Storyboard Art From Ben Affleck's THE BATMAN Features Deathstroke Facing Off with Batman
While I enjoyed the hell out of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, I still can’t help but wonder how Ben Affleck’s version of the film would have turned out. That story would have put a focus on Deathstroke and his mission to systematically destroy Bruce Wayne’s life, his public status as Gotham City’s leading citizen, and his private existence as Batman.
Storyboard artist Jay Oliva has now shared some storyboard art that shows us a scene where Affleck's Batman faces off with Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke. Deathstroke is seen holding his sword in a fighting pose and you can see Batman in the reflection of the sword, which is pretty cool. Check it out!
Manganiello previously talked about Affleck’s Batman movie, saying:
“It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out. It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him.
“The way it was written at the time I read the script was that Batman was blamed by Slade for the death of his son. Slate’s son gets killed. There were some events that led back to Bruce, led back to Batman. That he had a hand in it, that he was partially responsible for it. Slade blamed him. Word was on the street that Slade wanted to kill batman. That’s why he was summoned to Lex Luthor’s yacht and given a key piece of information to help with that as well. So that Slade could potentially get rid of Batman.”
This is an interesting story that I think would have made a great Batman movie. It’s a shame that we’ll never see it. But, I’m happy with what Reeves is doing with the franchise and I’m looking forward to seeing that expand.