When Ben Affleck teased that Joe Manganiello would be playing Deathstroke in The Batman, fans were elated. The most deadly assassin in DC comics would finally make a cinematic appearance. But as we all know, The Batman fell apart. The film then found new hope when War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves took over as director. However, this also meant that the film would be getting a whole new script. Which put Manganiello’s role as Deathstroke into question. The actor, himself, was even unsure if he would appear in the film.

Now there are reports that Gareth Evans (The Raid and The Raid 2) could direct a standalone film based on the assassin tentatively titled Deathstroke. However, there is still no word yet if Manganiello will play the role. More on the story below.

It seems like we’ve been going through a carousel of yes and no’s when it comes to whether or not Matt Reeves will direct The Batman. Following word that talks broke down last weekend, now there is official confirmation that Reeves will helm the film after title star Ben Affleck felt he was not up to the task. More on the story below.

Things aren’t looking too good for the DCEU. In just the past few weeks, Ben Affleck took himself out as director of The Batman. The film reportedly went through a script overhaul – despite contrary reports that the studio was happy with Chris Terrio‘s rewrites to Affleck and Geoff Johns’ script. Then there was the rumor that Affleck did not want to play Batman anymore. And now, after Matt Reeves entered talks with the hopes that he would direct, word is coming out that talks have broken down and he is no longer in consideration. More on the story below.

There’s going to be a day where the sun will always shine on the DCEU. But today is not that day. The Batman is the latest film to be plagued by production problems. It was hit early on with a rumor from Bret Easton Ellis – which he backtracked later on – that WB did not like the script. Then Ben Affleck dropped out as director, after spending weeks seesawing his commitment. But now it has circled back to script issues. Affleck and Geoff Johns had worked on a script before it was handed off to Chris Terrio (Argo). Last week’s news that the studio would like to start the film with a fresh script was worrisome.

Now, Justin Kroll of Variety is offering a different perspective. According to him, WB thinks the script is fine. More on the story below.

Shortly after Ben Affleck dropped out as director of The Batman, War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves became one of the frontrunners to direct the film. Now a new report confirms Reeves that is in talks to direct the film. We are also learning who else was in the running to direct. Check out the full story below.