Mendelsohn up for (Justice League) Dark Universe, director wishlist revealed

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Yesterday, we reported on the rumors that Ron Perlman, Monica Bellucci, Colin Farrell, and Ewan McGregor are up for the roles of Swamp Thing, Madame Xanadu, John Constantine, and Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon in Warner Bros' adaptation of the DC Comic JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, a project that is going by the title DARK UNIVERSE.

Another casting rumor has since surfaced, this one regarding Swamp Thing's archenemy Anton Arcane, a character who was played by Louis Jourdan in Wes Craven's 1982 version of SWAMP THING and Jim Wynorski's 1989 sequel. According to Heroic Hollywood, the top contender to take over the role is Ben Mendelsohn.

The first time Mendelsohn came to my attention was when we heard that Cary Fukunaga had been considering him for the role of Pennywise in his take on Stephen King's IT, before Will Poulter ended up being cast (and before Fukuanaga left the project). I have since seen Mendelsohn play a major creep in Ryan Gosling's LOST RIVER, so I can easily imagine him playing Arcane.

Mendelsohn has not yet signed on to DARK UNIVERSE because he's waiting to see who will be directing the film. Formerly attached writer/director Guillermo del Toro dropped off the project earlier this year, after turning in a screenplay that is said to be excellent.

Our comrade Paul Shirey over on JoBlo got exclusive word that the front runners to replace del Toro are Fede Alvarez, who made his feature directorial debut with EVIL DEAD 2013, and directing duo Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, who directed BIG BAD WOLVES and contributed a segment to THE ABCs OF DEATH 2.

Alvarez has the advantage in this race for me, since I thought he did a solid job on EVIL DEAD and haven't seen Keshales and Paushado's BIG BAD WOLVES, but either way I like that Warner Bros. is looking at horror directors for this one.

Whoever ends up directing DARK UNIVERSE, they're expected to sign on soon (and hopefully Mendelsohn will follow), because Warner Bros. wants to have the movie in production in early 2016.

EVIL DEAD's Jane Levy