5 Elements From The Comics We Hope To See In ‘Dark Universe’

News has been circulating around the internet recently about the revival of DC ‘s Dark Universe (or whatever they are calling it) movie and has gotten fans excited. The property, based off of the Justice League Dark comics from DC, was initially brought to life by Guillermo Del Toro a few years back. It had looked to be a lost cause after Del Toro had to drop out of making it, though there was a script he penned floating around which led to plenty of will-they/wont-they speculation.

With director Doug Liman jumping ship from Fox’s Gambit production to come aboard and helm this project, it seems Warner Bros. has finally begun to lay a foundation for the film. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the books, so to hear that this is greenlit and set to star all the regulars like Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Deadman and Etrigan has me extremely excited. And it’s being directed by the guy who made Edge Of Tomorrow! I’m all in.

Considering this, I decided to talk about a few things from the source material that I hope will find some way to be incorporated into the film or possible future installments.

1. The House of Mystery

The House of Mystery was an interesting addition to DC Comics’ supernatural side of the New 52 relaunch in 2011. A mysterious phenomenon existing within different planes of existence, full of weird magic and seemingly sentient, it made it’s introduction to Justice League Dark as a part of Constantine’s world. The chain-smoking master of the dark arts apparently won possession of the house in a game of cards, in typical John Constantine fashion. The house played a key role in a number of instances throughout early storylines and was always fun to see. An ethereal house that changes its appearance and contents at will? That’s just made for some movie magic.

2.  The Books of Magic

The Books Of Magic was a 4-issue story written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC in the early 90’s. The series starred Constantine, The Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult and tells the tale of young English boy Time Hunter, the teen magic prodigy who has the potential to be the greatest magician there is. The storyline was adapted lightly in the New 52, with Madame Xanadu and other Justice League Dark members looking for Tim in order to prevent catastrophe. The general idea of the books and Tim Hunter is a really interesting one, and would serve as a perfect setup for a Justice League Dark film bringing villainous mages and weird heroes together to solve the mystery of the books of magic.

3. The Death Of Magic

In the comics, Tim Hunter and Zatanna accidently get transported to a world where magic doesn’t exist and everything is run by advanced technology. For obvious reasons it proves problematic for them, and the rest of the team scrambles to try and figure out how to help them. It’s a cool story and a nice continuation of The Books Of Magic storyline. The opportunity to showcase the whole magic vs. technology concept is another plus that could translate really well into the big screen. It would be easy to see DC Films wanting to use elements of this idea in a Justice League Dark-related film down the line.

4. The Trinity of Sin

The Trinity of Sin, made up of The Phantom Stranger, Pandora and The Question, played an integral part in DC’s New 52 relaunch. DC did something very different with these characters here, giving them a more grand and biblical backstory that played interestingly within Justice League Dark and the larger DC universe. A trinity of mysterious and mythical figures whose past crimes at the dawn of time were instrumental to the formation of the universe? If that sounds awesome to you, that’s because it is. With the Justice League Dark movie opening doors to the supernatural side of DC Films, here’s hoping we get to see these guys at some point.

5. Trinity War

Another reason why it would be awesome to introduce the Trinity of Sin is because it could help lead to one of the coolest and most monumental superheroes-battling-each-other stories we’ve ever seen on film. Everyone is suspicious of each other, no league is trusted, the universe of heroes tearing itself apart. The inception of the New 52 culminated in this clashing of worlds and leagues in the comics, and if done right and built up over time, could prove to be a masterstroke by the DCEU. Of course, you’d have to really expand on the Justice League Dark world before you could do something like this, but it would be so worth it.

Andrew McBride

Andrew McBride

Andrew is a guy who likes to write sentences about film and TV and hopes to continue doing so.