Why Ben Affleck Wanted Deathstroke For His Canceled Batman Film

Ben Affleck's time as Batman was a rocky one. His casting was met with a swell of responses, not all of them flattering. Bat-fans gradually warmed up to him as the marketing campaign for "Batman v. Superman" went underway. Affleck ultimately earned praise for his performance, playing Batman as if ripped from the pages of "The Dark Knight Returns." The movie itself, though, landed with a thud. In the pantheon of Batman actors, Affleck stands in the middle alongside Val Kilmer — a well-cast Batman without a strong movie to support him.

Before the DC Universe became the mess it's now infamous as, the assumption was that Affleck would star and direct a Batman movie. That was the plan for a time, but Affleck ultimately bowed out from directing, and then the role of Batman itself, due to personal struggles. As Affleck told it, a friend warned him that he'd "drink himself to death" if he tried to make a Batman movie from the rut he was currently stuck in.

This paved the way for Matt Reeves' "The Batman," starring Robert Pattinson as a totally different Dark Knight. Pattinson's Batman faces off against the Riddler (Paul Dano), reimagined as a Zodiac-style killer who targets Gotham's elite and leaves clues behind for the Dark Knight to follow. Affleck, though, had a different villain in mind for his Batman movie: Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello).

During the "Full Circle" digital event promoting "Zack Snyder's Justice League," Affleck dished on his abandoned plans for Batman, in particular, the kind of challenge he envisioned for the movie:

"I kind of feel like either you do — I'm just going to get into my own preference here — but either you do a kind of massive one villain that is so formidable you just can't imagine how your protagonist is going to be able to overcome it. Or you have to really sort of populate kind of [...] these big group villains — where you have to get all these different characters."

Deathstroke fits the former category. A former soldier, Slade was the subject of a medical experiment that left him in peak physical condition (think Captain America, but evil). This means he's physically on par with Batman, filling a niche that not many villains do. Most Batman rogues are either psychological threats — Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow, etc. — or huge monsters — Bane or Killer Croc — where Batman is clearly the underdog.

Using Deathstroke would have let Affleck stretch his muscle as an action filmmaker. If Affleck had stayed on, "The Batman" would've been about Batman fighting his physical match, rather than playing mind games with his intellectual equal like in Pattinson and Reeves' version.

Aside from Deathstroke as the villain, it's not 100% clear what the actual story of Affleck's Batman film was going to be. While the film was still lined-up, it was rumored that the film would have featured multiple A-list Batman villains. This would fit with Affleck's comments about "big group villains" at Justice Con. Reeves' "The Batman" featuring multiple villains (Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin, and the Joker) might even be a holdover from Affleck's plans.

As for Deathstroke himself, Manganiello revealed some details at Justice Con in 2021. He said that Deathstroke would have killed "regular" Batman characters (fans commonly suspect this means Jeremy Irons' Alfred and/or J.K. Simmons' Commissioner Gordon) and that Slade held Batman responsible for the death of his son — there could've been some easy hero/villain parallels here, what with Affleck's Batman having lost Robin.

"Zack Snyder's Justice League" has Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) reveal Batman's secret identity to Deathstroke. This is clearly a holdover from old plans, with the scene meant to lead into Affleck's Batman movie. Though we know why Affleck was drawn to Deathstroke, it's important to note that this was part of a larger strategy by DC to turn Deathstroke into a Batman villain.

Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, Deathstroke is the Boba Fett of the DC Universe — he's disproportionately popular because he looks super cool. The split black-orange mask, with an eyepatch and sword? How could any preteen boy not love this guy? Even his real name — Slade — is badass.

Deathstroke began not as a Batman villain but as a Teen Titans villain. His son, Grant Wilson/Ravager, accepted a contract to kill the Titans and died while carrying it out. Deathstroke takes up the contract in Grant's honor. This leads to "The Judas Contract," where it's revealed the Titan Terra is really Deathstroke's inside woman on the team. If you watched the 2003 "Teen Titans" cartoon, you might also remember that Deathstroke was the main villain of that show, albeit just called Slade (with a chilling voice provided by Ron Perlman).

Deathstroke's enmity with the Titans gives him a tangential connection to Batman — after all, the team is led by Nightwing/Dick Grayson, Batman's old protégé. But it's just that — tangential. Still, Batman is DC's most popular character and has eclipsed Superman as the center of the universe, especially in films and TV. Pairing DC's most popular hero up with one of its most popular villains makes cynical business sense, like putting two prized fighters into the same ring.

Since the 2010s, there has been a concerted effort to make Deathstroke into more than a Titans villain. After the New 52 relaunch, he got multiple eponymous comic series (including one written by the legendary Christopher Priest). He was also a major character on "Arrow" — played by Manu Bennett as both a hero and villain, Slade was reinvented as a fixture of Oliver Queen's life despite their comic selves having no such connection.

Then Slade came for the Bat. Deathstroke is the main villain of the first (and only) season of "Beware the Batman" and the animated film "Son of Batman." He also appears as one of the bosses in "Batman: Arkham Origins." The game's cinematic trailer features a mano-a-mano duel between Batman and Deathstroke in a Gotham City shipyard. The admittedly impressive fight choreography of that trailer gave Bat-fans an itch to see Batman fight Deathstroke on the big screen, and Affleck was happy to oblige them.

With Affleck's Batman a thing of the past, we can only wait and see if there's a place for Slade in the new DC Universe, let alone in the next Batman film, "The Brave and the Bold."