On the heels of Jared Leto’s reprising his Suicide Squad role as The Joker for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Collider has revealed that Joe Manganiello is also taking part in the film’s reshoots, reprising his port-credits cameo role as DC’s deadliest assassin Deathstroke.
Manganiello was cast as Deathstroke and teased early on in Justice League’s initial production under Zack Snyder, though his appearance was kept secret until the film’s theatrical release. In Joss Whedon’s cut of the film, Manganiello appeared in the post-credits scene as Deathstroke meets with Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor for a business offer.
It has been rumoured Manganiello’s role was slightly bigger in Zack Snyder’s original film and the actor even teased on his Instagram at the time of the Snyder Cut’s announcement that fans would see “the original post credit scene”, hinting there was more to Deathstroke and Lex’s meeting than what fans saw.
Manganiello was also tied to the role for more than just a small role or cameo appearance in Justice League. Before Warner Bros. changed course after Justice League‘s box office failure, Manganiello was to appear opposite Ben Affleck in The Batman when Affleck was writing and directing it at that time before WB opted for a reboot with Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson coming onboard.
The plan was to also have Manganiello lead a solo Deathstroke film from The Raid director Gareth Evans, but those plans also fizzled out. With Manganiello returning as Deathstroke for the Justice League reshoots, perhaps there may still be hope for Manganiello to get a full shot at the villain.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League reshoots are currently underway with Ben Affleck, Ray Fisher, Amber Heard and Jared Leto reporting to the production. Manganiello joins them, but it’s unclear which other actors are involved in these reshoots. Previous reports said that Henry Cavill would not be joining the rest of the cast for this round of additional filming.
In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder and features Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta and Robin Wright as General Antiope, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard as Mera, Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf and Ray Porter as Darkseid.
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