New DC villain was almost cast as the Man of Steel

In what is a very strange turn of events, actor Joe Manganiello has revealed this week that his entry into the Warner Bros and DC cinematic universe could have been very different if events a few years ago had been different.

The True Blood star, speaking whilst on a promotional tour for his new film Smurfs: The Lost Village, was speaking to MTV’s Happy Sad Podcast and when discussions turned to his casting as Batman villain Deathstroke, he revealed that he almost played his “enemy”, Superman.

“I met with Zack. I had an hour and a half long meeting with Zack, which is what was causing all the trouble… I went ahead and met with casting, and then they all brought me over to meet Zack.”

Henry Cavill was eventually cast as the superhero in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the upcoming Justice League (we think) and while he says it took him a while to get over losing the role, Manganiello has joined the cast as the infamous villain – or at least that was the plan – his inclusion is now reportedly up in the air given the changes to The Batman film (including director Matt Reeves taking over from Affleck) that was set to shoot this year.

On Supes, he continued:

“I met the producers, I met with Jon Jashni and Thomas Tull at Legendary, I met everybody – everybody involved – and then finally sat down with Zack for an hour and a half and had a big conversation about the character and where it was going, et cetera.

“Then they called the True Blood costume shop for my measurements to build my suit and that’s what caused – that’s when it stopped.”

Justice League opens on November 17th, while the new Smurfs is in cinemas now.