Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke, has already been portrayed in live action twice, by Michael Hogan on Smallville and Manu Bennett on Arrow, but Magic Mike star Joe Manganiello will have the distinction of being the first actor to play the character in a theatrical setting. Despite all the shakeups with the Batman movie in recent months, the plan is still to have Ben Affleck's Caped Crusader to battle the one-eyed assassin in his first solo adventure set in the DC Extended Universe. Manganiello has already been spending months preparing to play Deathstroke, but his research recently took an excellent turn when he spent time with Deathstroke co-creator Marv Wolfman.
If you want to learn about what makes a fictional character tick, one of the best courses of action is to turn to one of the people who created said character. Fortunately for Joe Manganiello, he was able to have lunch with Marv Wolfman, who created Deathstroke with artist George Perez back in 1980. No doubt Manganiello learned a decent amount while meeting with the writer, but judging by Wolfman's Facebook post, he's confident that Manganiello will give audiences an excellent Deathstroke portrayal in the near future. That approval is undoubtedly the icing on the cake that is Manganiello's Slade Wilson journey so far. Aside from Deathstroke, Wolfman's other notable comic book accomplishments over the decades have included co-creating Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Tim Drake and Brother Blood for DC Comics, as well as Blade, Bullseye and Black Cat for Marvel.
So far no details have been disclosed about what to expect from Joe Manganiello's version of Deathstroke, but like his comic book counterpart, he's expected to be one of the world's best mercenaries. Ben Affleck teased last August on social media that Deathstroke would be introduced to the DCEU, and a little over a week later, DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns revealed that the orange and black-garbed killer would be played by Joe Manganiello in the Batman movie. However, we may see Deathstroke's cinematic debut sooner than that, as it was reported that he'll appear in Justice League later this year. This is seemingly backed up by storyboard artwork showing Deathstroke speaking with Lex Luthor, who is confirmed to return in Justice League following his incarceration at the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Although Deathstroke has fought numerous heroes in the DC Comics universe, he has an especially interesting dynamic, so it will be great when we finally see those two clash in live action for the first time.
There's still no word on when the Batman movie will be released, but we here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on how it's coming along as more news comes in.
