As you probably know by now, “Magic Mike” actor Joe Manganiello had been cast as the DC Comic mercenary Deathstroke some time ago. But for his story, well, there’s spoilers here, so you’ll want to turn away right now before reading the whole thing unless you’ve already seen “Justice League.” Got it? Great.
OK, so Manganiello was cast as the assassin character Deathstroke a few months back, but was supposed to appear as the adversary in “The Batman,” then set to be directed by Ben Affleck. Affleck dropped out of the director’s chair and possibly the Batman role itself and much has changed in the DC Extended Universe in the last year, including Matt Reeves coming on to direct “The Batman,” throwing out the old script and starting over from scratch.
Many speculated that the Deathstroke character had been tossed out with the script as well—Reeves is making a stand-alone picture that will have nothing to do with the DCEU—but Manganiello recently said he was staying on as Deathstroke and obviously he knew the greater plan in store.
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Reeves’ “The Batman” may not have anything to do with the DCEU, but Deathstroke has everything to do with “Justice League,” or at least its conclusion. In the final, post-credits scene from “Justice League,” Manganiello as Deathstroke makes an appearance. In the scene, it’s implied Deathstroke’s the one that’s freed Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) from prison and he’s arrived on his yacht to collect his bounty. But as now seen by audiences, Luthor suggests a proposition: if the superheroes have their super team, why can’t the bad guys have their own troupe? It’s a building block nod of what’s to come, of course, and a bad guy team could be any number of incarnations of the Legion Of Doom, the Legion Of Super Villains or any other group.
So, what’s clear is, no matter what happens with Ben Affleck and the Reeves-directed ‘Batman’ film, the DCEU is going forward with Manganiello as Deathstroke and a betting man would likely cross him off the list of appearing in “The Batman” now. Where will the character turn up next? Well, it could be a while. “Aquaman” (December 21, 2018 ) “Shazam!” (April 2019) and “Wonder Woman 2” (November 1, 2019) are basically all set.
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And after that, it’s basically dozens of films that are in development but probably not arriving any time soon including “Flashpoint,” “Suicide Squad 2, “The Batman,” “Batgirl,” “Nightwing” and more. Yes, there is a “Deathstroke” solo movie in development from “The Raid” director Gareth Evans, but presumably all these aforementioned films are coming first. Until Deathstroke appears, you’ll just have to tide yourself over with this image from the end of “Justice League.” Update: a second image has arrived with Zack Snyder revealing this was his post-credit scene and not Joss Whedon‘s.
— Joe Manganiello (@JoeManganiello) November 25, 2017
