Bill Skarsgård has put John Constantine into the James Gunn DCU conversation, saying he wanted the role for Andy Muschietti while he reflected on the rushed rollout of The Crow. The timing matters because DC Studios leadership is changing even as actors keep naming the roles they want inside the next version of DC.
Happy Sad Confused and The Crow
Skarsgård said the first script for The Crow arrived two months before filming began, and he called the process “insanely rushed.” On the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, he said, “I think the lesson was I'm not signing on to anything without a finished script.” That is the practical takeaway: he is not treating a late script as a workable default anymore.
He added, “It's surprising how common it is, that something gets greenlit and then you're struggling with finishing the script, because the dates are already set and the studio's already locked … everything's already up in motion,” which is the kind of production problem that can shape a release before the cameras even roll. The Crow was released in 2024 and ended up with $24.1 million worldwide against a $50 million budget, with 22% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
John Constantine for Andy Muschietti
Skarsgård also said he wanted to play DC's John Constantine for Andy Muschietti, putting a specific actor-director pairing on the record rather than floating a generic superhero ambition. For readers tracking James Gunn DCU casting, that is the only concrete development here: a named role, a named filmmaker, and no announced decision attached to it.
That matters because the conversation is not coming from nowhere. Skarsgård was speaking after The Crow, where he said the script arrived only two months before shooting started, and he is now drawing a line around what he will accept next. In industry terms, that means any future approach to him will have to meet a finished-page standard before a deal can move forward.
James Gunn and Peter Safran
James Gunn and Peter Safran are leaving their posts as co-CEOs and chairman of DC Studios after holding those jobs for the past four years, and they will continue to produce on various DC projects. That shift leaves the casting conversation in a more fluid place, which is why Skarsgård's wish list lands now rather than later.
He also said, “I don't regret any of the roles that I've done,” which closes the circle on The Crow without softening the lesson. Skarsgård has a public target in John Constantine, but the real open question is whether Andy Muschietti ever pushed that idea beyond a wish expressed in conversation.
