When director Joss Whedon was brought in to replace Zack Snyder on 2017's Justice League, the entire structure of the movie was changed radically. One character who got the short-shrift, as a result, was Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke. In an interview with Collider, the actor revealed that the upcoming Zack Snyder's Justice League will feature the original end credits scene for Deathstroke, which at one point was meant to set up Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie.

"If I was a part of [Zack Snyder's Justice League], that wouldn't be my place to announce that. That would be Zack's place. So, whether or not that's happening, that is an answer that is below my NDA level, or whatever you wanna call it. On my social media, I talked about [how] there was an original end credits sequence that was altered for the release of Justice League. Once Batman was cancelled, they altered that scene. So, here you go, but I wrote about that on my social media. There's an original scene that will be restored to what it was originally."

Back when Ben Affleck was first brought on board for Batman v. Superman, the actor had signed on to write, direct and star in a solo Batman movie. According to Joe Manganiello, the original Justice League end credits scene with Deathstroke would have led directly into Affleck's Batman movie, which makes sense since Deathstroke and Batman had had a long and interesting rivalry in the comics, and fans would have loved to have seen the two face-off onscreen.

Unfortunately, the poor reception to Batman v. Superman turned Affleck off on the idea of making the Batman movie, and the Deathstroke scene in Justice League was rejiggered to make it about Deathstroke meeting up with Lex Luthor to set up the Legion of Doom instead.

It will be interesting to see what Snyder's original plan for Deathstroke had been at the end of Justice League, and how it would have set up Affleck's Batman movie. Now that the actor is officially returning to the DCEU for a supporting role in the Flash film, it is not outside the realm of possibility, if Zack Snyder's Justice League ends up a hit with the audiences, for Affleck to come back to finally complete his solo project about the Dark Knight.

Justice League features an ensemble cast of Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.

The movie tells the story of an alien invasion of Earth, which can only be repelled by the combined forces of the planet's greatest superheroes. The original director's cut of the movie, Zack Snyder's Justice League, will premiere exclusively on HBO Max in 2021. Collider was the first to bring forth this news.