The actor would have played the assassin Deathstroke as he attempted to "dismantle Batman's entire life", according to his new memoir "Bloodlines."

Joe Manganiello is sharing key details about Ben Affleck's Batman film that never saw the light of day.

The True Blood star, who briefly appeared as DC supervillain Deathstroke in Justice League, says that he was set to reprise the role as the main villain in an unmade Batman movie that Affleck planned to write, direct, produce, and star in.

Manganiello writes that Affleck planned to make the film “a superhero version of David Fincher’s The Game” that would see Deathstroke “dismantle Batman’s entire life” after being led to believe that the Caped Crusader murdered his son.

The Magic Mike actor says that Deathstroke’s revenge would include killing Commissioner Gordon (played by J.K. Simmons in prior DC movies), taking Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons) hostage, and breaking into the Batcave. He also claims that the film would have featured a mid-movie fight in which “Deathstroke would nearly kill both Batman and Batgirl before they would both escape via an aboveground train.”

(Batgirl never appeared in this iteration of the screen DC universe, though Leslie Grace played her in a solo film that was ultimately shelved as part of a Warner Bros. tax write-off. Manganiello does not specify who might have played Batgirl in Affleck’s film.)

Manganiello says the film would have ended with a “climactic one-on-one showdown through the streets of Gotham” that Affleck said would be inspired by a CGI fight sequence from the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game helmed by Tim Miller. “It sounded good to me,” Manganiello writes. “I told Ben how great I thought his films were, especially The Town, and how I was really looking forward to seeing his Best Picture version of a Batman movie.”

This movie probably went under the radar however it is appreciated, one of Zack Synders earlier movies he directed.

This is the second original live action DCU series. What a Joke🦍💩

Pissmaker is DCEU series

''z-zack snyder didn't understood superman , because muh he doesn't smile and he is soooo dark and brooding''-take that has been around since 13 years (and refuted as well)

Once again, Snyder is the blueprint.

WB about to show Matt Reeves what happens to talented directors with a unique vision.

Ben Affleck may have hung up the cape and cowl, but his frustrations with the Batman years are proving harder to leave behind. While promoting his new Netflix kidnapping thriller, “Animals,” the actor and director revisited his troubled experience in Zack Snyder’s DC universe on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. In particular, Affleck expressed his anger over how Warner Bros. handled Snyder’s departure from “Justice League,” a bitter experience that also helped extinguish his own ambitions to direct a standalone Batman movie.

That project reportedly would have ventured into Arkham Asylum and featured Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, a character briefly introduced in a post-credits scene. But whatever enthusiasm Affleck once had for the film evaporated after “Justice League.” “I was considering at a time directing a standalone Batman movie after that and did not feel like ultimately I wanted to do that,” he explained.

However, it wasn’t the character that soured him on the experience. Affleck still has considerable affection for his Dark Knight interpretation, particularly the older, battle-scarred version inspired by Frank Miller’s comics. “And I liked playing that character, particularly this sort of older, broken, very much derived from—wholly derived from Frank Miller’s book. That’s what we were trying to do with that ‘Batman v Superman,’” he said.

Unfortunately, that enthusiasm couldn’t survive what happened next. “But, you know, the truth is that the experience of ‘Justice League’ for me was so, so negative for lots of different reasons,” Affleck recalled. “Some of which having to do just with where I was personally, some of which having to do with some of the tragedy that happened during that time.”

For Affleck, the production became a particularly ugly example of what happens when a studio and its director find themselves fundamentally at odds. “I really saw how not to make a movie like that, which is when the studio is at odds with the filmmaker,” he explained. “You know, starting at the worst possible, you’re really making a mistake. And, you know, that was what really doomed that.”

More pointedly, Affleck suggested that Snyder’s departure wasn’t simply a matter of the filmmaker stepping away following a family tragedy. He believes the studio exploited those circumstances to remove him from the production.

“Boy, that was shitty, that him being taken off that movie and the reshoots that we did. That was the low—if you want the low point of my career, was that,” he said. “The personal thing, you know, somebody’s death by suicide, that eclipses everything. And then the way in which that was, I thought frankly, used as an excuse, I just thought was one of the shittiest things I’d ever seen.”

Affleck wasn’t the only cast member left with bitter memories of the production. He also alluded to the experiences of Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot, and others during the reshoots overseen by Snyder’s replacement, Joss Whedon, while acknowledging that much of what he knew came secondhand.

“And then the whole environment and vibe, much of which I wasn’t privy to, but that I sort of heard about secondhand in terms of Ray and Gal and other people’s experiences,” Affleck said. “It was just like, ‘Wow, this is about as gross as it gets.’”

Snyder eventually got an opportunity to revisit the film after the theatrical version, completed under Whedon’s supervision, received a largely negative response. Warner Bros. and HBO Max provided additional funding for the filmmaker to finish “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” a substantially longer version that arrived in 2021 to a warmer reception.

For Affleck, the whole ordeal appears to have left a lasting impression, even if he remains fond of the character he played.

Just came across this amazing custom steelbook on the Masters of Steel Instagram! 🔥 #RestoreTheSnyderVerse

Another Flop

For real

Real Snyder fans know that the Gunn verse is about to meet its end in 2027. Superman 2025 failed to surpass Man of Steel in the box office. Supergirl flopped. Clayface will flop. Lanterns was awful. At this point, Gunn's DC universe has been a failure. That's a good thing. Gunn ruined something he created. At this point, it is only a matter of time before his inevitable exit. It is a great thing that individuals like Ann Sarnoff, Walter Hamada, Toby Emerich and soon Peter Safran are and will be gone so they don't get in Snyder's way. The new regime should bring back Snyder. They should be able to see that his movies actually made money. We will the DC brand once again be a powerhouse under the guide of Zack Snyder.

Zacks movies were unique, and we loved them because he was different. He made bold, unexpected choices for the fans, not a committee of suits in a boardroom. His films might have been divisive for people who didnt want to engage with them, but the majority understood and saw his vision. Mature, grounded ideas in a mythic world.

When he was forced out by Warner Bros, the quality, writing and box office went to shit. They dont know what to do, because they dont have Zack to guide them. Now the MCU is suffering from the same thing. Bad writing, too silly, too childish, flopping. They are scared of making movies inspired by Zack Snyder, like many of their better films were, because he got removed. They think they cant make serious, gritty, adult movies for smart audiences anymore.

His removal had a ripple effect on Superhero movies in general. If we want better superhero movies in general, we have to restore the Snyderverse! Bring Zack back and let him inspire the rest!

Purchased Man Of Steel UHD today.

Bit annoyed it wasn't in sleeve like the HMV website showed it. I may also purchase the 3in1 trilogy box set.

Starting off a collection in my adult life. Tryna build a collection of stuff worth own physical in this digital world.

The filmmaker shared a behind-the-scenes image from Justice League on Instagram featuring Batman standing with his arms extended in a Christ-like pose on the film set. Snyder kept the caption short: “Faith, Alfred. Faith.”

Naturally, fans had plenty to say about it. Within hours of Snyder posting the image, it had pulled in more than 70,800 likes and 2,000 comments. A lot of the responses celebrated Snyder’s take on the DC universe, while others once again brought out the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse hashtag in hopes that his original plans might someday continue.

The photo is another reminder that Snyder’s DC movies still have a very active fanbase years after his run with the franchise came to an end.

Snyder eventually got the chance to complete his intended version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which arrived on HBO Max in 2021 with a massive 242-minute runtime. The movie brought Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, the Flash, and Superman together against Steppenwolf, and it became HBO Max’s fourth-most-streamed film of that year.