The Deathstroke film that could have been…

It’s been really hard to keep up with all the goings-on within the DC Extended Universe. Over the past decade, there have been more films in the works than we can count. Probably more than a couple dozen at this point, most of which will never see the light of day. One such film that was in the works was a Deathstroke movie. The character was introduced at the end of Justice League, and fans were eager to see what story he could be brought into.

Sadly, that’s also around the time the DCEU was essentially overhauled. In spite of the fact that we heard news of The Raid director Gareth Evans mulling over the film, it was never meant to be. 

“I’ve spoken to Joe Manganiello, who was attached to star as Deathstroke,” Evans told Yahoo. “I spoke to him a while back, and we both lamented the fact that it didn’t happen. But yeah, I don’t really have much more than that, in terms of anything lately on it.”

But enough time has passed that it doesn’t quite feel like rubbing salt into the wound. It’s far enough away that Evans felt comfortable enough to share what his Slade Wilson film would entail.

“The plan was, I wanted to tell something that would be a lean story, that would be kind of an origin of that character,” Evans said. “Something that felt like it could be 100 minutes or 110 minutes long, max – not to go over the two hour period with it. When I read up on it, there were about three different versions of how his character originated. And so I thought we could do something quite Shakespearean, in terms of how he loses his eye, and how he gets created as the character that he is.”

RELATED – Joe Manganiello On Joining The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut Movement With Deathstroke Photos

Shakespearean, huh? That’s honestly a big surprise. I’m not exactly a Deathstroke expert, but when I read stories that feature his character, I don’t tend to think of Shakespeare. That being said, Shakespeare wouldn’t be his only influence. He would also take a page out of the book of South Korean noir films. 

“I was like, these films are amazing: the texture, and the tones of colours, the grit and the aggression of them is super interesting to use to tell Deathstroke’s story,” Evan said.

Evans continued: “We had ideas of the kind of style that we would have gone for with that, which would have married some of the more grounded style that I have, but then because of the world of it, it would allow me to be a bit more flamboyant and a bit more stylised. We could have taken it in some really interesting areas…We had some pretty bold ideas there that could have been really visceral and really fun. But, yeah, I don’t know. Who knows? They might come back again in five or ten years time, you never know.”

But would Manganiello be up for it? It’s not like the dude is getting any younger, after all. If another decade passes, he’d be well into his 50s, meaning he wouldn’t necessarily be in action shape. Then again, Liam Neeson really impressed a lot of people, so who knows, right? Regardless, I do feel like this kind of vision is one that would fit right at home in the current DC film landscape. 

Walter Hamada. Are you listening? Please find a way to make this happen.

What do you think of this vision of a Deathstroke movie? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Yahoo