While Robert Pattinson will become the new cinematic Dark Knight in 2022's The Batman, the film was originally meant to star and be directed, produced and co-written by Ben Affleck as part of the DC Extended Universe, with Joe Manganiello's take on Deathstroke that was first seen in Justice League serving as the main villain. Now, Manganiello has explained the plot of the film, as well as the inspirations for it.
During an interview with Yahoo, Manganiello revealed that the film would have had "a strong David Fincher vibe." "There were similarities to The Game," Manganiello stated, citing the director's 1997 thriller movie that starred Michael Douglas.
In the original version of The Batman, Manganiello's Deathstroke would have set about ruining the title character's lives as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. "It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out," the actor continued. "It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him."
In addition to The Game, The Batman would have also had similarities to the acclaimed Daredevil storyline "Born Again," in which the Kingpin begins ruining Matt Murdock's life upon learning his secret identity as the Man Without Fear. The story was recently loosely adapted in the final season of the character's hit Netflix series.
The film was also teased in Justice League's original post-credits scene, in which Deathstroke has a meeting with Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg. "It was really cool, really dark and really hard," Manganiello concluded. "I was very excited for it."
Because of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, The Batman has had a troubled production. The film resumed shooting in September following a six-month pause, only to be stopped again after three days when Robert Pattinson tested positive for the virus. After a two-week quarantine for the cast and crew, shooting started up again, albeit with the movie's release date being changed from October 2021 to 2022. According to actor Colin Farrell, who plays the movie's version of the Penguin, principal photography is thought to wrap in February 2021. The Batman should also no longer be considered part of the aforementioned DCEU, as confirmed at the DC FanDome virtual event by DC Films president Walter Hamada.
Directed by Matt Reeves and written by Reeves and Mattson Tomlin, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone and Peter Sarsgaard as District Attorney Gil Colson. The film arrives in theaters March 4, 2022.
Source: Yahoo