In 2016, Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke was being lined up for a huge role in the DCEU. Original plans called for the villain to learn Batman’s secret identity in Justice League’s post-credits scene (courtesy of Lex Luthor), setting the stage for him to hunt down Bruce Wayne in the pre-Robert Pattinson version of The Batman.
That all changed when Ben Affleck decided not to direct the movie, and in Joss Whedon’s Justice League, Slade Wilson was enlisted to the “Injustice Society” instead. Despite the change, there were later rumblings about a Deathstroke spin-off helmed by The Raid’s Gareth Evans, and we got to see that original tease when Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released in 2021.
In September 2024, the trades reported that DC Studios had tapped Captain America: Brave New World writer Matthew Orton to pen a Deathstroke/Bane team-up movie.
Many have wondered whether it’s really a Secret Six project, and James Gunn has confirmed on multiple occasions that he has plans for DC’s Terminator. However, since then, updates about the movie have been few and far between, with it seemingly never getting beyond the idea stage.
Today, Manganiello has everyone talking after he shared the full video of Deathstroke’s meeting with Luthor from Justice League’s Snyder Cut. The actor captioned the post, “You’d better not be wasting my time… #deathstroke #zacksnyder”
Understandably, there’s now speculation that the actor is teasing…something. His DCU debut as Slade, perhaps, or a Deathstroke movie helmed by Snyder? Neither seems hugely likely, but we also can’t say with any certainty that’s not what Manganiello is hinting at here.
For a time, the hope was that Manganiello might get a second chance; like Channing Tatum as Gambit, he never got the opportunity to properly play a character he loves. However, his ties to the DCEU are likely too much for DC Studios to ignore.
It’s worth noting that the actor may just be celebrating his brief stint as Deathstroke, particularly given what he’s previously said about his conversations with DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn.
“James [Gunn] is my buddy, and James and I had a conversation about it because Jim Lee over at DC Comics wanted me to create a graphic novel series based on the screenplay that I wrote for the Deathstroke origin film.”
“When they were dismantling the DCEU, that went to the wayside as well,” Manganiello continued. “Jim read it, and wanted it to be a graphic novel series, but no one could assure me that, if it garnered the attention of directors and producers, that I couldn’t be attached. So I had to let it go. James Gunn was just like, ‘Let it go.'”
Check out the actor’s latest Instagram post below.