Sabotage actor Joe Manganiello was in the running to play antagonist Deathstroke clear back in December, but it looks like his chances are even better this time around. According to a source close to the production, the actor "has all but locked up" the part.

Joe Manganiello, 38, has been up for major superhero roles before. He was briefly considered to be Batman in the Zack Snyder adaptations and rumored to play Superman. He had a small role as Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies as well. His most notable role however was when he starred in "True Blood" as Alcide Herveaux. Beyond that, he also appeared in Magic Mike.

According to Latino Review's El Mayimbe, Manganiello is a front runner to play the DC comic book character. "He's a hired assassin and he doesn't have any powers like in the comic book," Mayimbe said, "They're going for a pre-super villain Deathstroke. He's a huge part of both of the major set pieces of the film. His introduction is INSANE!"

Jason Clarke was also in the running for the role but had scheduling conflicts with Marc Foster's All I See Is You. Manganiello was supposed to have trouble for the role since he was to star in the TV show "Scream Queens," but has since dropped out.

Suicide Squad is about a secret government agency recruits imprisoning supervillains to execute dangerous black ops mission in exchange for clemency. The main villains for the film will be Antiphon and his group Onslaught.

The film, directed by David Ayer, is scheduled for a theater release on August 5, 2016 and stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Viola Davis, and Jay Hernandez.