Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke has been one of the most hotly anticipated factors of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’. While he did appear in the original 2017 theatrical cut via a post-credit scene, that scene was altered significantly to tease a potential legion of doom/injustice league team-up rather than setting up Ben Affleck’s Batman film as was originally intended. This brief appearance at the end of that film has remained the only appearance of Joe Manganiello as the infamous assassin Slade Wilson, until Zack Snyder called him up and brought him on for the additional footage of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’.
For ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League‘ Slade Wilson will not be seen trading blows with Batfleck but instead will be teamed with him on the rag-tag Knightmare timeline’s version of the Justice League. Zack Snyder had this to say during IGN’s FanFest:
“Joe’s character in this movie when we find him, clearly he and Batman have struck some sort of a deal and they have a bit of a partnership. There’s a bigger enemy I guess…They’re not locked in mortal combat. They’re actually working together to try to figure out how to make this world work.”
Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke has sadly been one of the seemingly abandoned parts of the original DCEU. Despite an incredible passion for the character and a very positive reaction from fans, he has yet to be featured in any screentime since the 2017 film. He was supposed to be the main antagonist for Ben Affleck’s solo batman movie that would have seen him on a mission to destroy everything in Bruce Wayne’s life, making him suffer. He also was developing his own solo movie with Gareth Evans (The Raid) set to direct.
It is unknown if either of these projects could ever be brought back into development, but if ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ is a success and fan response is once again positive for Deathstroke’s appearance then anything is possible.
‘Zack Snyder’s justice League’ will stream on HBO Max on March 18th. Are you excited to see Batman and Deathstroke teaming up? Do you hope to see more of them in the future?
Born and raised in DFW Texas. 24 years old. Studied at Texas Wesleyan University. Positively love movies and love writing about them and everything that goes into them.