Joe Manganiello has teased the upcoming Batman movie is going to "surprise" people.
The 39-year-old 'Magic Mike' actor will play supervillain Deathstroke in
the upcoming standalone Dark Knight blockbuster, tentatively titled
'The Batman', which will star Ben Affleck as The Caped Crusader and is
also being written and directed by the Oscar winner.
Before accepting the part of the DC Comics menace, Manganiello met with
Affleck to discuss his vision for the film and was impressed with his
plans for a "fresh take" on the Gotham City saviour.
Speaking on Mark Madden's Pittsburgh sports podcast, he revealed: "When I
met Ben we sat down and we talked about, you know, the role. We talked
about the movie. His take is a fresh take but I think the audience is
going to be surprised.
Because it's a road that no one's really gone
down that's completely integral to who Batman is. And I think it's gonna
be refreshing but at the same time completely familiar. But it's going
to take this franchise in a direction that I think a lot of people are
going to be really happy about."
Manganiello - who has appeared in a Marvel comic book movie before,
playing Flash Thompson in 'Spider-Man' - also teased that the
blockbuster has a "gritty" plot which has already been fully fleshed out
by Affleck, who has already donned the cape and cowl for 'Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice' and had a cameo in 'Suicide Squad'.
He said: "It's going to be gritty and action packed and cerebral and all
of those elements that people love about Batman. I told him in the room
man, when I met him, 'I should be so lucky, I'd be in great hands to
work with you, I love your movies, let's do this.' "
'The Batman' - the latest confirmed project in the DC Extended Universe
from Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Entertainment - is expected to be
released in 2018.
Affleck will next be seen as Batman in ensemble superhero movie 'Justice
League' in which he stars with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill
as Superman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash and Ray
Fisher as Cyborg.