Joe Manganiello

Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello reveals the story of Affleck's scrapped standalone superhero movie.

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ is very different from ‘Justice League.’

Arrow fans were delighted when Manu Bennett reprised his role as Slade Wilson for the fifth and sixth seasons, Deathstroke costume and all. Sadly, that last two-parter may have to tide us over awhile, as Arrow bosses confirm DC once again rescinded access to the character.

Justice League ties Deathstroke right into the Justice League universe.

Ever since Matt Reeves took over directing duties for Ben Affleck on The Batman, fans have been wondering what would happen to Deathstroke’s role in the film. Joe Manganiello was set to play the DC Comics character in the solo Batman project, but that was before Reeves came aboard and scrapped the script Affleck wrote with DC’s Geoff Johns. It seems like Deathstroke’s part in the superhero universe isn’t dead after all.

With Warner Bros. The Batman in a constant state of flux, everything seems up in the air. The movie had been shedding directors like a white cat on a black couch — Ben Affleck exited the director’s chair a while back, and recently it’s looked as if he might not return to the role of Bruce Wayne after Justice League wraps. He assured everyone at Comic Con that he has every intention of staying, but who really knows? Matt Reeves seems secure in his role as director, for now, but it also looks like Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke might be in question.

It’s been a long week — for you, me, ScreenCrush, America, and Earth. It’s nice to be able to take a moment on Friday to enjoy some more uplifting news, and today has happily obliged us with the announcement that Joe Manganiello went right ahead and wrote a Dungeons & Dragons screenplay. The man I assume must be the most ripped D&D nerd on the planet recently made a guest appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he informed host Josh Horowitz that he had co-authored a script based on the popular table-top roleplaying game with a “playwright friend from Carnegie Mellon” last year. Somewhere in the great dork beyond, Gary Gygax is looking down on Manganiello and smiling.

Earlier this week, a few little birdies spoke with /Film about Warner Bros. standalone superhero film The Batman being rewritten completely from scratch. According to the site’s sources, the studio has chosen to start all over again with input from director Matt Reeves; additional sources also noted that Reeves wouldn’t even meet with prospective cast members until sometime this summer. This came on the heels of comments from a Variety reporter that Reeves is still under contract for War for the Planet of the Apes through the end of June, meaning The Batman was unlikely to even enter production until 2018.

So, The Batman. Is it happening? Will we ever see it? Is Ben Affleck second-guessing his decision to join the Snyderverse? It seems every time we talk about this movie another doomsday scenario (no pun intended) is right over the horizon. It did finally acquire a new director — Matt Reeves has officially signed on after a short little negotiating game — but production is still, as far as we know, halted.

To celebrate the birthday of DC’s Geoff Johns, Joe Manganiello has shared a new photo of Deathstroke, and it’s…a little blurry. In case you’d forgotten, the actor is playing the Batman villain in Ben Affleck’s solo film, simply titled The Batman — but we might get a peek at the baddie in action a little sooner than that, as Deathstroke is rumored to be making a brief appearance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.