Bold statement: Emerald Fennell’s journey through a potential Zatanna solo movie reveals how close the DC project came to reality—and why it ultimately didn’t happen. And this is the part most people miss... the idea was sparked at a moment when she had just delivered Promising Young Woman, and the friction between dark, character-driven storytelling and a franchise-friendly genre played a pivotal role.
Here’s the full picture in clear, beginner-friendly terms. In 2021, right after finishing Promising Young Woman, Fennell was invited by J.J. Abrams to write a Zatanna movie. She describes this as a massive, unfamiliar leap into a genre she hadn’t previously inhabited. Her goal was to portray Zatanna as “a woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown,” a concept she believed would convey a raw emotional core on the page. She even teased scenes that would have felt entirely unique—so bold that she suspects such ideas might not have flown with Abrams or Warner Bros. if they clashed with the studio’s expectations for the DC brand.
Fennell herself hasn’t revisited the old script in years, but she reflects that, in hindsight, she would have approached it with more kindness toward the project. She still wishes she could have delivered exactly what Abrams and Warner Bros. wanted, aiming to create something remarkable for them. Ultimately, the plan for a Zatanna film never moved forward, and there hasn’t been any formal motion toward a new live-action adaptation—movie or series—since then.
For Zatanna fans seeking fresh material, there’s good news: a new solo comic by Jamal Campbell is on the horizon, arriving in April to keep the character in the spotlight while the film/TV conversation remains unsettled.
Thought-provoking angle to consider: Fennell’s concept—dark, intimate, emotionally focused storytelling within a superhero framework—illustrates a tension many filmmakers feel when balancing personal vision with a studio’s mass-market strategies. Do you think a darker, character-driven Zatanna film could coexist with a broader DC universe, or is it better suited to standalone storytelling like the upcoming comic? Share your take in the comments.
