DC fans now campaigning for #DeathstrokeHBOMax, actor Joe Manganiello joins
What's the story
Hot on the heels of Zack Snyder's Justice League release, popularly known as the Snyder Cut, DC fans are now campaigning for a new series or movie based around True Blood actor Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke. The hashtag #DeathstrokeHBOMax is currently trending on Twitter. Fans are hoping that WarnerMedia will once again answer their call just like they green-lit Snyder's version of Justice League.
Joe Manganiello
Manganiello, who played Deathstroke, has added fuel to the fire
To add fuel to the raging fire, Manganiello himself seems aboard the Deathstroke campaign. He shared a photo on Twitter of himself in the character, with the #DeathstrokeHBOMax hashtag. Manganiello was cast as the DC supervillain back in 2016. He was part of a post-credit sequence in the original release of Justice League. He was also featured in Zack Snyder's version of Justice League.
Twitter Post
Here is Manganiello's tweet campaigning for 'Deathstroke' series/film
#DeathstrokeHBOMax pic.twitter.com/F0YmCl3tbz
— JOE MANGANIELLO (@JoeManganiello) April 5, 2021
Plans
Deathstroke was to get a project, but plans failed
Prior to Justice League, there were multiple plans for Deathstroke in the DC Extended Universe. The character was slated for a solo film directed by Gareth Edwards but the project fell through. Deathstroke was the main antagonist in the now-canceled Ben Affleck's The Batman. There were even plans for him to appear in a Suicide Squad sequel, but there were scheduling conflicts.
Justice League
'Justice League,' the 2017 film, went through production struggles
Snyder, who was directing the 2017 Justice League, pretty much until post-production, stepped down after his daughter's suicide. That's when Joss Whedon took over and shortened the run-time significantly and replaced many moody scenes with a more cheery and brighter tone. The film turned out to be a box-office dud grossing over $657 million worldwide against a break-even point of $750 million.
Fans
Fans demanded an alternate cut of 'Justice League'
Ever since fans came to know that an alternate cut of the movie exists, they started campaigning for it on social media. The film was finally green-lit after not just fans but industry insiders too petitioned for Snyder's version. Warner Bros. had a lot cut out for them to make Zack Snyder's Justice League, as he had already shot most of the film.