Fans ofZack Snyder’s Justice Leaguemay have a new reason to yell about things. A singleDeathstrokepicture on Joe Manganiello’s Instagram is churning up some activity on the site, prompting many to speculate on what it might mean for the future of DC’s extended universe. But is it really what people seem to think it is?
Manganiello, who played Slade Wilson/Deathstrokein both versions ofJustice League, just posted a stylized picture of himself in character on Instagram, and fans immediately went wild. He quietly uploaded the image on Monday, simply captioning it “New profile pic…” Of course, for some folks, just the simple mention of something they like is enough to get their speculation machines running on full tanks. However, there may be more to this than just a shiny profile update.
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The post’s comments quickly filled up with the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse hashtag, and while there’s still a lot of lingering toxicity around from the related campaign to release Snyder’s own cut ofJustice League, apparently that hasn’t hindered lots of dudes from their focus. Manganiello only appeared in small parts of both the 2017 theatrical cut ofJustice Leagueand Snyder’s version, so it makes sense that seeing him in costume would be enough to inspire some hope for more in the future. Will he appear in another project sometime soon? The ellipsis at the end of his caption only further adds some weight (subtle as it may be) to that theory, even if Manganiello himself has said he’snot hopeful about Deathstroke returning.
After Joss Whedon took over directing duties forJustice Leaguedue to a tragedy in Snyder’s family, the resulting film in 2017 was generally met with unfavorable reviews. Hardcore Snyder fans insisted that this was only because of the director change and quickly got to work demanding that DC release what they assumed to be a hidden cut of the film that their favorite director had already finished but wasn’t allowed to show. They eventuallygot their wish withZack Snyder’s Justice League, which was built effectively from the ground up using old footage from the film before Whedon took the reins and new material shot specifically after the successful campaign.
This win gave Snyder fans the momentum to keep pushing for another assumed snub, in the form of “restoring” the director’s original vision for the DC films going forward. They seemed to think that, contrary to the huge popularity of entries likeShazam!and the truly excellentPeacemakerseries, the DC Extended Universe was being robbed of its potential by forgoing Snyder’s plans. The campaign lost even more steam when rumors began to circulate that theupcoming filmThe Flashwould effectively erase Snyder’s continuity from canon, though reports on that are still pretty conflicted.
Whatever the case, it would certainly be interesting to seeManganiello’s take on Deathstrokeagain, potentially with a lot more time to do his thing. Is he suggesting something like that? Or is he simply having a little fun with the character? Only time, and hopefully some decaf, will tell.
Zack Snyder’s Justice Leagueas well as the theatrical cut ofJustice Leagueare both available to stream on HBO Max.
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