DC snatched Doug Liman right from under Fox’s nose, well it was more like Fox got kicked to the curb. According to The Hollywood Reporter Doug Liman will jump ship from Gambit to direct Justice League Dark.

This is big news since DC is clearly looking to extend their DCEU beyond their notable heroes by exploring their “darker” side. Validation came this summer with the success of Suicide Squad. Even before the critically slammed, but financially successful summer hit, JL: Dark was on the list of DC projects waiting in the wings. Now that the Liman has signed on, things are looking up. He joins screenwriter Michael Gilio and producer Scott Rudin as then faces behind DC’s newest heroes. However, things didn’t always seem so clear. In fact, not too long ago things were a bit bleak for the potential hero flick. Just over a year ago Guillermo del Toro said deuces to Warner Bros. after the parties butted heads over scheduling.

With that obstacle conquered, DC is hoping Doug Liman can bring some of the same quality and magic that made films like The Edge of Tomorrow, Bourne Identity, and Mr.and Mrs. Smith so much fun to watch. Here are five things you need to know about the new Justice League Dark director.

5. Doug Isn't The Only Famous Liman

Doug Liman is the son of famed NY lawyer and author of Lawyer: A Life Of Counsel And Controversy Arthur L. Liman. Daddy Liman got his claim to fame during the 1987 Congressional hearing for Ronald Reagan. The Iran-contra affair put the Reagan Administration in front of a pristine panel that included Arthur Liman as their chief. With a divided and controversial outcome, Liman became one of the most recognizable lawyers in the United Sates.

4. Doug Liman Discovered Himself In the Face Of Adversity

In his directorial debut, Liman won the MTV Young Director of the Year award for his work on the 1996 comedy Swingers. The cult classic jumped started the careers of Vince Vaughn and Heather Graham. Shortly after receiving the award, Liman’s father, who had been diagnosed with caner, passed away. Before his death, daddy Liman had this to say about the early success of his son: “Maybe our luck is changing.” He was right, and his son would go on to be very successful.

3. He Shares A Connection To Fox And Marvel

As mentioned earlier, Doug Liman was originally set to direct of Fox’s solo Gambit film along with his friend producer/screenwriter Simon Kinberg. Kinberg has been waist deep in Fox’s Marvel universe. He's partly responsible for the resurgence of the X-Men franchise. He’s written and/or produced: X-Men: Last Stand, First Class, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse in addition to the original Fantastic Four. Prior to those films he has written two movies for Liman: Mr and Mrs. Smith and Jumper. It leaves you to wonder what kind of work they would have done together with Gambit.

2. Working With Him Can Be Difficult

One of his earliest black eyes came after he sold the rights to Swingers to Miramax to the displeasure of his friend Jon Favreau, who didn’t speak to Linman for awhile. The two men have since made up. Doug can be a bit hectic to deal with, just ask Simon Kinerg who refers to Liman as “Limania.” He’d know more than anyone how difficult times could get with Linam. When asked about Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Simon said he’d written “40–50 endings” to the spy film because Liman wasn’t satisfied. Well, all that work was for nothing because Liman ultimate chose the original ending. On the set of Edge of Tomrrow he shocked his staff when he admitted he wasn’t sure what he was doing during an argument with Emily Blunt. During an interview with the LA Times, Liman said: “I was a little under pressure and I snapped. Emily said, ‘Easy, I’ve never made a movie like this before!’ I fired back, ‘Well, neither have I!’"

1. Liman's Best Work Came From Novels

Such as: Jumper starring Hayden Christensen as David Rice

A teenager with teleportation abilities suddenly finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between those like him and their sworn annihilators.

Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Bell also star in the 2008 film adoption of Steven Gould’s novel.

The Bourne Identity starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is based on a novel written by Robert Ludlum. Here is the premise thanks to IMDb:

Jason Bourne is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and regain his memory
 

A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.

The action-packed alien fighting adventure stars Tom Cruise and the always in demand Emily Blunt. Edge of Tomorrow is based off Japanese novelist Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill.

What do you think of DC's choice in Doug Linman as director for Justice League Dark?