ZATANNA Writer Emerald Fennell Teases "Really Quite Dark" And "Big And Scary" Movie Featuring The DC Hero

ZATANNA Writer Emerald Fennell Teases "Really Quite Dark" And "Big And Scary" Movie Featuring The DC Hero

Zatanna is one of many DC Comics projects Warner Bros. currently has in the works, and writer Emerald Fennell has now teased her ambitious plans for this take on the Justice League Dark superhero...

By JoshWilding - Jun 07, 2021 06:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Justice League Dark

Warner Bros. appears to have big plans for the heroes who make up the Justice League Dark roster, with projects involving that team, John Constantine, and Zatanna all in various stages of development.

It's already been confirmed that Promising Young Woman and Killing Eve's Emerald Fennell will pen the Zatanna screenplay, and she opened up about her plans for the DC movie in a recent interview with Empire. 

"There are lots of things about her that felt like they could be really, really interesting," the writer says of Zatanna. "And it’ll be an opportunity to make something really quite dark. And that appealed to me, to make something big and scary. I love that stuff."

While there's been darkness in her past work, it sounds like this project will be on a completely different level. "The scale of [these movies] is so massive and so thrilling. Like, why wouldn’t you want to write something like that when you can write huge, massive, crazy sequences and fights? Normally you’re like, how can I show this in the smallest cheapest way [laughs]? To have complete freedom to really let your imagination run wild is such a joy."

There's no word on when Zatanna will be released in theaters (or on HBO Max), but it sounds like the character is in good hands. A director hasn't been found for the project yet, of course, so chances are we'll be waiting a while before the curtain is pulled back on who Warner Bros. wants to play the hero. 

As always, keep checking back here for updates on Zatanna as we have them! 

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GhostDog
GhostDog - 6/7/2021, 6:16 AM
One of those “need to see the cameras role for this to really be happening” situations.

Second season of Killing Eve is its best and she was its head writer so this movie is in good hands.
Kyos
Kyos - 6/7/2021, 6:19 AM
This movie...
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 6/7/2021, 6:31 AM
I have a lot of thoughts in regards to certain narrative decisions she made on Promising Young Woman, but that film gave me a lot to think about and it wasn't limited to its subject matter. I also really [frick]ing want a live action JLD project so... color me interested.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/7/2021, 8:20 AM
@WakandanQueen - Promising Young Woman was incredible
Smoothcat
Smoothcat - 6/7/2021, 6:34 AM
So, is Grace going to tweet that WB is going to be concerned about how dark it will be and won't sell toys ? lol
HAUSMAN01
HAUSMAN01 - 6/7/2021, 7:08 AM
My top picks for Zatanna are:Lindsey Morgan ,Alycia Debnam-Carey ,Tati Gabrielle ,Erica Cerra ,Samantha Logan ,Greta Onieogou ,or Logan Browning
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 6/7/2021, 8:41 AM
@HAUSMAN01 - I say Ru Paul or Laverne Cox, it can focus on the biggest magic "trick" of all....not being a woman

tugboy
tugboy - 6/7/2021, 7:29 AM
Looking forward to this.
In restrospect, this version was decent


marvel72
marvel72 - 6/7/2021, 1:49 PM
@tugboy - That version was perfection
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/7/2021, 7:34 AM
"To have complete freedom"


The Hamada era continues :) i am so excited for her Zatanna screenplay. Promising Young Woman was incredible. I love that Hamada is empowering artists to come to WB and do their thing.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 6/7/2021, 7:52 AM
@McMurdo - "To have an absentee boss..."
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/7/2021, 8:38 AM
@GwenLantern - nah the nice thing about the recent DC outings is the fact that there is no Kevin Feige passing out notes to his directors and writers. You get Doctor Strange 2, where the creative is told he can do one thing when he signs on but is told the opposite when it comes time to get the hands dirty, hence why Derrickson walked. If we had a Feige, we would never get a film like Matt Reeves the Batman, we’d never get a rated R Suicide Squad film. Feige would never have signed off on Todd Phillips the Joker. Fennell wouldn’t have been given full freedom to create a Zatanna film. You have writers rooms at the MCU. It’s not a place where creators can go and develop their vision in full. I am happy Raimi claims to have started from scratch on Doc 2 but it’s clearly a Avengers film now and maybe that’s okay. But Hamada is empowering artists to create their visions and it means we the fans get more variety in the genre. It’s great. I am more interested in films that aren’t the same damn films year in Year out via a well oiled machine than I am seeing some perfected continuity. Continuity is cool, but not at the sake of the art. And THIS is one fault the MCU hasn’t been able to get passed. I hope Zao’s Eternals is great but the plot leak sounds really bad but they claim she got a ton of freedom so I’m hoping that is actually the case. IM 2008 is my favorite cbm PERIOD. Favreau created the tone that Feige has utilized for his films ever since. Not since Cap 2, another incredible cbm, has the MCU felt like it’s done something truly different. Wandavision was awesome tho in my opinion. I’m excited to see where the genre goes in the next few years but I really think Feige needs to gain some Hamada and give writers and directors more freedom over there. Just my two cents. Yes, you’ll get misses like Birds of Prey for instance, but when you hit, the art is almost always better or at he very least more interesting for it.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 6/7/2021, 8:57 AM
@McMurdo - Oh vey, sure.

Imagine if Feige let his writers and directors do whatever they wanted and didn't even care if there was any coherency. Wouldn't that be better?

No! It would be a fvcking mess. Just like DC is now.

At least we know what universe something is gonna be set in. There's an easy answer, if it's not the What If...? cartoon it's set in the MCU.

Gee I wonder if Shang Chi or The Eternals will be set in the same universe...? Yes! They will.

Walter Hamada was hired to be DC's Kevin Feige. He has relinquished himself of that responsibility immediately, without even explaining to Ann Sarnoff that that is what he's done.

His job is basically just head of production and development of films based on DC comics, now. Like Head of all RomComs or Head of All Films With a Shark in them.
Warner Entertainment do not need to pay him for what he is doing.

They need a Kevin Feige.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/7/2021, 9:57 AM
@GwenLantern - as I said, no The Batman, no Fennells Zatanna. No Todd Phillips Joker or James Gunns Suicide Squad. Feige would mean just more MCU but for DC. Continuity means jack shit if you make the same movie 3 times a year. Once we get more Cap 2’s under Feige, I will be willing to consider whether continuity is as important as the art. The MCU has shown me this is not the case. But sounds like you love all those films so that’s great and I’m glad they work so well for you. I need fresh additions to the genre and that is why I’m excited for Batman, rated R SS. Zatanna. I didn’t love Joker but I liked how much freedom Phillips was given to do his film. I am glad Reynolds is being allowed to do DP3 R rated but I hope he doesn’t get a ton of notes from the writers room that’s my biggest concern is how much freedom he is or isn’t given.
dracula
dracula - 6/7/2021, 10:11 AM
@McMurdo - hopefully the right talent is behind the right project this time.

Like really Birds Of Prey......i guess its decent as a Harley Quinn movie but it is a freakin terrible Birds Of Prey movie. (Someone needs to reboot Cassandra Cain)
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/7/2021, 10:22 AM
@dracula - I agree. It was bad lol. Agree on Cain as well.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 6/7/2021, 10:48 AM
@McMurdo - Well we would get The Batman and Zatanna and James Gunn's Suicide Squad, but they would all connect. We did get Iron Man, Winter Soldier and James Gunn's GOTG movies.

I know you mean that we probably wouldn't get R-rated movies, but there's no reason you can't have a cinematic universe with a few R-rated movies in there. That's more Disney than Feige. WB could be the alternative.

DC could be the darker, cooler, dare I say edgier MCU.

Also all those movies would have happened with or without Hamada. Aquaman and Joker were already going when he got there and he literally doesn't care what they make or why. He has an AI to tell him what the fans want. That and Box Office numbers. Aquaman and Joker were successful? They're getting sequels. Birds of Prey and WW84 were unsuccessful, they're not getting sequels. Fans demand Snyder Cut? Give it to them.

If a film is bad or good it's because he has had no creative involvement. He might as well not be there. It might as well be Kevin Tsujihara again.
Might as well cut the middle-man out and have Ann Sarnoff develop and produce these seperate unrelated DC franchises and let them live and die on their own successes or failures.

The Batman franchise has even been delegated to Matt Reeves. Hamada doesn't want the headache of making sure all the films and TV shows are connected.
JJ Abrams has been given the creative reigns of producing all of the JLD stuff.

So Hamada doesn't even do the job of maintaining all these seperate franchises. He's literally just cut a piece of Sarnoff's pie of for his own greedy self. He's laughing "What a good little racket I've got here!"

This is DC Films? No it's not. No such thing. The Emperor has no clothes on! There is no one at the wheel! This isn't DC, this is WB with a middle-man.

Marvel would be like this too if there was no Kevin Feige. Bob Iger would be developing a bunch of unrelated Marvel franchises and we'd probably have a film like Joker. Except it would be more like Maleficent or Cruella. Family friendly. Because Disney.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/9/2021, 5:30 AM
@GwenLantern - no you would never get a The Batman or rated R Suicide Swuad under Feige period. Those films are happening solely because of the creative freedom being allocated to that writers/directors of those films. It’s why Joker happened. A film like Joker simply couldn’t exist under Feige. The connectivity always comes before the art in the MCU and they make so much money with that tried and true formula that they have zero incentive not to continue maki my action comedies with new characters.
GwenLantern
GwenLantern - 6/7/2021, 7:55 AM
I think she would be waaay better suited for Constantine.

Did they even offer it to her? Or can women only write women?

Hollywood. Still offering segregation in the guise of progressive diversity.
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 6/7/2021, 8:41 AM
@GwenLantern

🤨
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 6/7/2021, 8:08 AM
I'm not sure yet how I feel about another ''dark'' movie, but I'm still looking forward to this. Hoping its also fun, but judging from her writing credits it should be fine
inkniron
inkniron - 6/7/2021, 8:17 AM
I'm on the Victoria Pedretti camp for this one. Give her some of that Italian authenticity
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 6/7/2021, 8:54 AM
Sounds great given some of the more unsettling enemies the character has had in the JL Dark comics.
KingMob20
KingMob20 - 6/7/2021, 10:52 AM
Because when you think of a fishnet-wearing stage magician using backward-speaking spells to fight evil, "quite dark" is the first thing that comes to mind. 😒
marvel72
marvel72 - 6/7/2021, 1:51 PM
I want a Zatanna movie but if its anything like that shit storm Birds Of Prey you can keep it.
Bryanferryfan
Bryanferryfan - 6/7/2021, 9:12 PM
I hope they don't [frick] up this really cool character...I mean damn, if Marvel can make obscure characters household names I'm sure DC can do the same.
elcamino
elcamino - 6/8/2021, 10:49 AM
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