Arrow’s Deathstroke is off limits once again, but why?
Arrow may lose Manu Bennett’s Deathstroke for the foreseeable future.
Despite his popularity, Manu Bennett’s Deathstroke has had a tumultuous TV career. Less than three years after his debut in Arrow, Wilson was forced to step away from the Arrowverse due to Warner Bros.’s ambitious big screen plans for him. The mercenary was eventually announced as the main baddie for Ben Affleck’s The Batman. At the time, another appearance from him in Arrow seemed like a distant dream, but then something happened.
The movie (and the DCEU itself) went through a restructuring, and Slade Wilson was allowed to go back to Arrow for its sixth season. Fans were excited to see where the antihero would go next in the show. Sadly, it seems like the time has come (once again) for him to bid farewell to the small screen franchise.
Marc Guggenheim recently sat down for an interview with Discussing Film at ACE Comic Con. At one point, the conversation veered toward Warner Bros.’s character restrictions. Guggenheim explained the limitations that DC’s TV division needed to work around, and revealed that Deathstroke is currently off limits for the Arrowverse:
"“I think […] as a result we’ve been on and off. For a time they were saying ‘You can’t use Deathstroke.’ Then that changed, and we were able to have Slade Wilson back on the show, And now we’re back to ‘You can’t use him.’ […] They’re working on the feature film version, it really is sort of now that you’ve got obviously Slade, […] Deathstroke appears at the end of the ‘Justice League’ movie.”"
As Guggenheim mentioned, Justice League‘s post-credits scene featured Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke. Wilson’s appearance in the film put a big question mark over his TV counterpart. Fans wondered whether Bennett’s version of the baddie would be allowed to remain in the Arrowverse. Now, we have an answer.
The showrunner didn’t offer any hits as to when we could see Deathstroke back in the Arrowverse. Unfortunately, it looks like it could be a while until that happens.
His tease at the end of Justice League wasn’t just a fun nod for comic book fans. The character is expected to be a major piece in DC’s Legion of Doom, according to a rumor from El Fanboy. As the outlet reported, WB plans to make the villainous team a pivotal factor in the DCEU.
As if that wasn’t enough, Wilson will get the chance to shine on the big screen by himself. Back in October, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Gareth Evans (The Raid) was in early negotiations to write and direct a standalone Deathstroke film. Not much information has come out about the project, but Joe Manganiello is expected to star.
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Now, given the DCEU’s constant state of change, these plans aren’t set in stone, but the possibilities are nonetheless exciting. Regardless of where he pops up next, though, hopefully Deathstroke will find a way to thrive in live-action.