Joe Manganiello Likely to Play ‘Suicide Squad’s Deathstroke as He Exits ‘Scream Queens’

It’s becoming rather safe to say Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”, Magic Mike XXL) is going to be playing Deathstroke in David Ayer‘s Suicide Squad as we not only have the rumor that began with the Latino Review report, but now Manganiello has exited Fox’s upcoming comedy-horror anthology “Scream Queens”, which many are speculating is a conflict with the Suicide Squad shoot.

Manganiello starred in Ayer’s lackluster 2014 release Sabotage, which also adds to the likelihood the director has his eye on the “True Blood” star for the role, described as “the world’s greatest assassin/mercenary and an enemy of the Teen Titans. Originally a soldier in the U.S. Army, he was part of an experimental super-soldier project where he gained enhanced strength, agility and intelligence.”

In the film he’s expected to be portrayed as a hired assassin competing with the Suicide Squad, an antihero team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences. For more details on the character, see the Instagram embed below. I’m staying clear to keep some sort of mystery around the film as this is one I am particulary interested in and really hope works out.

Suicide Squad is set for an August 5, 2016 release and should he sign on the dotted line Manganiello would be joining Jared Leto as The Joker, Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Cara Delevinge as Enchantress and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg.

Fan art in this post via Boss Logic.

#DEATHSTROKE IN #SUICIDESQUAD! Deathstroke works with/for #ONSLAUGHT & does their dirty work. He’s a hired assassin and he doesn’t have any powers like in the comic book. They’re going for a pre-super villain Deathstroke. He’s a huge part of both of the major set pieces of the film. His introduction is INSANE! He’s badass & almost takes the team down on one mission single handed. Deathstroke has THE breakout & choicest role in the film. The running gun battle that sources are describing is something else. His suit is very stealth oriented. They used an actual US military tactical outfit for the basis. He’s armed to the teeth, uses a sword and automatics. In concept artwork he has two eyes. The mask is there and it’s the iconic one.  Rumor about Jason Clarke still in play is not true because he originally got offered Deathstroke months ago but has a scheduling conflict with Marc Foster’s’ ‘All I See Is You.’ Joel Kinnaman originally tested for the role as well but got Rick Flagg instead. Joe Manganiello has a scheduling conflict with Ryan Murphy’s ‘Scream Queens’ BUT HE JUST DROPPED OUT! What does that mean? Deathstroke is ‘probably’ his.