Justice League Dark has been a project fans have been anxious to see happen. At one point, Guillermo del Toro was attached to a live-action version of the property. The idea of creating a facet of the Justice League that deals with supernatural threats sounds like loads of fun. After a lot of back and forth, Warner Bros. finally put together an animated feature. Check out the trailer!
It’s pretty cool to see characters like John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Black Orchid, and Swamp Thing come to life. It’s also a nice nod to fans to have Matt Ryan return to playing John Constantine. Ryan did a great job with the character and deserves more opportunities to play him. And if you were worried that Warner Bros. would be distancing themselves from the darker aspects of this title, that R rating should put your mind at ease.
However, the DC universe has been catching a lot of flak for its darker approach. The DCEU films have not done well critically and some attribute that to their grimmer tone. Plus, the recent animated feature Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders has been warmly embraced by fans. Could this not be the time for another dark DC tale? Considering the immensely negative response to Batman: The Killing Joke, this may not bode well for the response to Justice League Dark.
Plus, the premise looks a little too close to what we saw in Suicide Squad with the Enchantress. There are even eyeball monsters in this trailer! And it must be said that Batman feels very out of place here. It’s almost like Warner Bros. knew they wouldn’t be able to sell this to more general consumers without a known character front and center. Maybe Batman will be utilized well in the film. But man, that last joke is… oof.
Still, this is a must-see for fans of these particular characters. I’m an enormous Swamp Thing fan so this is definitely on my radar. Justice League Dark will release sometime in early 2017.
