Talia Al Ghul Was In Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke Movie Pitch

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Talia Al Ghul was a part of the Deathstroke movie pitch. Warner Bros. cast Joe Manganiello to play Deathstroke as both the main villain in Ben Affleck's The Batman but also the star of his own feature film. Manganiello approached The Raid director Gareth Evans to helm the project and the two submitted a treatment for the film that would eventually be scrapped in the wake of 2017's Justice League underperforming at the box office.

While the Deathstroke movie doesn't appear to be happening Manganiello has been teasing fans of what could have been. He reprised his role as the character for reshoots on Zack Snyder's Justice League, showing him aligned with Batman, the very man he was going to hunt down and kill. The sword he is wielding even features a reference to the Batman villain Ra's Al Ghul. A possible hint at a plotline that was leftover from the original plan for the film.

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RELATED: Justice League Easter Egg Teases Ra's Al Ghul In Snyder's DCEU

During an interview at Justice Con, Manganiello was asked about what characters factored into his Deathstroke pitch. He stated characters close to Deathstroke like his wife Adeline, his kids, and partner Wintergreen but the biggest surprise was the mention of Talia Al Ghul. Manganiello did not elaborate on if Talia was going to factor into the film as a villain or supporting character to Deathstroke. Manganiello said:

"It involved Adeline. The kids, who were young. Wintergreen. Talia."

Talia Al Ghul was introduced in 1971 as the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul, the head of the League of Assassins. She has been one of Batman's primary love interests and is even the mother of his son, Damian Wayne aka the fourth official Robin to DC Comics. The character has been adapted a number of times in animation and in live-action was played by Marion Cottilard in The Dark Knight Rises and Lexa Doig on Arrow. Given her connection to Batman and the League of Assassins it makes a certain amount of sense she would appear in the Deathstroke film as the character is one of the most famous assassins in the DC Universe.

Talia appearing in a Deathstroke film could have opened the door for the entrance of The League of Assassins to enter the DCEU and appear in a future Batman movie. Ben Affleck's The Batman movie and Deathstroke seemed to be making their own little connected corner of the DCEU similar to how Shazam! and Black Adam are now. While the status of a Deathstroke project is unlikely at the moment given the DCEU is moving away from Zack Snyder's vision, there is still a possibility with Joe Manganiello expressing interest in a Deathstroke origin series on HBO Max. Talia's popularity and iconic nature in the Batman mythos mean she will most likely show up in some form or another in a future film or television project.