At one point it seemed the character Deathstroke was just as big a priority in the DC cinematic universe as the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. But now, things have gone a bit dark in regards to the character's future in the franchise, and even the director that’s been closely linked to the character’s solo movie, Gareth Evans, has no idea what’s going on and hasn’t heard anything about the project in some time.
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It was reported back in October 2017 that Evans had been talking with DC and Warner Bros about the solo movie, with the aim that he would write and direct. But in a new interview he gave to ComicBook.com to promote his new movie APOSTLE, Evans says nothing went beyond those early conversations, and he says it’s been a while since he’s heard back.
Nothing really went beyond those conversations. I haven't heard anything for a really long time. To be honest, every time I see an article written I keep wanting to ask, 'Okay, what is it you guys know that I don't know?' Because I haven't heard anything for a good while yet. So I don't know if that will ever come back full circle at some point. But I know I haven't had any conversation about that project for a long time now."
The director noted how after conversations with the studio and star Joe Manganiello he began doing some research on the character, trying to find an interesting angle which to take the one-eyed master assassin.
"I was feeling my way around it and did a bit of research and read a couple of those comic books. I started to dig in to the origin stories. I like to figure out what the origin of a character is and what shapes them, what paints them as a personality. There's been a few iterations, actually, of his origin, which is interesting to see. There was the original way his character was created and then there's been a few creative licenses taken in terms of how he lost his eye, for example, and stuff like that. So, it was an interesting sort of experience."
News about Deathstroke being in the DCEU has gone back as far as 2016 when some test footage of the character in action was posted online. A few months later it was announced Manganiello had landed the role, and that he would be the villain for the solo Batman movie with Ben Affleck. He then made a cameo appearance in 2017’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, meeting with Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) to plan the start of the League of Doom…which they likely followed up by having a nice chat over tea and cookies on the yacht.
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But, after that movie didn’t fare so well, everything started slowing down for the franchise to the point where DC has started rethinking the entirety of their movie slate. Manganiello has assured fans in the past the movie is still in the works, but with DC seeming to only have plans for Wonder Woman and projects around Harley Quinn and The Joker, fans are basically in an “I’ll believe it when I see it” frame of mind.