As DC expands its movie and TV universe, more and more characters from the comics are being introduced into live-action projects. One of these characters is fan favourite Zatanna, who has been confirmed to be getting her own film with HBO Max. The Zatanna movie is currently being written by Emerald Fennell, who recently won awards for writing and directing 2020's Promising Young Woman.
Speaking to Empire about the project, Fennell says, "It'll be an opportunity to make something really quite dark, and that appealed to me, to make something big and scary." Fennell states that she's been given a lot of creative freedom with the script, and that she is overjoyed with the DC budget, "The scale of [these movies] is so massive and thrilling. Like, why wouldn't you want to write something like that when you can write massive crazy sequences and fights?"
With an award-winning writer being given a sizeable budget and creative freedom, DC is clearly hoping to have a success on its hands with this movie. But who is Zatanna? Why is she so interesting? What could her movie be about and where could it get dark and crazy? Where does she fit into the DC universe?
Zatanna is one of the most powerful sorceresses in the DC universe. She has a vast knowledge of magic and a range of powers and abilities. Her magical powers include control of the elements, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, dimensional travel, reality alteration, antipathy, deflection, time manipulation, weather manipulation, mystical energy blasts, flight, force fields, healing, phasing, size alteration, transforming objects, and astral projection. She is also a skilled combat fighter. Zatanna casts spells by saying the words of her incantations backward, which can sometimes be used against her.
Zatanna was first introduced to the DC comics universe in 1964 in a Hawkman title. She was introduced as the daughter of magician Giovanni "John" Zatara, who also casts spells by reciting them backwards. Her mother, Sindella, was later discovered to be a member of the mystical species "homo magi," who are a sub-race of humans who can naturally wield magic. Zatanna is a descendent of such famous figures as Nostradamus, Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolas Flamel, and King Arion of Atlantis.
Zatanna began as a successful stage illusionist, following in the footsteps of her father. She then discovers her own powers, and uses them in her search for her father, who has gone missing. He is later discovered to have been forced to stay away from her by another powerful sorceress, Allura. In her journey discovering her true magic and finding her father, Zatanna works with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and also teams up with the Atom, Green Lantern, and the Elongated Man.
After assisting the Justice League of America on several missions, Zatanna is invited to join the group herself. For some time when she is with the Justice League, Zatanna finds her power diminishing, until only her elemental magic remains. This leads her to decrease her missions with the Justice League and spend part of her time performing as an illusionist yet again. After much drama and tragedy, Zatanna is able to gain more of her power back, although she still maintains her career as a stage magician. She eventually chooses to leave the Justice League, getting her own solo comic book series, but is still highly respected by them for her knowledge of magic and magical arts.
In the New 52 reboot of DC continuity, Zatanna becomes a main character in the Justice League Dark series. She teams up with characters such as John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Black Orchid, and even Frankenstein. In both this and earlier continuities, Zatanna often works in Gotham City and has a complicated friendship with Batman. Zatanna has had relationships with fellow Justice League Dark members John Constantine and Doctor Thirteen and flirtations with Batman and The Flash.
Zatanna is a familiar face in DC cartoons. She has made appearances in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Gotham Girls. She features in several episodes of Justice League: Unlimited and Justice League Action, and has a starring role in the Justice League Dark animated movie. A teenage and later young adult version of Zatanna is a recurring character on popular animated series Young Justice, where she has a flirtation with Dick Grayson. Yet another teenage version of Zatanna is a lead character on DC Super Hero Girls, a cartoon that follows several DC female heroes as superhero students at Metropolis high school.
Zatanna is far more underrepresented in live-action projects. Zatanna was a recurring character in the television show Smallville, which followed a teenage and then young adult Clark Kent, in the final three seasons. While not necessarily villainous, she often caused trouble and complications in Smallville. She has not yet appeared in the Arrow-verse, although Matt Ryan who plays John Constantine on Legends of Tomorrow has expressed interest in seeing her character join the show. Zatanna has appeared in no live-action DC movies yet.
The character has such a long history that the possibilities for a Zatanna movie feel endless. With Fennell saying it will be dark and scary, it's possible the project will be going into the darker aspects of Zatanna's powers--such as her ability to wipe memories. It also seems likely the Zatanna film could explore the trauma and tragedies she suffers, both as a hero and with her family. Zatanna has connections to several other DC characters, which means there are many options in terms of a heroic supporting cast. It will be interesting to see exactly where Fennell and DC go with the character.