Joe Manganiello IS Deathstroke

[Gamma Goliath]

Anyone else get the feeling if deathstroke is a success here he'll get his own movie?

 

[NotNickFury]

I'd much rather he showed up in a Teen Titans film rather than his own film. Or at least test out and do a solo villain film well.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

I agree, hopefully nightwing and cyborg can spin off into a titans movie with deathstroke as the villain.

 

[Omegabat]

I hope he gets his own movie or Nightwing. Deathstroke has his own mythology apart from the Titans, I'd love to see Rose Wilson and Red Lion.
Besides he's the only character from the 80's Titans to hold his own long running series. Nightwing is a Batman character and Wally West held one as Flash. The others just gas out after a mini here and there. Cyborg only started headlining recently and as a member of JL.

 

[Pennywise]

I hope to see DS fight Nightwing on the big screen in the future!

 

[signalman]

Why is Joe Manganiello the one always giving updates about this movie?

Seems like a bit of an odd choice to be the spokes person for the movie.

 

[Bruce Malone]

Why is Joe Manganiello the one always giving updates about this movie?

Seems like a bit of an odd choice to be the spokes person for the movie.

The irony if his role got cut and only ended up on the extended edition

 

[THE WOLF]

Why is Joe Manganiello the one always giving updates about this movie?

Seems like a bit of an odd choice to be the spokes person for the movie.

Because he's the only confirmed person on the project doing press at the moment.

Ben and Irons don't have anything to promote at the moment

 

[Pennywise]

I'm hopeful that Matt can make Deathstroke a complex character in the film. The way Koba was handled in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was great!

 

[shauner111]

I still can't believe I live in a world where the next batman movie following TDK trilogy features Ben friggin Affleck as Batman and Joe friggin Manganiello as Deathstroke. If it wasn't for the Reeves announcement I wouldn't even bother thinking about this movie until the release date.

 

[Wildcard]

Anyone else get the feeling if deathstroke is a success here he'll get his own movie?

I don't think Manganiello can carry an entire movie as DS.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

Somehow i dont think that would stop them from green lighting a solo. Lol

 

[Baneis8feettall]

I still can't believe I live in a world where the next batman movie following TDK trilogy features Ben friggin Affleck as Batman and Joe friggin Manganiello as Deathstroke. If it wasn't for the Reeves announcement I wouldn't even bother thinking about this movie until the release date.

Deathstroke probably will be Winter Soldier/Terminator type of villain. Even if he is the main villain, probably secondary villain will have more acting scenes.

I agree though. DC universe has been quite disappointing so far and keeps going that way.

 

[metaphysician]

The core problem is that, at heart, Deathstroke isn't a Batman villain. He doesn't have thematic resonance, and he doesn't really even have his own driving motivation relevant to Batman. The only thing he brings is "kewl fight scenez", and there are plenty of better choices for that.

If you want to use Deathstroke, use him in a Teen Titans movie or derivative thereof. If you want a villain to serve as a super powered fighter to take Batman on? Use Bane.

 

[Slade W]

The core problem is that, at heart, Deathstroke isn't a Batman villain. He doesn't have thematic resonance, and he doesn't really even have his own driving motivation relevant to Batman. The only thing he brings is "kewl fight scenez", and there are plenty of better choices for that.

If you want to use Deathstroke, use him in a Teen Titans movie or derivative thereof. If you want a villain to serve as a super powered fighter to take Batman on? Use Bane.

He can do. He has been presented as an evil Batman in the comics and cartoons, going up against Grayson. He could definitely be made to work going up against Batman (on Arrow they were able to make him relevant to their version of Oliver Queen as well), but I do not have high expectations for them to do anything interesting, unfortunately, and I feel he will be wasted by being mainly used for fights. I hope I am proven wrong.

 

[flickchick85]

REMINDER: This thread is for discussing Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, NOT your fellow posters.

 

[The Guard]

I could see them merging Deathstroke and say, The Wrath or The Reaper, making him a kind of criminal anti-Batman (not that he isn't already). That would actually be pretty cool.

 

[sweetre15]

Joe Manganiello in an interview from some weeks ago gave an indication that in the film, Deathstroke would in a sense be a "mirror" for Batman in that he could have become like him if he made different choices.

Joe describes the character in a rather specific indepth way in said interview period and I'd like to think that he wouldn't have brought this stuff up if it wouldn't be relevant to his presentation in the film.

So let's say the film has Deathstroke be hired to assassinate Batman, that could be the kick off for said plot that leads to the dynamic Joe described even if the reason DS was sent after him was because Amanda Waller was pissed about Batman wanted the Task Force X program shut down.

To me, if presented in an engaging way, could very well be a great story for a Batman film.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Still really skeptical of Joe in this role. But if they use him in the story as the mirror of Bats I can at least see that working.

 

[sweetre15]

For anyone that hasn't read it already or listened to it, here's the interview as a point of reference:


http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/joe-manganiello-acting-dd

Greg: You're going to be playing Deathstroke in the new Batman which is a bad guy right?

Joe: Yes.

Greg: I'm not a comic person. The one part of nerdom that I never really got into. So I only learn about it from the movies.

Joe: I can turn you on to some really good ones if you would like.

Greg: Nice, but I even realized your D&D campaign is kind of like research for playing an evil guy a little bit right?

Joe: Yeah, to an extent. I mean, you know, the character of Deathstroke is very specific. The building of that character is very similar. Looking at someone as evil or a villain is really not accurate.

Greg: Because they think they're the heroes.

Joe: Well, they've been affected in a certain way. I mean you can look at a character like Batman. For example Batman had this tragedy, this personal tragedy, he lost these loved ones and swore this would never happen to anyone else again. He became this vigilante with very questionable tactics at times.

On the converse if you read the comic books Deathstroke is a character that's not dissimilar to that origin story. He lost a loved one and rather than swearing it would never happen again there was like a bit of numbness. His change was that he became this assassin for hire and wound up being fine with just murdering everyone in sight for the right price.

Greg: Right.

Joe: So there's a very fine line between those two characters. I think if either one crossed that line they would turn into the other very easily. So it's almost this mirror reflection of what those choices could've been for Bruce Wayne had he gone a different direction.

Greg: I think a lot of the Christopher Nolan movies especially kind of explore like.. Is he crossing the line? Is this actually too much?

Joe: Yeah. So, you know, in my mind you could say Deathstroke's a villain. There's definitely a way to look at him that way. But there's a way to look at him as an anti-hero. Or just someone who's figuring things out in his own way. Or trying to work something out over the course of this 2 hour movie.

Greg: Not unlike a rogue dragonborn paladin. (Joe's D&D character)

Shelly: Batman better not slap him. You know what's going to happen. (laughs) (Reference to Joe's character being slapped by a gnome in D&D)

Greg: He'll burn down the bar. (Joe's character's response to being being slapped by a gnome in D&D)

Joe: It better not be a little person who slaps Deathstroke in the face or he's going to lose his mind.

Shelly: So how much freedom do you have if you're playing a comic book character that has a backstory that's been told throughout. How much freedom do you have to put your own spin on these characters.

Joe: That's a good question. I think it's probably case by case. The real answer is we'll see once we get on the ground. I'm somebody that likes to start preparing way ahead of time. So I've read almost all the comic books involving him. Just to get the information out of them. Some of them are useful. Some of them are not going to be useful. Because ultimately the script—that's my text. I have to play that.

I started katana training recently. Like live sword training and I started meeting with various martial arts teachers and discussing with them. "Ok, so what are the most offensive styles of martial arts". Ones where you're not waiting for someone to attack you but ones where you're looking to make the attack. Then what are the most deadly ones? Where are the scrolls, the ancient Japanese scrolls that have these really deadly techniques that you don't teach to the average student out the street? Something that only somebody who would go looking for it that are really really bad, you know, are dangerous. Like, what are those?

Ok, so now what are the stances? What are like some really unorthodox stances that someone who learns say Ninjutsu would stand in? Ok, so now what if that person lost an eye? If that person lost an eye how would they then alter the stance so that you would have better peripheral vision. What would that look like? So then you start cooking, and then you start building a story. Kind of outside-in. That's like a very physical way to build a story.

Then on the other side of it, like I said, I'm looking at the script rather than the comic books. I mean the comic books are giving me a good general kind of area of what we're talking about. Where this characters located. But the script is really like, you know. Because they might change the canon. There's been like 3 or 4 different ways that he's lost his eye. Are we doing one of those? Or are we doing it a completely new way? Like, I need to play that.

Greg: That's interesting. So what's it been like actually training with live steel? Has it been nerve wracking or..?

Joe: Nah, it's great. I love it. I love that stuff.

Greg: I'd be so nervous that I'd be slicing myself. I guess obviously they're not sharp.

Joe: No they're sharp. Live sharp swords. I mean they have these reeds and sometimes even bamboo in the center of these reeds that they soak for a couple of days. When they dry out they kind of have the consistency of a neck or a limb. They set them up and you practice with the live swords your cutting technique. Slashing and then you have to switch your footing and go from the other side. Then you have to kind of get it out of your mind this idea that strength is what's going to cut this thing. That it's really like a focusing of the energy and like a quick flick.

Once you do that, then you start really cooking. Then you learn the other strokes. Up-strokes, down-strokes, then there's even like a cut where you come straight out of the sheath or saya. You cut right as you're coming out.

Shelly: Did Nathan show you the dojo that we have downstairs? Because we really do have a dojo.

Joe: No?

Shelly: You can practice.

Joe: Are there swords in it?

Shelly: There's foam swords at my desk

Joe: (laughs)

Greg: Like Nerf swords, that doesn't count.

Shelly: They're better than that. Really authentic. They do hurt.

Greg: And you're trainer is here so i mean—

Joe: He is here yeah. Do you have a two-handed great foam sword? (laughs).

Greg: We're going to get one made.

Shelly: A little duct tape I can work that out.

Greg: Well thank you so much man it's been great. Can't wait to talk to you all the time.

Joe: Thanks. I'll be back.

 

[Wildcard]

Now that actually sounds like an interesting idea they're exploring.

 

[wnjcwjkk]

I don't mind the idea of presenting him as a mirror to Batman, if they're going to use that to somehow address the depths Batman had sunk to by the time he appeared in BvS.


But I was never all that crazy about the idea of Deathstroke being the main villain in a Batman film, or Manganiello playing the character. Couldn't explain why exactly, I suppose because of the high bar Nolan set for cinematic Batman villains, Neeson as Ras, Ledger as Joker, Hardy as Bane. Each iteration had me just as excited for the villain as Batman, both because of the prestige that the actor bought to the role, and the villain himself was so deeply ingrained in Batman mythology.

Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke just doesn't carry that same weight for me. Hopefully, there will be some other villains involved in the story as well, maybe where Deathstroke is the physical threat, hired by another major villain. Would love to see who they'd cast as Pengiun or Two Face in this cinematic universe. Or perhaps tie Deathstroke into the Court Of Owls story somehow.


Speaking of CoW, I kinda wish they would bring (or had bought) Scott Snyder in to help write the story. His Batman stories always had a cinematic feel, like I could feel the surprise and tension when Bruce climbed out of the cave to find Gordon waiting on him, or feel Batman's pain and loss of sanity while he's travelling through the Court's maze, and I could name many other examples. I felt like I was experiencing a movie in a way that not many comic stories have made me feel, even the action sequences felt a lot more exciting than most comic book action scenes. And he was great at putting his own twists on pieces of the Batman mythos in a way that felt fresh and respectful of the source material, or bringing in interesting facts and outside knowledge in a way that was symbolic in the story. Like his knowledge of Owls being predators of bats, for one example, or creating their nests within other nests. I thought it was brilliant, the scene where the bat that inspired Bruce to become Batman leaves through the window and is immediately ensnared in an owl's talons. The Batman films need writing like that, someone who's not afraid to push the limits and explore new territory. Sorry for going off topic

 

[Gabe99]

/film March 19th, 2017:
Joe Manganiello Sounds Less Certain About Playing Deathstroke in ‘The Batman’ Now

 

[NotNickFury]

All these articles about Deathstroke seem like hyperbole when it sounds like Manganiello is just being coy.

 

[Chesterfield]

Dcdnwtad!