Joe Manganiello, the actor who plays the villain Deathstroke in Zack Snyder's Justice League, is very into the idea of a spinoff show centring on the character on HBO Max.
Manganiello was a vocal campaigner for the "#RestoreTheSnyderVerse" movement, and that was spurred by the fact that his character got utterly obliterated in the chaos of the DC Comics cinematic universe. Originally, there was to be a post-credit cameo following the events of Justice League, and this would set up Deathstroke's appearance in The Batman. Not that The Batman, the one that would have been made by Ben Affleck. The project fell apart in pre-production, and so Joss Whedon took the clip and re-edited it to tease a sequel to Justice League... which also did not come to pass. Manganiello said that he felt "pushed to the side" in an interview with Vanity Fair.
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"When the last one didn't go, then you just put it away. And you just say, 'It's over. That was it. I went through five flaming hoops, and it's not happening. We're putting it down,'" said the actor of the disappointment. "And then Zack calls you up and says, 'Okay, let's go.'" If you're yet to watch Zack Snyder's Justice League, we won't spoil it for you here, but he does pop up at the end of the movie and in a post-credits scene, so time your bathroom breaks across the four hours accordingly. However, now that Deathstroke is finally getting his time in the sun, Manganiello wants to carpe that diem.
In a post to Twitter, the actor shared a black and white photograph of himself in his Knightmare costume for the character, and tagged it with "#DeathstrokeHBOMax." To be honest with you, the photo looks more like a sad Deathstroke meme. You know the one with Wagner Moura playing Pablo Escobar in Narcos? And he's sat on a swing seat and stuff and he looks all upset? That's what this reminds me of. I actually saved the thumbnail for this article as "saddeathstroke.png." Anyway.
It's possible that one of the many Deathstroke projects that were canned has been revived, and we may see the character fleshed out in an accompanying spinoff while the new movies are in production. Alternatively, it could be that the actor is drumming up demand and hype for a new show, and really, what's the harm in that? "I'm happy to be back," continued Manganiello in the interview. "Like I said, it's fun dusting something off what you let go of a long time ago... I have more white hair now. I fit the character, which is actually better for me." Zack Snyder's Justice League is distributed by HBO Max, and I'd imagine that it'd want to hold on to those rights for a hot second. We'll let you know if we hear more about a spinoff for Deathstroke.
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures, DC FilmsTopics: Movies, News, Justice League
