To say The Batman has suffered its fair share of production turmoil would be putting it mildly. The latest blow comes after Joe Manganiello failed to confirm his involvement as Deathstroke in the film, after having spent the past few months hyping it up. His non-committal response could be nothing – or it could mean a lot – but it does leave us with more questions than answers, once again.

There was a genuine excitement when the mercenary was teased as The Batman’s villain. He’s undeniably the one character that can match the Caped Crusader’s fighting and intellectual prowess, so he’s a logical choice as an adversary for Ben Affleck’s hero.

However, considering the solo film is purported to arrive in 2019 just in time to commemorate Tim Burton’s Batman’s 30-year anniversary, would the assassin be at the top of your list of antagonists? Perhaps he’d be better off appearing in another DCEU movie? Like, say, Nightwing?

Read on to find out whether or not we think Deathstroke is really necessary for The Batman.