Rumour: Colin Farrell, Ron Perlman and more wanted for JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK

As talented a filmmaker as Guillermo Del Toro is, he one exceedingly annoying habit of starting incredible sounding projects before abandoning them. One such film that found itself in the Del Toro waste basket after years of development was Justice League Dark, an adaptation of DC Comics’ supernatural super-team led by none other than roguish magic man John Constantine, who you may remember from that show that got cancelled just as you started to love it, the bastards! (And no, one little appearance on Arrow doesn’t completely salve the wound).

Luckily though, Warner Bros. were still kind of high on Del Toro’s pitch, and with all the positive fan response they were getting for Suicide Squad, which featured another team of superpowered team of DC Comics misfits, they didn’t just keep the production alive but actually put high profile producer Scott Rudin on it to fast track the movie with the aim of it going in front of cameras before the end of 2016.

That would mean tapping a new director and writer, and putting together a cast. While there’s still no word on the former, a new rumour that’s popped up on Latino Review has some very interesting allegations about the latter. Now in the comics, the team roster for the Justice League Dark has varied a bit over the years, but Del Toro’s version consisted of Constantine, Earth-spirit Swamp Thing, the ghostly Deadman, reverse-speaking sorceress Zatanna, the immortal seer Madame Xanadu and Etrigan The Demon. For Swamp Thing, Del Toro had always wanted frequent collaborator Ron Perlman for the role, and according to Latino Review’s sources that is still the plan.

But for Constantine, the leader of this group, WB wants to go a bit more A-list with a true marquee name, and that name is Colin Farrell. The Irish born actor has played his fair share of bastards in his career, so I actually think he’s not a bad pick at all for the bad boy Brit magician. At least he’s a waaaaay better choice than Keanu Reeves! Latino Review states though that while Farrell is at the top of WB’s wishlist for Constantine, they are also perhaps considering Ewan McGregor if it doesn’t work out. Irrespective of who does get the gig though, the “loser” will still keep his hat in the ring as Jason Blood, the moody human host to Etrigan the Demon. Personally, I feel McGregor would be a much better Blood.

Latino Review goes on to say that for Madame Xanadu, WB is looking at Monica Belucci – although I am a bit skeptical of this given the age gap between the 51-year old actress and the character, who may be hundreds of years old but appears very young. There doesn’t appear to be any names linked to Deadman and Zatanna yet, but apparently the studio is looking for a comedic actor for the former – fitting for the wisecracking ghost – while they are searching for a young black/hispanic actress for Zatanna.

In the comics, the team is initially brought together when they need to track down a crazed sorceress named the Enchantress. That powerful character is actually being played by Cara Delevingne over in Suicide Squad, and there’s a chance that she might cameo in Justice League Dark as well as a way to link it to the rest of the DC Comics movie universe.

Irrespective of whether this entire casting rumour actually turns out to be true or not, I seriously just hope this movie actually happens. Besides for the fact that it’s a fantastic property with lots of unique movie potential, I’m just getting really tired of having to write articles about awesome stuff that Guillermo Del Toro almost did, but then was never heard from again.

Last Updated: November 19, 2015