Joe Manganiello Shows Off A New Deathstroke (Hair)Cut for Zack Snyder's Justice League

The final moments of 2017's Justice League introduced us to one of the most dangerous human villains of the DC universe, Deathstroke. Joe Manganiello was set to play the character in DC's growing universe of films before Justice League's critical reception and financial performance caused Warner Bros. to put the brakes on Zack Snyder's vision for the films and characters. Now, though, it appears that Deathstroke is truly back, with word coming straight from Manganiello himself.

The actor confirmed his return with a tweet showing off his new look as Deathstroke, featuring a new haircut and eye patch. The purpose of the tweet is to raise awareness for an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention fundraiser; Manganiello tagged the post with the #AFSP hashtag and a link to a fundraiser on the organization's website, along with the tagline "Heroes & villains can put aside their differences for an important cause."

Along with that information, Manganiello also tagged the shot with #UsUnited, which has accompanied every post in the social media blitz following the release of Zack Snyder's black-and-white trailer for Justice League: The Director's Cut. He also credited the photo to Snyder himself.

The photo is cropped tightly enough that we can't conjecture about the context of the shot in relation to the film, but the change in hair and eyepatch suggest that the scene from original Justice League release is probably sitting on the cutting room floor.

News came out last month that Manganiello was returning to the role for reshoots on the upcoming re-cut Justice League, and theories were dependent on anonymous sources and glimpses of Manganiello sporting gray hair. Along with Manganiello's appearance in Justice League, he took part in a Deathstroke screen test and Warner Bros. even had a now-canceled Deathstroke movie in the early stages, with Gareth Evans (The Raid) directing.

DC fans who saw potential in the original Justice League theatrical release began the #releasethesnydercut hashtag campaign. The re-cut film has since then turned from a standard film to a four-part miniseries headed to Warner Bros. new HBO Max streaming service. The Warners initially gave Snyder $20 million to play with for reshoots, but the budget has since ballooned to a reported $70 million. Cast members participating in reshoots include Manganiello's Deathstroke, of course, as well as Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Ezra Miller (The Flash), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), and the recent addition of Jared Leto (Joker). Justice League: The Director's Cut is set to hit HBO Max sometime in 2021.