Joe Manganiello has revealed new plot details about Ben Affleck’s canceled Batman movie, including information about an Arkham Asylum-inspired fight with Deathstroke and the DCEU’s Batgirl.
The actor, who was cast as Slade Wilson before the comic book movie universe was rebooted with the DCU, talked about his time working with Affleck on the canned project in his new book, Bloodlines: A Memoir. Entertainment Weekly shared excerpts from the book, which said the Batman movie would have been packed with reveals – and even a death – for some of Bruce Wayne’s closest allies.
Affleck’s plan for his standalone Caped Crusader flick would have seen Batman primarily tangling with Deathstroke after the character was first teased in a Justice League end-credits sequence. He described the narrative as “a superhero version of David Fincher’s The Game” focused on Deathstroke trying to “dismantle Batman’s entire life.”
This is a plot description Manganiello has shared before, but now we know that the iconic DC villain had it out for Batman because he had been led to believe that he murdered his son. Affleck’s Bruce Wayne has been known to take lives in the past, but how involved he would have been with the killing of Slade’s son is unclear. It sounds like that wouldn’t have stopped Deathstroke from tearing Gotham apart to get revenge.
Slade’s rampage would have also seen him breaking his way into Bruce’s ever-secretive Batcave and even taking his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, hostage. This Alfred likely would have been the one played by Jeremy Irons in movies like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Another part that would have probably returned in Affleck’s canceled movie is J.K. Simmons’ Jim Gordon. According to Manganiello, Deathstroke would have killed the Gotham City Police commissioner at some point during the events of the film.
Affleck was never able to put his Batman movie together, but these details suggest the project was planned, at least at one point, to be pretty busy for a standalone superhero outing. Adding to the chaos would have been a new Batgirl, who would have joined Batman for a fight against Deathstroke that would nearly kill them both before they “escape via an aboveground train.”
Comic book movie watchers will remember that Batgirl never made an appearance in the DCEU – at least not officially. An also-canceled standalone movie focused on the character was once in development with Leslie Grace in the titular role before Warner Bros. made the infamous decision to pull the plug well into production.
Set photos and early details for that film had Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne back in the Batsuit and Simmons back as Gordon, so it’s hard to say exactly how it would have fit into the DCEU should it have been released. Whether Grace would have played the character in Affleck’s Batman movie is also unclear.
For the Affleck movie, Manganiello went as far as to explain the movie’s final fight sequence, which he described as a “climactic one-on-one showdown through the streets of Gotham. Affleck apparently told the actor that this particular fight sequence would have been inspired by what Entertainment Weekly described as a “CGI fight sequence from the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game helmed by Tim Miller.”
The fight scene referenced here might be a well-known moment from the first trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins, which featured a lengthy scrap between Deathstroke and Batman in a snowy shipyard. Considering Affleck’s movie was canceled and reworked into what eventually became Robert Pattinson and Matt Reeves’ The Batman in 2022, we may never know what the film would have looked like, but Manganiello recalls being hopeful at the time.
“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.”
When the Deathstroke actor told Affleck that writing, directing, producing, and starring in a big-budget DC superhero movie sounded like a lot to handle, the Batman actor reportedly replied, “Yeah, I know…But don’t worry, you’re in good hands. You’re in good hands, man.”
Although so much about what a standalone Batman movie under Affleck’s wing would have looked like remains shrouded in mystery, we’ve learned quite a bit about the process in recent weeks. Affleck said just days ago that reshoots for Justice League marked the lowest point in his career. Manganiello also spoke more about what it felt like to be cast as Deathstroke and then elaborated on his experience post-cancellation.
We’ll probably never get a DCEU Batman movie, but there is still plenty more of the Caped Crusader coming to live-action. DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran are still working to put together The Brave and the Bold and The Batman Part 2, for example. Set photos from the latter suggest Pattinson’s Batsuit may have some new Arkham Asylum-inspired armor.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
