Joe Manganiello Reveals the Dark Plot of Ben Affleck’s Scrapped ‘Batman’ Movie, Where Deathstroke Would Have Torn Bruce Wayne’s Life Apart

Few unmade superhero movies haunt fans quite like Ben Affleck’s scrapped ‘Batman‘ movie. Affleck was once set to write, direct and star in a standalone Dark Knight film, with Geoff Johns co-writing, and the project promised a very different take on the character. After years of rumors and half-answers, the actor who would have played the villain is shedding more light on what that story actually looked like.

Joe Manganiello, who played Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, in ‘Justice League’, has been in the spotlight this month thanks to his new memoir, ‘Bloodlines’, which came out October 13. His press tour has brought the old Batman project back into the conversation.

According to Manganiello, the film would have been a very dark story. He described Deathstroke as something like a shark or a horror movie villain, steadily dismantling Bruce Wayne’s life from the inside out. In that account, the character would have gone after everyone close to Bruce and tried to destroy his life piece by piece, because he believed Bruce was responsible for something that had happened to him.

The description originally came from an interview in 2020 and has circulated widely again as the memoir has drawn attention. He also said the plan had the feel of a David Fincher movie, noting similarities to ‘The Game’, and that it was really dark and really hard. Affleck had worked with Fincher on ‘Gone Girl’, which makes the comparison feel natural.

The setup began with ‘Justice League’. The original post-credits scene was designed to tee up the Batman project, with Deathstroke and Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, discussing what to do with the Dark Knight. The theatrical version was later reworked to introduce the villains as the Injustice League, and Manganiello returned to shoot new footage for Zack Snyder’s director’s cut.

Geoff Johns confirmed his casting in 2016, and Affleck teased test footage of the character online around the same time. Fans expected a showdown that never came, since the project collapsed and Matt Reeves ultimately made ‘The Batman’ with Robert Pattinson in 2022 as a completely different story.

The memoir adds a deeply personal layer to the story. Manganiello writes that he collapsed on the set of ‘Six’ in North Carolina in 2016 and spent months fighting a mysterious illness that eventually required the removal of his large intestine. While he was still recovering, the call came that Affleck wanted him as Slade Wilson.

He says the part gave him a reason to get better, and he hid his condition from Affleck and the crew. His wife at the time, Sofia Vergara, reportedly urged him not to take it, but he saw the role as a shred of hope that he could get his life back. He has discussed the story on ‘CBS Mornings’ and elsewhere during the press tour.

When the Batman film fell apart, Manganiello says he spent roughly 6 years hearing about new plans that never came to fruition. Deathstroke was floated for ‘Aquaman 2’ and ‘Suicide Squad 2’, where he would have faced Will Smith’s Deadshot, and a standalone origin film was in development with Gareth Evans attached. Manganiello even wrote his own screenplay.

He eventually backed away from the idea when it became clear that DC would keep the rights and wouldn’t need to involve him. James Gunn reportedly advised him to let it go, a decision that closed the book on the DCEU version of the character.

Deathstroke is still set to appear in the DC Universe, with a new film pitting the character against Bane in development. Greg Mottola was reportedly eyed to direct, and Alan Ritchson was reportedly considered for the role, though neither detail has been confirmed. Manganiello has said he would gladly return if asked, calling the helmet he keeps in his office the greatest achievement of his life.

Affleck, meanwhile, has also spoken about the collapse of his Batman film and has said he struggled to crack the script. It’s a rare moment when both men are discussing the same lost project in public.

The appeal of this unmade movie lies in how different it sounds from the Batman stories audiences have seen. A villain who targets Bruce Wayne’s identity, relationships and secrets suggests a psychological thriller rather than a typical comic book showdown. The reported scale, a plan to tie together decades of Batman mythology, only adds to the ‘what if’ factor.

It also underlines how much hinged on timing and creative direction. Studios shifted course, directors changed and the DCEU eventually gave way to the Gunn and Safran era, leaving this version of the Dark Knight in the realm of legend.

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