What Joe Manganiello's HBO Max Deathstroke Show Would Look Like
With all the story potential for Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke, HBO Max should consider doing a series centered around the DCEU's Slade Wilson. One of the characters who was going to have a significant arc in the DCEU was the DC villain Deathstroke, played by Manganiello. Initially, Ben Affleck's The Batman movie would have featured Slade going up against the Dark Knight. There was also a Deathstroke solo film in the works for Manganiello, with Gareth Evans directing. However, things drastically changed after Joss Whedon retooled Zack Snyder's Justice League in 2017. Since then, The Batman has become a reboot for Robert Pattinson, and Deathstroke became one of many DC films that was scrapped.
Manganiello has spoken about pitching several Deathstroke ideas to Warner Bros. and how he was initially in Suicide Squad 2 before James Gunn boarded the project, now known as The Suicide Squad. Fans got a more prominent taste of Deathstroke in Zack Snyder's Justice League, in which his original scene with Lex Luthor was included. But Snyder also included Slade in a newly-added Knightmare sequence where Deathstroke is part of Batman's resistance force against Darkseid and the corrupted Superman. From everything Manganiello has revealed, a social media campaign has come to life with the #DeathstrokeHBOMax hashtag, something the actor has been in favor of as well.
Since HBO Max is becoming a bigger platform for Warner Bros.'s DC properties, Deathstroke would be a refreshing addition. Deathstroke has appeared in several live-action DC properties, including Smallville, Arrow, and Titans, where he has been a formidable enemy. But as Warner Bros. has been exploring villains in their own projects like Joker and Black Adam, it is time for Deathstroke to get his own property. An HBO Max series would allow the DC foe to have his story told from his perspective. It would also play into Warner Bros.'s strategy of focusing on superheroes and their supervillains.
When Slade was introduced in the Snyder Cut, he had already been Deathstroke for a long time since he and Batman were enemies at this point. But how did Slade become the infamous mercenary? According to Manganiello, this version of Deathstroke does not have any superpowers like the source material. That would raise the stakes for a Deathstroke show where Slade would only be able to depend on his human skills. A TV show can also go into Slade's time in the military, which is a big part of his background that's typically overlooked in other media.
According to Manganiello, characters like Adeline Kane and Billy Wintergreen were part of his Deathstroke pitch. Through Slade's military background, Adeline and Wintergreen would be able to be part of that. In the comics, Slade meets them during his time as a soldier, which would be a great storyline for a Deathstroke show to add. Since most live-action Deathstrokes are usually already the titular villain by the time they show up in other TV shows, Manganiello's version would be able to stand out if the series started as a prequel.
While Deathstroke is a popular character in his own right, Slade is one of the DC players whose family members also play vital roles in the comics. Deathstroke is mainly associated with being a main villain for the Teen Titans, which is how his kids also get involved. Rose and Joe Wilson, a.k.a. Ravager and Jericho, respectively, have a significant legacy behind them, with Titans being the recent live-action depiction for the Wilsons. Manganiello talked about that his kids would have been part of Deathstroke's movie while they were still young. Adding them in and Adeline would allow Deathstroke to be a different DC family show that has never happened before where it centers on villains.
Titans season 2 includes them to a degree, but since they're not the show's stars, they could only get so much focus. In a Deathstroke series, however, it would be organic to have them around Slade more frequently. There is also an opportunity to include Deathstroke's older son Grant Wilson, the original Ravager. According to Manganiello, the reason Batman became his enemy was because Slade blamed Bruce as partially responsible for getting his son killed. Depending on what timeline they would go with, Deathstroke could lead to the death of Slade's son and see why he grew hatred for Batman.
A surprising element of Manganiello's Deathstroke is that Slade had a history with the League of Assassins. Before the Snyder Cut was released, there was a specific logo on Deathstroke's sword as an Easter egg related to Ra's al Ghul. While they accidentally copied a Halo logo for the sword, Deathstroke's League of Assassins history was still there. Manganiello alluded to the idea that Bruce and Slade got trained by the League but ended up going in different directions. While it remains unclear if they were in the League simultaneously, Deathstroke could follow Slade's time with Ra's al Ghul. Ra's daughter, Talia al Ghul, was also meant to be part of the story Manganiello had pitched.
Depending on how long Slade's time with the League of Assassins lasted, Deathstroke could potentially serve as a vehicle for the al Ghul family too. Since they are all enemies of Batman, it would add another layer that sometimes is not seen in other DC properties when dealing with the Caped Crusader. If HBO Max would go the prequel route, there is so much they can explore to explain how Slade became the legend that he is known as today. From his time in the military, training with the League of Assassins, the tragic family history, and Slade's psychological journey, a Deathstroke series has a tremendous amount of potential to stand out as a DC property.
It's clear from past interviews that Manganiello would suit up as Deathstroke again if given the opportunity. Given that he had pitched multiple stories, it would be a waste of Manganiello's talent if he didn't get a chance to play Deathstroke in a solo project. There is a reason why Deathstroke has been one of DC's top villains for several decades; hence why many DC properties are using him outside the comics. Even if the Snyderverse doesn't continue, there's a lot that can be done with Slade, especially in a serialized format on a platform like HBO Max. DC TV hasn't done a show about a villain as complex as Slade. Deathstroke is not a traditional villain, which is the reason he stands out as much as he does, and an HBO Max series for Joe Manganiello would be able to showcase that.
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