If it wasn’t for the Snyder Cut of Justice League, Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke would have been the forgotten man of the DCEU. The franchise initially had huge plans for the assassin after he debuted during the post-credits scene of Joss Whedon’s crushingly disappointing theatrical release, as he was set to team up with Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor to cause some serious problems for the titular team in the future.
Slade Wilson was also cast as the villain of Ben Affleck’s The Batman, as well being pegged to star in a solo movie under the direction of The Raid‘s Gareth Evans, in what would have been the acclaimed action fimmaker’s Hollywood debut. One by one, though, each project with Manganiello’s involvement collapsed, and it looked as if Deathstroke had been relegated to a footnote in DCEU history.
Now that he’s set to return in the upcoming HBO Max exclusive, though, talk of the standalone outing being resurrected has inevitably started up again, especially when Warner Bros.’ streaming service has a huge amount of DC-related content in the works. In fact, in a recent interview, the 43 year-old actor admitted that he’s never given up on the idea of headlining an adventure of his own, but believes that the fans will have a huge part to play in whether it ends up happening or not.
“Hopefully this will reinvigorate interest from the fans as far as wanting to see this version of the character get told. We landed on an origin story that everyone I’ve ever pitched it to has gone crazy for.”
The Arrowverse and Titans have kept Deathstroke well covered on the small screen over the last few years, and while Manganiello’s involvement in the Snyder Cut is expected to be minimal and restricted to the Knightmare sequences, if the second attempt at Justice League generates the sort of reaction that the studio are expecting, then there could be a huge number of folks clamoring to see him return on a more permanent basis.