New Gods Director Blames Zack Snyder's Justice League for Its Cancellation

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. and DC Films announced that they are canceling the film adaptation of New Gods which would have been directed by Ava DuVernay and co-write with Tom King. The project was in development for years before they pulled the plug.

Per IGN, speaking with Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show, DuVernay hinted that the cancellation of New Gods may have something to do with Darkseid's appearance in Zack Snyder's Justice League. She said, "You know, my overall deal was at Warner Brothers and DC is at Warner Brothers. So, once I got to Warner Brothers, I was like, 'I'm going in that vault and I'm looking at what y'all got.' And I loved New Gods, which is the project that got axed. The studio decided that they did not want to pursue a certain part of that comic world, based on some things that were going on with another film in that world."

She added, "So, before I even was able to kind of complete my script with Tom King, they axed it. But I had already two projects going: Naomi, which will be on The CW next year, and DMZ, which will be on HBO Max next year."

DuVernay did not mention which "another film" she was talking about, but she was obviously referring to Zack Snyder's Justice League which had Darkseid who himself is a New God. Even though the project is no longer moving forward, in a statement that the studio released when they announced the cancellation, they said that the projects "will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future."

Based on the director's comments, it seems like Warner Bros. and DC Films are not yet ready to tackle that part of the DC Universe which is why they canceled New Gods and Zack Snyder's Justice League basically cemented it. Perhaps they want to focus more on Earth-bound stories and they want to take time before they fully explore the cosmic side of the DC Universe. It is unfortunate to hear that the project is not moving forward, but hopefully, they would revisit it again down the line.

Also Read: Aquaman Director Reveals Cancelled Trench Movie Was About Black Manta

Fortunately, DuVernay is still part of the DC family as she is currently working on the TV series Naomi and DMZ, which are both set to premiere next year.