Warner Bros. and DC Films’ approach to making comic book blockbusters always seems to be in a constant state of flux, and while we’re now eight years removed from Man of Steel relaunching the studio’s output in what was supposed to be a unified direction following the mixed results experienced by Superman Returns, Watchmen, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and Green Lantern, we’ve still got no idea of where things are heading.
A combination of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and J.J. Abrams’ Superman reboot has reignited the rumor mill, with fans divided on how WB are mapping out the future of some iconic characters, but most people would agree that Ben Affleck’s The Batman will go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities to slip through the DCEU’s fingers.
Affleck would have co-written, directed, starred in and executive produced a psychological superhero thriller taking place in Gotham City that was inspired by a combination of David Fincher’s The Game and Arkham Origins, with Joe Manganiello proclaiming that his Deathstroke was set to cut a path through the narrative like a horror movie villain as he tore Bruce Wayne’s life apart from the inside out.
By all accounts that ship has sailed, but insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Batman and Deathstroke might yet cross paths in the DCEU, although the tipster doesn’t address which actors would be involved or where they would face off. Of course, Affleck’s future has been the subject of countless conflicting reports ever since the Snyder Cut was announced, while Manganiello has made it clear that he’s keen to stick around as Slade Wilson, but knowing how Warner Bros. tend to operate, there’s every chance that neither of them would be involved should the showdown eventually happen in a future project.