Noted DCEU director and producer Zack Snyder is about one week away from bringing his vision for Justice League to the world with the aptly titled Zack Snyder's Justice League , debuting on HBO Max on March 18, 2021 . This cut will bring over four hours of material that Snyder shot during and after production of the original 2017 Justice League , producing his movie the way he wanted it to be seen.
Thanks to this cut being over twice as long as director Joss Whedon's theatrical cut, there will be much more time for characters that were underutilized in the original film or cut out of the story completely. Included in this group is Joe Manganiello's Slade Wilson , who has only suited up as the villainous Deathstroke for a grand total of one canon scene in the DCEU.
The character, however, will play a larger role in Zack Snyder's Justice League , although his plot line is still being kept under wraps. While that story will reveal itself next week, an interesting Easter Egg was just discovered from a new Justice League -centric exhibit...
DEATHSTROKE'S SWORD FEATURES BATMAN'S OLD MENTOR
In a new post on Twitter, user @GeoffReeves posted a close-up picture of the Deathstroke from the Zack Snyder's Justice League exhibit in Dallas, TX, USA . Looking closely at the sword, it features a symbol often used by Batman villain Ra's Al Ghul in the pages of DC Comics.
Checking out @ZackSnyder ‘s #justiceleague display in Dallas & saw this little gem on #Deathstroke ‘s costume worn by @JoeManganiello! The bottom symbol over the shoulder is Ra’s al Ghul! I hope a Deathstroke movie w/ Joe happens. It’s such a Great backstory!#attdesigndistrict pic.twitter.com/zVo1uWzcby
MTV News correspondent Josh Horowitz replied to this post, confirming that the symbol is a nod to Ra's Al Ghul.
Nice catch! Can confirm. A little nod to Ra’s al Ghul on Deathstroke’s sword! We’ve got to see more of Joe as Deathstroke. https://t.co/25kAr2pFdp
Following these posts, Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello replied with a fun message of his own, saying "Easter Egg found..." with the Snyder Cut hashtag.
Easter Egg found... #SnyderCut https://t.co/c5FfJSrh9Q
DEATHSTROKE WITH A GHUL-ISH EASTER EGG
In the pages of DC Comics, both Deathstroke and Ra's Al Ghul have a deep connection with the Caped Crusader, holding key spots in his rogues gallery. This was even shown in full in the case of Ra's Al Ghul in the Christopher Nolan-directed Dark Knight trilogy, which had Liam Neeson playing the villain in Batman Begins before his daughter, Talia, reigned terror on Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises .
In all likelihood, this is probably going to be no more than an Easter Egg in the Snyder Cut, considering the movie has so much other confirmed material to touch on . However, this could spell the potential for some interesting backstory with Deathstroke if the movie decides to give more depth to his role in the DCEU.
Ra's Al Ghul has been notably absent from the DCEU, largely due to the fact that the franchise has yet to bring forth a solo movie focused on Gotham's protector . While this is being rectified with 2022's The Batman , it will be interesting to find out if Bruce Wayne's first mentor will come to life in the new adventure.
No matter what turns out to be canon or not , this is a fantastic nod to one of the iconic Batman villains as another makes his biggest live-action appearance to date.
This will all come to pass when Zack Snyder's Justice League debuts on HBO Max on March 18, 2021.
