Last year it was announced that former True Blood star Joe Manganiello would be joining the DC Extended Universe in the role of Deathstroke in The Batman, although his participation now seems up in the air given the behind-the-scenes changes and potential page-one rewrite on the Dark Knight solo movie.
Should this fall through, it would become the second time that Manganiello’s brush with the DCEU came to nothing, with the actor revealing to MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast that he was forced to turn down the opportunity to play Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel due to his commitments to HBO’s True Blood.
“I met with Zack,” said Manganiello (via Screen Rant). “I had an hour and a half long meeting with Zack, which is what was causing all the trouble. … I went ahead and met with casting, and then they all brought me over to meet Zack. I met the producers, I met with Jon Jashni and Thomas Tull at Legendary, I met everybody – everybody involved – and then finally sat down with Zack for an hour and a half and had a big conversation about the character and where it was going, et cetera. Then they called the True Blood costume shop for my measurements to build my suit and that’s what caused – that’s when it stopped.”
Manganiello went on to reveal that his agent tried to work out a deal with HBO, but he was unable to get the time off for such a large project. The role was of course subsequently filled by Henry Cavill, who has since went on to portray Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and November’s upcoming Justice League.
Would you have liked to see Joe Manganiello as Superman? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published April 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
