Emerald Fennell’s Demented Zatanna Movie: The DC Project That Never Was

If you thought Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights was a wild swing, just wait until you hear about the DC movie she almost wrote. In a recent episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, the Promising Young Woman and Saltburn director opened up about the Zatanna solo film she was tapped to write back in 2021—and why it never made it past the script stage.

Right after the success of Promising Young Woman, Fennell was approached by J.J. Abrams with an intriguing offer: write a standalone movie for Zatanna, the spellbinding magician of the DC Universe. For Fennell, it was a chance to step into a world she’d never operated in before—a huge opportunity, but also a daunting one.

She dove in headfirst, but what emerged from her typewriter (or, more likely, her laptop) was something far darker and more psychologically twisted than anyone at Warner Bros. or Bad Robot had anticipated. Fennell admitted she was “probably going through it at the time,” and that emotional turbulence bled into her vision for the character. Her take? A story about “a woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown.”

That’s right—Fennell’s Zatanna wasn’t just a magical hero; she was a deeply troubled, possibly unraveling figure, grappling with her own psyche as much as the supernatural threats she faced. The director teased that she wrote scenes so bizarre and unsettling that she doubts any other filmmaker would have even considered them. “Too dark,” she called it—a creative choice that ultimately didn’t align with the studio’s vision for the character or the broader DC landscape at the time.

Fennell hasn’t revisited the script in years, but she’s candid about her feelings now. While she thinks she’d be kinder to it in hindsight, she still wishes she could have delivered “the thing they wanted” and given Abrams and Warner Bros. something truly amazing. For now, though, the project is shelved, and there’s been no official movement to bring Zatanna to live-action in any capacity—movie or TV show.

Fans of the character aren’t left completely in the dark, though. DC is launching a new solo comic series for Zatanna, written and illustrated by Jamal Campbell, set to hit shelves in April. It’s a fresh start for the character, even if Fennell’s unhinged vision remains locked away in a drawer somewhere.

When asked if she’d ever return to the DC universe, Fennell was clear: she’s more interested in telling her own stories. And given her track record, that’s probably for the best—though it’s hard not to wonder what could have been with her version of Zatanna.

For now, moviegoers can catch Fennell’s latest directorial effort, Wuthering Heights, storming theaters this weekend. But for those who love behind-the-scenes Hollywood drama, the ghost of her Zatanna script lingers as a fascinating “what if” in the ever-expanding DC multiverse.

Tags & Viral Phrases:
Emerald Fennell Zatanna movie, Promising Young Woman director, J.J. Abrams DC project, Zatanna nervous breakdown, dark DC movies, Warner Bros. Zatanna, Emerald Fennell Wuthering Heights, DC female superheroes, Zatanna comic book 2026, Emerald Fennell script too dark, DC multiverse what if, Emerald Fennell nervous breakdown Zatanna, J.J. Abrams Emerald Fennell collaboration, Zatanna Jamal Campbell comic, Emerald Fennell Hollywood drama, DC movie that never was, Emerald Fennell directorial vision, Zatanna live-action movie cancelled, Emerald Fennell dark storytelling, DC superheroine movies, Emerald Fennell creative differences, Zatanna psychological thriller, Emerald Fennell Hollywood secrets, DC universe female leads, Emerald Fennell Zatanna script details, Zatanna movie 2021, Emerald Fennell DC universe, Zatanna character deep dive, Emerald Fennell filmmaking process, DC movie shelved projects.

,