Deathstroke: The Raid director Gareth Evans to helm Joe Manganiello movie

The character was originally meant to appear in Ben Affleck's The Batman

Thanks to the success of Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. are storming forward with their DC universe, the studio currently developing over a dozen films.

So far, six actually have release dates: Justice League (17 November), Aquaman (21 December 2018), Shazam (5 April 2019), Wonder Woman (13 December 2019), Cyborg (3 April, 2020), and Green Lantern Corps (24 July, 2020).

Then, at some stage in the future, there will be The Batman, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad 2, Gotham City Sirens, Batgirl, Nightwing, Black Adam, Man of Steel 2, The Flash, Deadshot, Harley Quinn and the Joker, Man of Steel 2, and Justice League 2.

Add onto that Deathstroke, which already has Joe Manganiello attached as the leading character. Following the release of Batman v Superman, Ben Affleck posted the first images of the villain, who was originally going to appear in The Batman.

However, after Affleck left the feature as director, Matt Reeves taking over, the character’s place in the DC Cinematic Universe was put into turmoil.

The Hollywood Reporter has since confirmed a Deathstroke solo film directed by Gareth Evans — best known for The Raid and The Raid 2.

The supervillain, whose real name in the comics is Slade Wilson, was first introduced in a 1980 comic of New Teen Titans. The character is an expert assassin who recently appeared in the TV show Arrow, played by Manu Bennett.

Before all that reaches cinemas, we have Justice League coming next month, the final trailer for which was released earlier this month.