Affleck Developing Batman vs. Deathstroke: Dawn of Vigilantes Before DCEU Departure

Ben Affleck as Batman

The DC Extended Universe of films has yielded a veritable roller coaster of results. Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), and Justice League (2017) left bad tastes in the collective mouths of critics and fans alike. But Wonder Woman (2017), Aquaman (2018), and Shazam! (2019) have been both critical successes and financial gold mines for Warner Bros. Prior to the release of Justice League, star, Ben Affleck and director, Zack Snyder each teased the arrival of Deathstroke into the DCEU via Twitter. Snyder posted a storyboard image what would be the Deathstroke/Lex Luthor mid-credits scene. Affleck, however, posted a video of what was assumed to be test footage for Joe Mangianello's Deathstroke. 

Speculation about the footage began to fly as fans began to debate whether Deathstroke would appear as a major player in Justice League or if he would menace Affleck's Batman in a solo film. Recent reports from multiple news sources seem to have settled the debate as to the purpose of Affleck's footage and for Deathstroke fans, it's a huge kick in the gut. Apparently, Affleck was developing a  Batman film, but it would not have been a true solo film because the main would have had equal billing. Batman v Deathstroke: Dawn of Vigilantes would have introduced Mangianello's Deathstroke as a major player, but the lackluster performances of early DCEU films made Warner Bros. executives rethink their whole approach to their DC Comics film properties. 

Before long, Affleck stepped down as the Batman film's director and eventually announced his departure from the role of Batman entirely. Affleck said on numerous occasions that one of the reasons he left the project was that he was unhappy with the script. Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in February 2019, Affleck explained that, “I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter, but just couldn’t come up with a version that couldn’t crack it. And so I thought it was time to let someone else take a shot at it." But veteran storyboard artist, and frequent DC Animation film director, Jay Oliva, claimed that "The original Affleck script was the best Batman script I’ve ever read. Ben had a kick a-- story and I believe that the audience and fans would have loved it..." Oliva continued that, "It had some of the best Batman/Deathstroke stuff I’d ever done!" Deathstroke actor, Joe Mangienello, also indicated on social media that he loved the Affleck script as well.

These conflicting comments about the original script seem to indicate that there was much more to Affleck's departure than previously thought. A Batman film is still in the works headed by director, Matt Reeves [Cloverfield (2008),  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War of the Planet of the Apes (2017)] titled simply, The Batman. Reeves' film is said to feature a younger Batman, which some speculate may have been "requested" by Warner Bros executives. It is unknown at this time if Deathstroke will appear The Batman, but the news regarding Affleck's original plans for Deathstroke will undoubtedly leave fans of the Terminator lamenting the film that might have been.

Amell Pulls an Affleck By Hyping Deathstroke on Twitter

I never cared for Arrow or its take on Slade Wilson, which is why I almost never mention Deathstroke in relation to the show. But Stephen Amell took a cue from Ben Affleck as he has used his Twitter account to drum up some publicity for the upcoming 100th episode of Arrow by featuring a certain mercenary assassin as pictured below.

It was recently revealed that Katie Cassidy's Black Canary would return to the series in some form and the above image suggests the same for Deathstroke. What is not clear is Deathstroke's role in the 100th episode and whether or not it will be Manu Bennett returning to the role. These questions should be answered when the episode does air. But truth be told; not even Deathstroke is enough to get me to watch this. 

Johns Confirms Manganiello as Affleck's Deathstroke.

DCEU's Deathstroke: Joe
Manganiello

DC's movie honcho, Geoff Johns, confirmed in a interview for the Wall Street Journal that True Blood and Magic Mike actor, Joe Manganiello, has been cast as Deathstroke in the DC Extended Universe films. Johns stated that Manganiello's Deathstroke would appear in Ben Affleck's solo Batman film, but refused to say if he would appear in the first Justice League film.

Deathstroke will not be Manganiello's first foray into comic book films as he played Flash Thompson in both 2002's Spider-Man and 2007's Spider-Man 3. To be perfectly honest, I don't know very much about Manganiello's recent work as I have watched neither True Blood nor the Magic Mike movies and I'm trying very hard to forget the Toby McGuire Spider-Man films. He kind of looks like Slade Wilson should look (though he needs a lot more grey), but time will tell if he nails the character on screen. Johns and Affleck seem very driven to deliver quality Justice League and Batman films and hopefully they know something about Manganiello that will please both Deathstroke and movie fans alike.

Why Pick Deathstroke For Affleck's Batman Movie? Because This!

I was talking to a young comics fan the other day who didn't understand why the internet was quote, "crapping their pants about Deathstroke," after the now famous Affleck Tweet. "That old guy from Arrow, right?" he asked. "That's pretty weak bro," he said. He hadn't played Arkham Origins, but had played Arkham Knight, which left him less than impressed with Mr. Wilson. I then showed him the same five images that I'm posting below from Deathstroke the Terminator (1991) #7, which he had never read before. After a literal double take, the young man simply responded with, "Dog, that's sick!" I don't know for sure, but I think that I (like Deathstroke) won.

Affleck Had Deathstroke Kill the Internet

On the morning of August 29, 2016, Batman star and director, Ben Affleck, released a short piece of video via his personal Twitter account depicting Deathstroke in what appears to be some type of green screen test, which is taking the internet by storm. Numerous media outlets are reporting different things, but at this time there is no confirmation if this is a scene from the Justice League film currently in production or if it is some kind of test footage for the currently-in-development Affleck-directed Batman solo film. The only thing that can be confirmed is that the footage was definitely released by Affleck himself. In any event, this footage seems to the confirm rumors of Deathstroke's involvement in the ever-growing DC Extended Universe, which have circulated ever since Arrow executive producer, Marc Guggenheim, when commenting on the chances of Slade's return to the series, stated that, “The character of Slade Wilson is currently tied up in another DC project." The footage itself is without sound and appears to have a CGI rendered set from which Deathstroke is walking menacingly toward the camera. The footage can be seen below.

(UPDATE: Ben Affleck is no longer attached to a new Batman film. The video originally posted below has since been removed.)