Currently, Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro has many projects in the works. His television series on FX, The Strain, recently finished its first season and was renewed for a second. His next feature to hit theaters is Crimson Peak in late 2015. Pacific Rim 2 is moving forward, as well as the animated series spinoff. According to del Toro and other stars, Hellboy 3 continues to be a possibility. Meanwhile, del Toro is still interested in adapting H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness and is also attached to a stop-motion version of Pinocchio.

In addition to all these projects, del Toro has been working on a feature film script based on Justice League Dark. Although it wasn’t included in Warner Bros. and DC’s slate of upcoming movies, the tentatively titled Dark Universe script is now finished and moving on to the next stage.


In an interview with Forbes, del Toro confirmed the script had been completed and sent to Warner Bros. In a few days the studio will give their reactions to the script and, if they are favorable, del Toro’s Dark Universe could continue to move forward.

With DC building its film slate, rumors and speculation surrounding del Toro’s Justice League Dark film began to resurface in recent months. Del Toro himself hinted that NBC’s Constantine, written and spearheaded by David S. Goyer, could crossover into the film.

Justice League Dark Hellblazer Guillermo del Toro: Justice League Dark Script is Finished

Most recently, Neil Gaiman, creator of Sandman, explained why his title wasn’t on Warner Bros.’ slate of DC films and hinted that Vertigo, an imprint of DC, would receive its own slate of films. As we speculated at the time, a Vertigo slate may likely include a movie based on Sandman as well as del Toro’s Justice League Dark.

Although Justice League Dark is published under DC rather than Vertigo, it stars many characters that originated in the imprint, such as John Constantine of Hellblazer and Madame Xanadu. So it would make sense to include Dark Universe with other Vertigo movies rather than the DC slate because the tone of a Justice League Dark film would be more at home alongside a Sandman feature.

Justice Leauge Dark Featuring Constantine and Deadman Guillermo del Toro: Justice League Dark Script is Finished

Whether or not the progress on Dark Universe confirms a Vertigo slate is in the works at Warner Bros., though, remains to be seen until an official announcement is made. Additionally, Dark Universe is still very early on in production and if it does get the green light, the film will have to work around del Toro’s already packed schedule – or find a different director.

With superhero movies finding more and more ground in Hollywood, audiences seem to be open to many genres of comic book adaptations. So while multiple studios build universes based on Marvel characters and Warner Bros. moves forward with its DC franchise, fans looking for more horror mixed in with their superhero features could find it in Dark Universe or an entire list of Vertigo films.

Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more updates on Dark Universe as they become available.