Joe Manganiello says playing Deathstroke gave him a reason to keep fighting an autoimmune disease. Losing the role when Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman film fell apart was more than a career disappointment. “I lost my mind when that happened,” he told Entertainment Tonight.
While dealing with his illness, Manganiello had been preparing to play the villain opposite Affleck’s Batman. The project became a lifeline, giving him something concrete to work toward during a difficult stretch of his life.
“I took me being offered that role as the villain of Batman as the universe saying it’s gonna be okay,” he explained. “And when it went away, I didn’t have that to fight for anymore.”
He sees that experience differently now. Although he initially viewed the cancellation as bad luck, he now believes getting the part helped him keep going, even though the film never happened. Describing that shift, he said he “came to understand through the full journey was that I was lucky to get it. It was never meant to be for me. It was there to make sure I didn’t stop fighting.”
The planned movie would have given Manganiello a much larger role than his post-credits appearance as Deathstroke in 2017’s Justice League. That brief appearance introduced a pairing the standalone film never delivered: Manganiello’s villain facing Affleck’s Batman.
Polygon writer Willa Rowe describes Zack Snyder’s DC film universe as a mixed bag, but argues that Manganiello’s casting was one of the few things fans almost universally agreed on. In her assessment, the abandoned film left an especially promising performance unrealized.
Affleck has also spoken about his deeply negative experience working on Justice League and the solo Batman project, which he was set to direct. He has said friends feared he would drink himself to death if he continued with the movie. He stepped down as director in 2017, and Matt Reeves took over, eventually developing a different take on Batman with Robert Pattinson in the cowl.
Could Manganiello play Deathstroke again in James Gunn’s DC Universe? Rowe’s report describes the new universe as well underway, with several projects slated for future release, including a Deathstroke and Bane film titled Savage Hunters. The report also says Gunn has resisted bringing back actors from earlier DC projects. Manganiello’s comments express interest in returning, not confirmation that he has been cast.
For Manganiello, the connection to Deathstroke is still visible every day. He keeps the helmet from his first appearance in his office.
“You know, I have that helmet from when I got to play him for the first time sitting in my office and I look at it every day, and it’s the greatest achievement of my life,” Manganiello said. “I’ve been to hell and back. You want a warrior? You know who to call.”
