At the time of WarnerMedia’s fading prominence, HBO Max was launched to tackle the growing market for streaming at the beginning of the pandemic era. J.J. Abrams was one of the first name-brand filmmakers to invest years of his upcoming slate into the progress of the production juggernaut. 3 projects were charted out, scheduled to be executed in just as many years, under the banner of Warner Bros. But several factors contributed to the failure of the streamer and Abrams to come to a resolution.
J.J. Abrams Fails To Bring Justice League Dark to HBO Max
The reasons are variable behind why J.J. Abrams’ proposed Justice League Dark project couldn’t work out. For one, the lackluster reception of WB projects outside of the then-prevalent SnyderVerse factored into the mix because of how DCEU essentially reigned over the entire fate of the studio and its future. Fans rallied, screamed, and demanded the return of Zack Snyder. As such, a Justice League Dark project, thrown into the mix at such a convoluted time would be the most ineffective environment for a new live-action universe to prosper.
Additionally, the fading glory of the centurion Warner Bros. production house that ultimately resulted in the April 2022 merger and the arrival of David Zaslav became a watershed moment in the studio’s history. Radical changes at the streaming platform, HBO Max (now simply known as Max), coupled with the scrapping of the entire DC universe as it existed, actively suggests that there was no place to accommodate or finance a new universe that would neither fit into the old DCEU nor the upcoming DCU.
As such, James Gunn’s appointment in October, ascension to his role as co-CEO of DC Studios in November, and declaration of the DCU Chapter One in January ’23 were consequently, naturally, and understandably followed by a cancellation of J.J. Abrams’ in-development plans for Justice League Dark in February (considering how JLD would have acted as a spin-off of Snyder’s Justice League and Gunn was actively attempting to structure a DC reboot at the behest of David Zaslav).
Fans Troll J.J. Abrams For His Despondent Role at WBD
For years, the audience has harbored a massive resentment against J.J. Abrams for ruining the sequel trilogy in the Star Wars saga with The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. His eventual failure to produce the promised and lucrative Justice League Dark for the DC audience then added to the building hate, reaching an epic high in February 2023 when reports of the project being scrapped due to lack of progress made it onto the news headlines.
Now, fans have taken to social media to call out the filmmaker’s inefficacy regarding his role in contributing to the DC universe:
In 2020, it was announced Bad Robot (J. J. Abrams' production company) would be working on a Justice League Dark universe, including an HBO Max show.
In February 2023, the Justice League Dark show was scrapped, with WBD CEO David Zaslav being "frustrated by the lack of output". pic.twitter.com/dr6c7jYx1o
— Crazy ass moments in DC history (@DC_moments) April 29, 2023
Abrams really just took the money and ran. pic.twitter.com/Kcplar6pMJ
— Kimberly Amy 🏳️⚧️ (@comicsAmy) April 29, 2023
J.J performed the greatest scam of all time
— Endless Dream (@Irregular_Soul) April 29, 2023
Abrams basically got payed for doing nothing.
— Kevin_Spence. (@BurnerB72932455) April 29, 2023
I mean, it’s they guy that wrote this, what you expect? pic.twitter.com/VjUuKlRvUz
— Webber: Reloaded (@realwebber77) April 30, 2023
Currently, J.J. Abrams is still attached to direct one project in David Zaslav and James Gunn’s upcoming DCU. The in-development Black Superman project which Abrams has been trying to bring alive, supported by a script from Ta Nehisi Coates, is still moving forward – parallel to James Gunn’s highly anticipated Superman: Legacy film which releases on July 11, 2025.
Source: Twitter
