Joe Manganiello is teasing DCEU fans on Instagram; his profile picture now features the actor in-character as Deathstroke. The one-time Spider-Man star switched from Marvel to DC for Justice League, which was supposed to be just the beginning for Manganiello as Slade Wilson, the iconic supervillain from the comics. However, due to the Snyderverse coming to a premature end, Manganiello’s only subsequent appearance came in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which offered a few additional scenes of the crackshot assassin.
But could Manganiello be cooking up something else with Warner Bros.? Maybe, maybe not, but he’s certainly got fans talking about it with the latest Instagram update. The Magic Mike actor’s new display picture is a psychedelic shot of himself sporting his look from ZSJL, with Slade’s eyepatch and bleached mohawk haircut. Manganiello didn’t make any kind of comment on the avatar switch, leaving fans to speculate on the reasons behind it.
Once upon a time, a Deathstroke movie was in the works, with The Raid’s Gareth Evans attached to direct. The film would’ve been a mid-budget actioner that explored Wilson’s origins story. The project never went anywhere, however and, as far as we know, there’s nothing for Deathstroke on the horizon. Back in December, Manganiello admitted that he has little confidence he’ll be invited back to reprise the part, saying that he “let that go a while ago.”
But if he’s put the role in his rearview mirror, then what’s with this Instagram update? Well, with Warners always looking to expand their DC output on HBO Max, it’s feasible he may have gotten a Deathstroke solo project off the ground, finally, this time as a streaming exclusive. We don’t want to get our hopes up, but the DCEU has surprised us before by bringing back characters we never thought we’d see again.
