The Raid‘s Gareth Evans in Negotiations to Direct a Deathstroke Movie
Images via Astrid Stawiarz/Getty, Tony S. Daniel/DC Comics Movies News Deathstroke
Welsh director Gareth Evans has certainly proved his action chops with two excellent films, The Raid: Redemption and its sequel. It appears as though DC and Warner Bros. want to utilize his talents, as The Wrap reports that DC executives were impressed by his pitch for a potential Deathstroke movie. Joe Manganiello is set to star as the titular assassin.
Two days before the news was announced, Evans put out a cryptic Instagram post that, in retrospect, likely confirms that he is indeed in talks to helm the film.
Manganiello, on the other hand, has been attached to the role of Slade Wilson; ever since Ben Affleck tweeted a mysterious video of the Magic Mike actor in a complete Deathstroke outfit last August of 2016.
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) August 29, 2016
Back then, Affleck was supposed to direct a standalone Batman film, but has since relinquished the director’s chair to Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes). With the script reportedly being rewritten, Manganiello’s status in The Batman is unknown.
We’ve seen Deathstroke in live-action media before, with the character appearing in television shows Smallville and Arrow, but should this project come to fruition, this will be the assassin’s big-screen debut. It’s a shame for DC, then, that Marvel’s apparent Deathstroke parody Deadpool has long beaten him to the punch.