Justice League Dark: What JJ Abrams’ Deal Means For DC Movie Future

Here's what the mooted Justice League Dark deal between J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot production company and Warner Bros. could mean for DC, future releases and the studio. Fresh from dividing the Star Wars fandom with a film that was reportedly butchered in editing, renowned director and producer, J.J. Abrams, looks set to be turning his attentions towards the storied canon of DC comics. In June 2019, it was revealed that Abrams and Bad Robot were in final talks to sign a lucrative production deal with WarnerMedia that would encompass movies, TV, video games and more and, several months later, the two parties signed on the dotted line.

One of Warner Bros,' major current franchises is, of course, the DCEU, but while 2017's Justice League should've been the jewel in the crown, similar to how The Avengers elevated the MCU to new heights, the superhero team-up was a critical and commercial disaster. Several years later, fans are still calling for the release of the original cut from director, Zack Snyder, proving just how drastically Justice League dropped the ball. Fortunately, Warner Bros. and DC have a potential second bite of the cherry thanks to Justice League Dark. In the DC comics, this group are a more supernatural, clandestine team that handle the stuff the main Justice League either can't or won't.

J.J. Abrams' attachment to the Justice League Dark title has understandably excited DC fans, but plenty of unknowns still surround the arrangement, including what the deal will entail and how it'll intersect with the rest of the franchise, if at all. This is what we know and what remains a mystery about Bad Robot's involvement with Justice League Dark.

The Deal Isn't Final Yet

Crucially, the reported deal for J.J. Abrams to take on Justice League Dark is not yet set in stone. According to the original reveal, the process is very much in the early stages and no specific characters, storylines or projects have been selected. What is final, however, is Bad Robot's production deal with WarnerMedia, and it's not remotely surprising that one of the first projects the studio would want J.J. and his team to work on would be a DC affair. Abrams has a history of success with revitalizing major franchises such as Star Trek and Star Wars and, as mentioned previously, the DCEU has been a distinctly mixed bag thus far. Warner likely had energizing their superhero output in mind while courting J.J. and Justice League Dark in particular suits the style of previous Bad Robot projects such as Cloverfield and Super 8.

Even though many consider it only a matter of time before J.J. becomes involved with a DC project, these early Justice League Dark plans could yet be nixed. Warner Bros. have wanted a live-action Justice League Dark movie for almost a decade, with the likes of Guillermo del Toro and Doug Liman attached at various junctures, but the project has always wound up deader than Deadman himself. With no plans officially in place, it's still possible that Justice League Dark could be shelved yet again and Bad Robot's expertise assigned elsewhere. Also worth mentioning is that J.J. Abrams would be producing the Justice League Dark projects through Bad Robot, but there's no confirmation as to whether he would be involved in a directing or writing capacity.

It's A Justice League Dark Universe, Not A Justice League Dark Movie (Necessarily)

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the rumored deal is that it relates to an entire Justice League Dark universe, rather than just the single movie Warner Bros. had in development previously. With that said, there remains a strong possibility any multi-platform Justice League Dark franchise would eventually culminate in a proper crossover movie somewhere down the line. The original report from Deadline claims Bad Robot are currently looking into specific Justice League Dark characters that might front their own projects, which implies the current thinking is to produce a series of solo movies or TV shows starring characters such as Constantine, Xanadu and Zatanna. If this were the plan, an eventual team-up in a bona fide Justice League Dark movie would surely then become inevitable.

Jumping feet-first into a brand new movie universe would be a clear sign of Warner Bros.' faith in the Justice League Dark brand, but the fact that their first step appears to be identifying solo character projects highlights how lessons have been learned from the early days of the DCEU, which many have suggested launched into a crossover far too early. Such an ambitious project may only be possible thanks to WarnerMedia's production deal with Bad Robot. Abrams is a premier creative talent in Hollywood and bringing his production company into the fold cost a pretty penny; it makes sense to give him an untouched superhero sandbox to put his own stamp on the DC world.

It's For Both Movies & TV

Another curiosity of the Justice League Dark universe deal is that the franchise encompasses both movie and television projects. The MCU made a half-hearted attempt at something similar by linking Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil to the MCU initially, but those connections soon faded into the background, meaning a superhero franchise that properly transcended the big and small screen in a meaningful way would break new ground. Or at least it would've done if Disney+ didn't have a raft of MCU shows on the way.

Just like those MCU TV projects, the reasoning behind Justice League Dark existing both on film and television is likely an attempt to bolster the content of Warner's in-house streaming service, HBO Max. Set to launch in May, original content will be a huge determining factor in the platform's success and a few Abrams-produced superhero shows that tie directly into cinematic releases could be the difference between profitability and failure for HBO Max.

Due to the nature of Justice League Dark's lesser-known characters and the comic books' horror-tinged tone, it would be natural to expect lower-mid budget productions in the mold of Cloverfield or Overlord (both from Bad Robot), rather than the blockbuster fare of the DCEU. Should the Justice League Dark TV shows end up on HBO Max, this would also effectively separate them from the CW's Arrowverse, even if Crisis On Infinite Earths has made virtually every DC movie and TV show in history part of its multiverse..

Will It Be Part Of The DCEU?

One of the most pressing questions fans might have regarding Justice League Dark is whether or not this Warner Bros. DC universe will connect to their existing DCEU. Unfortunately, this conundrum isn't quite as cut-and-dry as it might've been a few years ago. Thanks to the likes of Joker and The Batman, the lines of the DCEU have been blurred on the big screen, and it's no longer immediately obvious which releases are part of the series, and which are entirely separate.

Justice League Dark has the potential to go either way. There's enough material and characters for an Abrams-produced franchise to exist within its own little corner of DC lore. The whole point of Justice League Dark is that the group deal in areas their more virtuous counterparts won't touch, so there's no pressing need for the team to intersect with the wider DC universe. Any Justice League Dark project could get by with vague allusions to other superheros without giving away whether it's the DCEU iterations being referred to. On the other hand, Abrams in the DCEU is a tempting proposition and Justice League Dark could be a gateway for the filmmaker to take charge of Warner Bros.' entire DC schedule for a spell, just as Snyder did previously.

A more forgiving approach might be to keep Justice League Dark's universe separate from the DCEU initially, and then if the opportunity and desire to combine the two does arise, the Crisis On Infinite Earths-style multiverse magic could always be employed to facilitate a crossover. While many unknowns remain around a potential deal between Abrams and Warner Bros. for Justice League Dark, the possibilities are certainly enticing.

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