Deathstroke and Batman will meet in Zack Snyder’s Justice League as Snyder talks the Batman of his universe

It looks like Zack Snyder’s Justice League will have a team-up between two characters that many of us wanted to see taking each other on.

According to Snyder himself, Ben Affleck’s Batman will have an unlikely alliance with one of his mortal ememies… Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.

Manganiello’s only appearance in the DCEU so far was in the post-credit scene in Joss Whedon’s Justice League and we know that he has been hired (here) to appear in  Snyder’s Justice Leagueeven though he was originally not set to appear.

And now we know why.

“Joe’s character in this movie when we find him,” says Snyder, “clearly he and Batman have struck some sort of a deal and they have a bit of a partnership. There’s a bigger enemy, I guess. I think that’s the big difference. They’re not locked in mortal combat. They’re actually working together to try to figure out how to make this world work.”

Sadly, this will really be the only time we’re likely to see Manganiello’s Deathstroke with Batman as the DCEU seems to be going through a reshuffle at the minute, but this will be an exciting meet on screen for them – remember, of course, that Deathstroke was set to be the villain in Ben Affleck’s Batman movie (here) and was also looking likely to get his own movie before Joss Whedon’s Justice League coma out – alas, those  plans are are likely death forever at this stage.

In other Justice League news, Snyder has also spoken about the Batman that Affleck plays in his universe.

“When viewers first meet Ben Affleck’s Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he is neither new to the role of Gotham’s protector but he’s also not especially optimistic, either,” says Snyder.

“After two decades as Batman, he’s a bit jaded and sees Superman not as a hero but as a threat but over the course of the film that changes and the film ends with Bruce deciding to form a team of metahumans to help protect the world. It’s a journey that will continue in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and now, director Zack Snyder is breaking down a bit more of Batman’s backstory and fleshing out the character’s arc in the film.

“Our Bruce has a higher moral, or stronger, compass when he first started fighting in Gotham [City] 20 years ago. But he’s seen a lot of rough stuff happen over the years and I think that he’s a bit jaded now, obviously.”

Of course, Snyder has recently addressed one of the rough events that Batman went through, the murder of Robin, and he goes into details on that here and even revealed which Robin died and his plans to introduce Carrie Kelley into the Robin suit in the future here, but one of the other big events, and the one that shook him back to being the good hero he set out as was the death of Superman.

“The death of Superman really shakes him out of that [dark place] and puts him on this really cathartic path to form the Justice League and do his part,” Snyder said.

“If you think about it, the Justice League is made up entirely of almost god-like characters with these god-like powers, and [Batman is] just a guy. Yes, he is the world’s greatest detective and he is this incredible force as far as humanity goes, but in the end, he is just a guy. It’s like his job of bringing [the Justice League] together, it was also one of the most important jobs because there would be no Justice League without Bruce.”

It also seems that, knowing that he will likely never get to make the movie he hoped which would have seen Batman take on Jared Leto’s Joker, he  felt that having them face off in this Justice League was important, not just for the story but for the fans: “It really defines, in my mind, the mythological heart of the conflict that both of them share is their relationship.

“I think without a scene where they get to air their dirty laundry about each other, I felt like we were getting shortchanged as fans of the DC Universe. That was the hope, that we would get to see them come together but also, in particular, reflecting on each other and their struggle with each other and the why a little bit, so that was really fun for me.”

Man, I cannot wait to see the next chapter in Snyder’s DC universe and will keep holding that maybe, just maybe, we’ll see more some day on the future.

Check out the new clip below and keep scrolling for the new posters for the movie and we’ll see you all in the front room on March 18th.

In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.

The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes.

Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad, and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.

The Snyder Cut of Zack Snyder’s Justice League is coming to HBO Max internationally on March 18, 2021.

In related news, we have two new official posters for the movie’s release:

Source: IGN