A few weeks afterBen Affleckmade headlines with his mysteriousDeathstrokevideo, it has been confirmed that this character will be the main villain of the actor/director’sBatmanreboot, withJoe Manganielloset to star. DC Entertainment CEOGeoff Johns, who is co-writing the script with director/starBen Affleck, confirmed the news in an interview to discuss his new role as head of DC Films. However, he wouldn’t confirm if Deathstroke will have a cameo inJustice League, which is currently filming in London.
Shortly after the video was posted of Deathstroke, which appeared to be taken from theJustice Leagueset, a report claimed that this iconic character will serve as themain villainin this Batman reboot.Joe Manganiellohad been rumored to play Deathstroke back in March 2015, as part of theSuicide Squadcast, but that character wasn’t even included in the movie, when it hit theaters this August.The Wall Street Journalspoke withGeoff Johns, who wouldn’t confirm an official release date for the Batman reboot, but stated that the earliest it would arrive is 2018.
Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke, first appeared inThe New Teen Titans#2 in 1980, created byMarv WolfmanandGeorge Perez. Due to the character’s growing popularity, he received his own standalone comic book series in 1991, which ran for 65 issues. He was originally created as a villain for theTeen Titans, but he has clashed with Batman on numerous occasions. Their first encounter was in the 1991 standalone arcCity of Assassinswhere he savagely beat up the Dark Knight.
It has also been rumored thatBen Affleck’sBatman rebootwill be set inArkham Asylum. It’s certainly possible that Deathstroke is locked away in Arkham Asylum when the movie begins, or that he ultimately gets locked up in this facility after doing battle with Batman. BothBen AffleckandGeoff Johnshave reportedly already finished the script, but we don’t know when production will begin. The story is said to be largely original, although there will be appearances from numerous DC Comics villains in theBatman Reboot.
Joe Manganiellomost recently starred inMagic Mike XXLand Netflix’sPee Wee’s Big Adventure. He will also provide the voice of Hefty Smurf inSmurfs: The Lost Village, and he also hasDrunk Parentsin post-production andStanoin pre-production.Joe Manganiellois also no stranger to the superhero world. The actor made his feature film debut in 2002’sSpider-Manas Peter Parker’s nemesis, Flash Thompson, a role he reprised in 2007’sSpider-Man 3.
