Guillermo del Toro Clarifies How Far He Got on ‘Justice League Dark’

While Guillermo del Toro is no longer a part of DC Films’ Justice League Dark plans, fans now have a sense of exactly how much del Toro put into the project.

Del Toro took to Twitter to respond to a recently surfaced batch of concept art and character designs for the film, which originally went into development under the title Dark Universe. Del Toro clarified that these designs were not created during his time working on the project.

“Not my designs,” del Toro tweeted. “I never got to that phase. But was mighty proud of the script we developed!

These may not be del Toro’s designs, but they do feature several characters that he has previously stated would have been key to his version of the movie. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything, del Toro stated, “It’s a WB property, I am not sure I can comment. Suffice to say that Demon or Swamp Thing mean to me what Batman and Superman mean to most mortals- perhaps even more.” He also stressed that Swamp Thing’s romantic relationship with Abigail Arcane “was a great source of inspiration” for him.

Etrigan the Demon is a Jack Kirby creation whose origin is rooted in the fall of Camelot. The demon shares a body with the magician Jason Blood. Though the Demon is a servant of Hell, blood quest for redemption usually sees him forced to play the hero.

Swamp Thing is the avatar of the Green, the collective plantlife of Earth, in the DC Comics universe. His love for Abigail Arcane is a source of constant tension since her uncle, Anton Arcane, is his nemesis.

The Justice League Dark movie is still being worked on Warner Bros. Doug Liman was attached to direct at one point but left the project due to scheduling conflicts. Since then, Warner Bros. has been struggling to find a director who is a good fit for the movie and a script that everyone involved is happy with.

Justice League is now playing in theaters. The film will be followed in the DC Extended Universe by Aquaman on December 21, 2018, Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.