Gareth Evans is one of the best action film directors alive, full stop. And honestly, he could create Shakespearean period films from now until the end of time and that would still be the case, based solely on the work he turned in with “The Raid” and its sequel. So, even though the DCEU turned out to be a bit of a mess when he was developing the unmade “Deathstroke” film, fans are still curious what he had in store.
In a new interview with YahooUK, the filmmaker does shed some light on his unproduced “Deathstroke” film, which would have starred Joe Manganiello as the DC anti-hero. And unsurprisingly, it sounds like it could have been pretty great.
READ MORE: ‘The Raid 3’: Gareth Evans Details The Plot Of Unmade Sequel
“I’ve spoken to Joe Manganiello, who was attached to star as Deathstroke,” Evans said. “I spoke to him a while back, and we both lamented the fact that it didn’t happen. But yeah, I don’t really have much more than that, in terms of anything lately on it.”
He added, “The plan was, I wanted to tell something that would be a lean story, that would be kind of an origin of that character. Something that felt like it could be 100 minutes or 110 minutes long, max – not to go over the two hour period with it.”
While he didn’t get into the nitty-gritty about what the story of the film might have been about, other than its length and the fact it would have been an origin story for one of the DC Universe’s most feared fighters, Evans did share a bit about what the style of the film would have been. And what were his influences for the look of the superhero story.
READ MORE: ‘Gangs Of London’ Trailer: Gareth Evans Returns With A Brutal, Action-Filled Crime Series
He explained, “Back then, I was massively influenced by the noir films coming out of South Korea, so that was my pitch. I was like, these films are amazing: the texture, and the tones of colours, the grit and the aggression of them is super interesting to use to tell Deathstroke’s story.”
The closest fans got to seeing the “Deathstroke” film is with a quick cameo at the very end of “Justice League,” which saw Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor talking to Manganiello’s Deathstroke character. Other than that, it appears that this iteration of the character, as well as Evans’ film idea, are sadly going to stay on the shelf.
