Deathstroke himself, Joe Manganiello, revealed what Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader would’ve been up against in the original pitch for The Batman.
In a recent interview ahead of the release of his indie superhero movie, Archenemy, Joe Manganiello revealed to Yahoo Entertainment what Ben Affleck’s original plot for The Batman included. Aside from seeing Deathstroke return following his brief cameo at the end of Justice League, the film was seemingly inspired by David Fincher’s The Game. Manganiello noted how excited he was to work with Affleck on the film, saying it would’ve been “really dark.” Thematically, Fincher’s work clearly resonates with Warner Bros. since the first trailer for Matt Reeves’ The Batman seems eerily reminiscent of Seven.
“There were similarities to The Game. It was really cool, really dark and really hard. I was very excited for it.”
The Ben Affleck film would’ve seen Deathstroke systematically tear down Bruce Wayne’s life piece by piece, apparently in revenge for something that happened to the legendary mercenary in the past. Joe Manganiello described the warrior as “a shark or a horror movie villain” in the way he would’ve hunted the Dark Knight. We’ll next see the actor return as Deathstroke in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but it’s a shame audiences won’t be treated to Manganiello and Affleck facing off in a Fincher-inspired thriller.
“It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out. It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him.”
What do you make of the original Deathstroke plot for The Batman? Would you like to see Ben Affleck take on Joe Manganiello? Sound-off in the comments below!
The plot of The Batman is being kept under lock and key, but we know the film will follow Robert Pattinson as a younger Bruce Wayne, chronicling Batman during his second year as Gotham City’s Caped Crusader. The Batman will also show off the hero using his skills as a detective more than what we’ve seen before in previous versions of the character. It is also expected to be the first installment in a new trilogy of films starring Pattinson.
Directed by Matt Reeves from a script he co-wrote with Mattson Tomlin, Robert Pattinson stars as the Caped Crusader, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, with Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as the Penguin.
The Batman is currently set to open in theaters on March 4, 2022. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news on Joe Manganiello, Deathstroke, Ben Affleck and The Batman, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more video content.
Source: Yahoo Entertainment