The shared universe concept is wildly popular right now, thanks in large part to Marvel’s success with their cinematic universe. DC and Warner Bros. are trying to catch up, having announced a full schedule of comic book films through 2020 and taking a very similar approach (while basically viewing the TV counterparts of their big screen superheroes as separate, alternate entities). Guillermo del Toro recently completed work on his script for the ‘Justice League Dark’ film, which we assumed would function separately from the main WB superhero universe, but new comments from the director imply that his film will also be a part of WB’s larger shared universe plans.

How many times can we say “shared universe” in one post? It’s definitely the buzz phrase of the last year, and even Universal is getting in on the trend with plans to reboot their classic monsters into an action adventure franchise, hoping to mimic the success of Marvel. Although we thought that Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Justice League Dark’ film would operate in a different universe from the ‘Justice League’ franchise proper, it would appear that our assumption was incorrect.

In a new interview with Collider, del Toro was asked about his ‘Frankenstein’ film and the status of that project now that Universal is rebooting their classic monsters into a shared universe franchise. While del Toro isn’t currently involved in Universal’s latest plans, he was able to provide an update on another shared universe he is involved with:

Right now, the only sort of shared universe project I’m working on is Dark Universe for Warners, you know, for DC, which is Swamp Thing, Demon, Deadman, Zatanna. It’s a very different universe.

Some of the characters he mentions were involved with the Justice League at one point, and while he does note that it is a “different universe,” it will still share in the same universe as WB and DC’s franchise plans. The big question is where del Toro’s ‘Justice League Dark’ film would fit in on the schedule, given that WB has already scheduled their superhero films through 2020. Del Toro is a director with lots of projects constantly up in the air, and with this script having just been submitted to WB, there’s still a possibility that he may not wind up involved with this film when all is said and done.

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