Joe Manganiello wants a Deathstroke origin show on HBO Max. Warner Bros. and DC Films have spent nearly a decade trying to launch a cinematic universe based on DC characters. This was primarily done with major blockbuster movies like Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and so on. Multiple other movies entered development and the DC Extended Universe currently has six live-action movies with confirmed release dates through 2023. However, there are also plenty of projects that never materialized after initial reports of their development.
Deathstroke is one of those movies that at one time seemed like a great pitch but never moved forward after The Raid‘s Gareth Evans was reportedly in talks to direct. The film would’ve starred Manganiello as Slade Wilson and been an origin story for the trained killer set before his appearance in Ben Affleck’s The Batman. Manganiello only had a cameo in Justice League before the DCEU’s future changed, which altered plans for Deathstroke. Instead of being the villain in The Batman, Deathstroke has no clear future, but fans are desperate to see more of him. Manganiello hasn’t lost any interest in playing the character either and is now hoping for an HBO Max show.
Manganiello recently attended the fan-run virtual DC convention Justice Con and spoke about his plans and desires for Deathstroke. This included discussing what Deathstroke project he’d pick to happen first. Without any hesitation, Manganiello said he wants to have a Deathstroke origin show on HBO Max.
Deathstroke origin as a series on HBO Max. Absolutely. I think it’d be such a fun series and people would absolutely love it and there’s not a lot like it out there right now. It would have its own tone and its own place within the universe. I think it would be very fun and tonally very unique.
Manganiello has been fairly open about what could’ve been if the Deathstroke movie happened. He revealed in the same interview that he wanted to include Talia al Ghul in the project. Evans even mentioned in the past that he was excited about the possibilities of Deathstroke. Unfortunately for Evans and Manganiello, the studios decided that a low-budget origin movie for a villain wasn’t a priority. This effectively makes it seem as if the movie won’t happen, even after the $1 billion success of Joker, and is likely why Manganiello is now expressing interest in an HBO Max series.
There are already multiple DC shows in development for HBO Max, and it would be great to see Deathstroke eventually become part of that plan. Manganiello as Deathstroke is widely viewed as a terrific piece of casting, but he’s barely had any time to play him. His cameo in Justice League was meant to set up his appearance in an Affleck version of The Batman that won’t happen. It was only recently that fans were treated to more of Manganiello’s Deathstroke thanks to Zack Snyder’s Justice League. With HBO Max currently working on a wide variety of shows like Green Lantern, Peacemaker, and Justice League Dark, hopefully the support for a Deathstroke series pushes the studios to greenlight it.
Source: Justice Con
Originally from https://screenrant.com/deathstroke-show-hbo-max-joe-manganiello-story-response/