Written By Kieran Bugg and Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Deathstroke wouldn’t have been a shallow or generic DC villain under director Ben Affleck. Joe Manganiello was set to become the central foe in Affleck’s cancelled Batman solo film. Deathstroke’s cameo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League could have paved the way for an epic confrontation between the two.
Without a doubt, in the list of cinema’s greatest unmade movies, this has to be among them.
At the recent SnyderCon, Affleck discussed how he planned Deathstroke to be a character that audiences can sink their teeth into. Affleck revealed:
There were a number of them that I was kind of exploring. And, the plans were to make interesting, nuanced, complex characters, in particular to the character you mentioned. I kind of feel like either you do – I’m just going to get into my own preference here – but either you do a kind of massive one villain that is so formidable you just can’t imagine how your protagonist is going to be able to overcome it. Or you have to really sort of populate kind of, you know, Injustice – these big group villains – where you have to get all these different characters.
So I was at the time really trying to hone in and focus on that character and get into depth and detail about it to make him seem as impressive as I felt there was the opportunity to do. That’s the only detail I have for you.
Before director Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson were hired for The Batman, Affleck was all set to direct and star in his own take on the Caped Crusader. Firmly set in Snyder’s DCEU. Following his debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, moviegoers were eager to see Affleck’s Batman in his own solo outing.
Deathstroke Would’ve Been A Cut Above Basic DC Fare Under Ben Affleck
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Jeremy Irons and J.K. Simmons were expected to reprise their respective roles as Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon. Needless to say that fans of Batfleck were beyond excited for the project, especially for the confrontation with Deathstroke, one of DC’s toughest and most violent criminals.
Unfortunately, it eventually fell apart and would be retooled into Reeves’ reboot.
The Batman received stellar reviews and earned solid numbers at the box office. In addition, it would also serve as the starting point for Reeves’ Batman pocket universe.
Nonetheless, many were still heartbroken that we didn’t get to see Affleck’s vision come to fruition.
Unfortunately, Affleck abandoned his Batman film. At SnyderCon, he also addressed his decision to leave the project, at least as a director.
There was a whole elaborate plan, which would take up too much time now, and some of which I may have forgotten. I always liked that character, and talked to Zack about that. My plan for continuing on in this character, a certain point I got to and kind of found that I thought I wasn’t really, you know … I just felt like I wasn’t quite sure if it worked or jived.
I felt like if you have a character like this, and you kind of take that on, you want to go forward, you better really be sure and understand it and be confident. And certainly, as a director, you have to be the last person interested in the movie when everyone else is really bored and doesn’t want to watch it again, and is sick of it, and exhausted by the whole process. I have held myself to this kind of metric where if I’m not really sure I see the precise location or target that I want to hit, I’m not sure I can hit it, but I want to at least know exactly what I’m aiming for.
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Given DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn’s idea to search for a new Batman, we certainly won’t see it under Warner Bros. Discovery.
In fact, Affleck debunked Gunn’s claims of his interest in directing for him.
Moreover, Gunn might find a different Deathstroke, too, for the DCU. Certainly, Deathstroke is too popular to be benched.
Hopefully, when Deathstroke does enter the DCU, he won’t resemble the goofball makeovers on Gunn’s Peacemaker on HBO Max.