DC fans were shocked to hear in October about Warner Bros. making a Deathstrokesolo film helmed by Gareth Evans (The Raid). The fans were excited by the news, especially since there had been a lot of rumors over the last few months about Deathstroke being introduced into the DCEU.
Fans might recall that Ben Affleck caused an internet frenzy over a year ago when he revealed a short video clip of Deathstroke inside an aircraft. The masked actor was True Blood’s Joe Manganiello who was all set to play Deathstroke in Affleck starrer The Batman.
With the passage of time, Affleck abandoned the directorial chair, and Matt Reeves stepped in. The fans understood that Reeves’ was going to do the script from scratch and Manganiello’sDeathstroke wasn’t going to be a part of the project.
However, now Manganiello will enter DCEU as Deathstroke in a much broader way. Casting aside the speculation about Affleck’s continuity as Batman, we now wonder if Manganiello and Affleck could display Deathstroke/Batman enmity on the big screen in the Deathstroke solo movie.
The History of DCEU
If we look at the history and present of DCEU, it is easy to see how Ben Affleck can play Batman in Deathstroke solo movie.
DCEU fans are aware that the cinematic universe tends to feature Batman cameos – last one being in 2016’s Suicide Squad. The Dark Knight appeared in flashbacks, catching some villains who were a part of the film’s cast. Despite what you might say about Suicide Squad, it is undeniable that the 3 minutes of Batman’s appearance were fun to watch and didn’t deviate from the film’s original plot.
Yes, there is a case about Deathstroke not needing a Batman cameo. The villain’s origins are not linked to the caped crusader, the way it was with Suicide Squad’s Joker, Harley Quinn, and Deadshot. However, Suicide Squad serves as a template for how Batman can appear in a separate DCEU film, without affecting the main story of that movie.
Gods Of War
In recent times, we have seen DCEU’s policy of not forcing every DCEU movie to connect and leaving it to the choice of each director, however, it is not impractical for Gareth Evans to rope in Batman and he might have already suggested about doing it.
A short while before the Deathstroke’s official announcement, Evans shared a photo related to the character on his Instagram. The photo showed Deathstroke trade paperback Gods of War, which according to fans, could be the source of the film.
Gods of War is a compilation of the first six issues of Tony S. Daniel and SanduFlorea’sDeathstroke series, which was released from 2014 to 2016. The series showed Slade going for revenge after having lost everything and considered dead by all. His adventure brings him across his father, Odysseus. On the way, Slade battled with several DC icons such as Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller and of course, Batman.
Although, it is way too early to speculate about the source of the Deathstroke movie, but, a Gods of War inspired narrative would facilitate a Batman cameo in a nasty fight scene, and that’s something the fans of Deathstroke as well as Batman would love.
