Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello has joined the Restore the SnyderVerse fan campaign on Twitter.
The actor tweeted the hashtags "#RestoreTheSnyderVerse" and "Deathstroke" with a photo of his DCEU character. The picture, which shows Deathstroke's look in Zack Snyder's Justice League, has not been officially posted online before.
#RestoreTheSnyderVerse #Deathstroke pic.twitter.com/kcaKBxkDxgMarch 31, 2021
The fan campaign aims to resurrect canceled DC projects like Ben Affleck's Batman movie and the Deathstroke solo film, as well as ensure sequels to Zack Snyder's Justice League get made. Manganiello reprised his Deathstroke role briefly in the Snyder Cut, and would feature in the Knightmare timeline (a worst-case scenario future where Darkseid has succeeded in conquering Earth) in Justice League 2.
Manganiello has been very open about the scrapped plans for his character. He was set to star in Affleck's Batman film, with Deathstroke acting as the main villain of the movie. "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," Manganiello said of the canceled film. "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."
He later said that the reason for Deathstroke's vendetta is the loss of his son, which he blames Batman for, and revealed that Batgirl would also have featured in the movie: "There was like a big huge showdown, I think between Batgirl, Batgirl jumps in to try to help Bruce because Deathstroke is so fast that he can anticipate Bruce's movements, and there was this huge fight in Gotham City where Batman is like completely afraid because he realizes he's met someone who can take him."
The actor also spoke to our sister publication SFX Magazine about further scrapped appearances in a Suicide Squad follow-up, and an unmade Justice League sequel focusing on the Injustice League. But Manganiello hasn't given up on the character just yet: "It's also not over currently. There are little irons that are in the fire."
If you've caught up on all four hours of the Snyder Cut, check out our deep dives into everything you could possibly want to know about the movie here:
- What would have happened in Zack Snyder's Justice League post-credits?
- The biggest differences between Zack Snyder's Justice League and Joss Whedon's
- The biggest Easter eggs in Zack Snyder's Justice League
- Zack Snyder's Justice League ending explained
- Zack Snyder's Justice League aspect ratio explained
- The best HBO Max prices
