Justice League Dark is reportedly expanding at HBO Max under producer JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot production. Reports cited that Abrams is also making a Zatanna series while working on the dark DC ensemble show.
Abrams signed on to do Justice League Dark in April with HBO Max. But his deal with the streaming platform apparently also entailed doing multiple shows, including this superhero with magic powers.
According to Comic Book Resources, Zatanna will be the second spinoff to Justice League Dark. Abrams’ production studio is also hatching a new version of a Constantine TV series. However, it’s unclear if Bad Robot will be developing these three shows at the same time.
No other details to Zatanna have been released. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that HBO Max wants Abrams to do many supernatural shows in the DC Comics rosters.
Who is Zatanna?
Zatanna Zatara is a magician on stage who has real magic powers. In the comics, this character has platonic ties to Bruce Wayne/Batman and she is the romantic partner of John Constantine, Hell’s bounty hunter. She also has flirty encounters with Barry Allen/The Flash and has assisted Wonder Woman against alien threats.
The character is known as one of the most powerful sorceresses in the DC universe, hence she’s in the Justice League Dark. Her powers are inborn but it can also be depleted with overuse.
A live-action version of Zatanna was in the final three seasons of The CW series Smallville. Serinda Swan played the recurring role.
Tip of the iceberg
Following the announcement of the development of Justice League Dark, HBO Max boss Kevin Reilly said that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“What could be better than an original J.J. idea and then Warner Bros. letting them loose on iconic IP from the DC Universe,” Reilly remarked. “It’s to provide more must-have programming on HBO Max.”
The streamer still hasn’t announced release dates for Justice League Dark, Zatanna or Constantine. Rumors, however, suggest that there is already a mystery actor who will play Hell’s bounty hunter in the new series. The other development details about the two shows are still kept under lock and key.
Meanwhile, Abrams’ caliber as writer, producer and director is well-known in Hollywood. He’s responsible for shows like Lost, Alias, Person of Interest, Fringe and Lovecraft Country. Bad Robot is behind the latest Star Wars films: The Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker.
Image courtesy of Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)