‘Justice League Dark’ Hires Gerard Johnstone

DC Extended Universe boss Geoff Johns has hired Gerard Johnstone to polish the script for Justice League Dark.

The upcoming DCEU ensemble movie – which will feature an undercover superhero team comprised of occult characters such as Detective John Constantine, Etrigan the Demon, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Shade and The Changing Man – is yet to have secured a director after Doug Liman backed out of the project earlier this year.

However, despite not having anyone at the helm of the feature, Deadline.com now reports that Geoff Johns, alongside bosses at Warner Bros, has hired filmmaker Gerard Johnstone – who was thought to be in the running to direct the movie – to make final changes to the script.

It is not yet known if Gerard will go on to direct the project after the script has been polished, as no further details on the move have been announced.

The hunt for a new director began in May after Doug Liman dropped out of the project in order to focus on Chaos Walking, which stars Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland.

Reports then suggested Andy Muschietti may take over, but when the trailer for his remake of Stephen King’s It was faced with an overwhelmingly positive reaction, it became apparent he would be focusing on a sequel, rather than taking on anything new.

Plot details for the movie are being kept under wraps, but it’s thought the film will play a major role in the DC Cinematic Universe.

No casting announcements have been made as of yet either, but Detective John Constantine has previously been played by Keanu Reeves in a 2005 film, and by Matt Ryan in the NBC series Constantine.

Swamp Thing has also had his own movie, with Dick Durock playing the creature in Wes Craven’s 1982 film.