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'Magic Mike's Joe Manganiello Is Deathstroke In Ben Affleck's Batman Movie

Earlier this year Joe Manganiello, normally known for playing over-the-top hunks in things like Magic Mike and True Blood, proved he had a very dorky, very funny side with Pee Wee’s Big Holiday. Presumably we won’t see too much of that side in his next major movie, though. He’ll be playing the villain Deathstroke in Ben Affleck’s Batman movie.

We already knew Deathstroke would be in the movie since Affleck tweeted out a video of the character’s costume test, but Mangianello’s casting was revealed in an article at the Wall Street Journal about the current state of the DC Comics movie franchises. The WSJ also confirmed a number of other details about how things have shaken out in the aftermath of Batman v Superman.

Perhaps most notable is a reassurance that Justice League underwent a calibration based on how audiences reacted to Zack Snyder’s first two movies in the series. For starters, it’s no longer a two-part story that would have bled into a direct sequel. It’s also opting for an optimistic tone with more of an emphasis on plot than on ephemeral things, like the dream sequences of BvS, and is said to directly address the fact that Batman’s trigger finger got a little too happy in the last movie.

All of these changes are being supervised by Geoff Johns, who has a long history with the DC Comics world. Not only is he producing, but he’s also a credited writer on Wonder Woman and Affleck’s untitled Batman movie. The latter doesn’t have a firm release date yet, which is in and of itself noteworthy since it means the studio has perhaps learned to take their time making movies instead of rushing things to hit an already established release date.