Fans of Zack Snyder‘s work within the DC Comics universe continued to fight to see his vision of Justice League, but the promise of what he planned will likely not come into fruition. With the cancellation of Ben Affleck’s Batman movie, all we saw of Joe Manganiello‘s Deathstroke occurred in the post-credits scene from Joss Whedon’s reshoots of Justice League. But the actor was back on set for the HBO Max version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, renewing a lot of interest for what could have been had Snyder and Affleck been able to execute their vision.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Manganiello recently spoke with Yahoo! about his role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and looked back on various projects involving his take on Deathstroke. During the interview, he revealed that a bunch of different versions of Deathstroke in the works, including the treatment by The Raid director Gareth Evans. But Manganiello himself worked on his own version for about six months.
“I worked with an Oscar-nominated writer on that treatment, and it was one of those projects that got canceled during that period,” said Manganiello. “There were maybe seven different Deathstroke projects that all didn’t happen over the course of four years. It’s one of those funny things in Hollywood and in life where you’ve just got to let it go.”
But as Snyder Cut zealots know, the end isn’t truly the end if fans continue to push for more Deathstroke. Manganiello is hopeful that his upcoming appearance in Justice League could boost the demand for his own DC Comics project.
“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. There’s been so many versions of this character over the years, and I just wanted to put my own stink on him.”
There’s no word yet on the future of Deathstroke, but fans will be able to see Manganiello return for a more substantial role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Hopefully this leads to a new project where Manganiello can play a villainous role, allowing him a bigger opportunity to sink his teeth into Slade Wilson.
Fans will be able to see Zack Snyder’s Justice League when it premieres on HBO Max in 2021.
