The DC slate has seen several projects come and go over the years, but few quite like Justice League Dark. A gothic take on the DC lore, the film went through several hands over the course of its tenure in development hell, including The Shape of Water's Guillermo del Toro and (perhaps most notably) Edge of Tomorrow's Doug Liman. Justice League Dark got further with Liman than with any other filmmaker before he eventually walked away, but it now sounds like there's a chance that he may finally return to the project. When asked about the opportunity of directing Justice League Dark (or any DC film, for that matter) at TCA 2018 to promote his new YouTube series Impulse, Liman acknowledged the possibility and explained:
I would be open to it. I have a very kind of contrarian approach to how I make things and I don't want to do them the way other people have done them. You know, Impulse is an original take on superpower as you can imagine and still be satisfying. Because obviously there's some things -- you can be original and artsy and not... Part of the reason cliches exist is because they're satisfying to the audience so my challenge as a filmmaker has always been to do something that's really original and still totally satisfying on a big commercial level, which I feel we've done with Impulse and I'd be really interested in doing that within the DC world if the right piece of material comes along.
File that answer under "diplomatic, but promising." Doug Liman hasn't officially re-entered talks with DC and Warner Bros. to direct the long-gestating Justice League Dark movie, but he hasn't ruled it out yet. To make it happen, he would just need an idea or a version of the project that could balance creativity and blockbuster commercialism in a way that would feel fresh, engaging and exciting. If he ultimately does move back into the DC realm, it will be for a project that (by his estimation) goes against some fundamental conventions of the genre while also embracing others. You'd be hard-pressed to find a DC property more well-suited for that than Justice League Dark
One other specific thing worth pointing out in Doug Liman's recent remarks to Screen Rant about delving back into the DC world is his emphasis on originality. In fact, while speaking to CinemaBlend last year, Doug Liman opened up about his failed attempt at the magic-based superhero story and pointed out how the first script never got to a point at which it felt unique and worth his time. That said, DC has recently made several notable behind-the-scenes changes with the promotion of Walter Hamada to president of DC film production and the streamlining of the development process. If those moves create a new mentality and sense of direction within the DCEU, then it's not entirely impossible to imagine that Doug Liman could be lured back.
Whether or not Doug Liman will return to the DC world to make Justice League Dark a reality remains to be seen, but this revelation makes it clear that the door hasn't entirely closed. As for his upcoming projects, it seems possible that Live Die Repeat and Repeat could end up being his next film, which could very well get him into the franchise state of mind. If you are looking for more information on movies set to debut this year, however, then make sure to check out our comprehensive movie premiere guide!
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