Joe Manganiello says James Gunn told him to let go of a Deathstroke origin movie.
Manganiello told ComicBook.com that Gunn, the co-CEO and co-chairman of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, seemingly doesn’t have any plans to adapt a screenplay the actor wrote for a Deathstroke origin film.
“James [Gunn] is my buddy, and James and I had a conversation about it because Jim Lee over at DC Comics wanted me to create a graphic novel series based on the screenplay that I wrote for the Deathstroke origin film that, when they were dismantling the DCEU, that went to the wayside as well,” Manganiello said. “Jim read it, and wanted it to be a graphic novel series, but no one could assure me that, if it garnered the attention of directors and producers, that I couldn’t be attached. So I had to let it go. James Gunn was just like, ‘Let it go.’”
Joe Manganiello, Deathstroke, and DC
Manganiello briefly played Slade Wilson/Deathstroke in 2017’s Justice League and 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League. He was originally going to play a greater role in a DCEU Batman movie co-starring Ben Affleck; however, the film never came to fruition as the DCEU ended with 2023’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Gunn and Safran are now rebooting the franchise with a new DCU.
The DCU kicks off later this year with an animated Creature Commandos series. Gunn is also directing a new Superman movie, Superman: Legacy, starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Skyler Gisondo, María Gabriela de Faría, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, Sara Sampaio, and Anthony Carrigan.
At this time, there’s been no public announcement as to whether or not Deathstroke will appear in the forthcoming DCU; although, in December 2022, Gunn tweeted “could be…” when asked if there were plans to include the character in the universe.
