A couple of weeks ago Jo Blo mentioned that actors such as Joe Manganiello (Spider-Man, Sabotage, Magic Mike, True Blood) and Jason Clarke (Terminator Genisys, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes) were being looked at for the role of Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
We haven’t had confirmation that the role is even in the film or which actor has been chosen but it does bring-up a good question. Could Zack Snyder and the studio move forward with David Goyer’s purposed Deathstroke and Team 7 films?
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It should be noted that Manganiello isn’t just a random actor as he was asked by Snyder to test for both Superman in Man of Steel and Batman for Batman v Superman. He obviously didn’t get the roles but it might have been Snyder showing the studio Joe would be able to carry his own film eventually in the DCCU. Hiring him for Deathstroke could be a move similar to landing Jason Momoa for Aquaman. It doesn’t hurt he’s previously worked director David Ayer.
Bleeding Cool who first reported that Wonder Woman would be apart of Batman v Superman had also mentioned back in 2013 that David Goyer was developing a whole bunch of DC Comics films for Warner Bros. One of the films included in that development deal was a Deathstroke film.
I understand that people looking at making films based on the likes of Suicide Squad, Booster Gold, Deathstroke and even Team 7 have been told that they have to partner or work with Goyer as producer.
Add this to his involvement with Constantine and Sandman you might start to understand why he was pulled-off Justice League. Perhaps, Goyer is helping godfather the DC films not apart of the main lineup. I don’t think he’s that involved with something like Suicide Squad since Ayer is primarily writing the script but stuff like Deathstroke and Team 7 makes a lot of sense.
Remember, Goyer is the guy who gave us Blade and The Blood Pack I feel like this stuff is in his wheelhouse for sure.
The Deathstroke film could also easily become an adaptation of Wildstorm’s Team 7 as the team’s 52 incarnation includes Slade Wilson, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, Dinah Drake aka Black Canary, John Lynch (an homage to Nick Fury), Larry Lance, and Steve Trevor. Drake being the primary female character on the team.
Also on the team is my favorite non-Marvel/DC character Cole Cash aka Grifter a mercenary from Jim Lee’s Wildcats. If Warner Bros. was able to place Grifter into the DCCU it would make me go bananas. Parring him with Deathstroke could be one of the cooler moves on the part of Warner Bros.
In alternative versions of the team characters like John Stewart aka Green Lantern and Sgt. Rock were among the ranks as well.
This could be the perfect film to throw Green Arrow into the cinematic universe because I’m unsure they’ll ever make Justin Marks’ script for Green Arrow: Escape From Supermax. A film that would see Oliver thrown into a super prison only to team-up with fellow inmates (Joker, Lex and other iconic villains) to escape and clear his name. I don’t really see how Arrow ends-up apart of the main lineup but he might be better suited for something like Team 7. Considering he already has established links to both Wilson and Drake.
Ayer is currently using both 52 and classic comics as inspirations for Squad so it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the studio looking at the more recent comic books for future film ideas. Waller and possibly Slade being setup in Suicide Squad could be a way to start putting together a Team 7 film. I wouldn’t even been shocked if Joel Kinnaman‘s Rick Flagg ends-up taking one of the spots as well.
Team 7 could easily become a more heroic spin-off of Suicide Squad if Warner Bros. was truly interested in expanding this more gritty side of the DCCU. There’s already hints the film could help setup the next solo Batman film, might as well do the same for these other projects as well.
David Goyer is currently penning a script for Sony’s feature adaptation of the iconic video game series Metal Gear Solid. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has confirmed he’ll shoot Metal Gear after he is done making Kong: Skull Island for Legendary Pictures.
Back when the group was still at Image Comics they did a crossover with Marvel’s Team X which included Wolverine and his other Weapon X team members.
Do you think that Warner Bros. should make movies featuring Deathstroke as a leading character?
