized to make their universe cohesive. So it’s really, what I feel now is that they are really, really with Superman they feel very, very confident with what they have and they are now feeling like they can…they have two pillars – Batman and Superman for the DC Universe. And internally, now they are finding they are, they have a darker tone. A more urban and sophisticated tone you know? So I think now they can build up, build the foundation and now they can build a building.”
As for Dark Universe, del Toro said he’s hopeful it will be greenlit but, “I don’t control my own destiny as I have proven time and time again.”
With Del Toro recently turning down the chance to direct Star Wars VII and as we look towards his film Pacific Rim I feel that we’re almost exploring a new frontier in respect to how Warner Bros. is setting up films, for their foreseeable future, and even for Del Toro himself.
Since we’re still coming off that “high” from Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and with Man of Steel coming soon, it’ll be really interesting to see how “grounded” all of these projects end up because they could influence one another. Heck, other films that might be given a green-light due to their own subject matter and deep down this is me rooting for Del Toro’s lost project At Mountains of Madness. While it’s still very early, this interview really is the first sense of clarification as to what Warner Bros. is, or might be, doing with their other superhero projects and how they might be tryingt to tie them altogether, but also provide insight of the tone and direction they could potentially take. The horizon is looking pretty curious.
Sound off on your thoughts below!
Via: IGN and The Mary Sue
Guillermo Del Toro is one of the most overrated directors in the business. I hope he’s not offered the director’s chair for this.
The DC universe is so much less compelling IMHO, save for Batman and sometimes Superman – even Superman
is a bit campy. Tough road for them coming anywhere close to Marvel’s success I think.