James Gunn told Joe Manganiello to move on from playing Deathstroke again: “Let it go”

It sounds like Joe Manganiello won’t be returning as Deathstroke

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Joe Manganiello has moved on from ever playing Deathstroke again.

The actor played the DC villain inJustice League(and had an extended role in theSnyder Cut), and he was set to reprise his role forBen Affleck’s scrapped Batman movie. There was even a potential Deathstroke film to be directed byThe Raidhelmer Gareth Evans, which also ended up dead in the water.

Now, the old DCEU is now defunct andJames Gunnand Peter Safran are spearheading the new DCU, beginning withChapter One: Gods and Monsters.

“James [Gunn] is my buddy, and James and I had a conversation about it because [DC Comicspresident] Jim Lee over at DC Comics wanted me to create a graphic novel series based on the screenplay that I wrote for the Deathstroke origin film that, when they were dismantling the DCEU, that went to the wayside as well,” Manganiello toldComicBook.com. “Jim read it, and wanted it to be a graphic novel series, but no one could assure me that, if it garnered the attention of directors and producers, that I couldn’t be attached. So I had to let it go. James Gunn was just like, ‘Let it go.'”

It’s unclear if Deathstroke will feature in the new DCU, which begins this year with animated Max show Creature Commandos. The first DCU movie isSuperman: Legacy, which releases in 2025. A table read for the film might haverevealed its logo, and it has a particularly interesting comics connection.

While you wait for Superman: Legacy, check out our guide to all theupcoming DC movies and TV showsfor everything else in the works.

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I’m a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site’s Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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