Deathstroke Won’t Likely Appear In James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad

Aside from having James Gunn taking over creative reins for The Suicide Squad, it appears as though this whole different ballgame will be reflected by that of a drastic shakeup to the Task Force X lineup. In other words, many of the convicts who appeared in the first flick are said to have been jettisoned in favor of King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker and a gender-swapped Ratcatcher. And while Will Smith is no longer playing Deadshot and may be replaced by Idris Elba, Margot Robbie is expected to return as Harley Quinn.

Actually, if what Discussing Film’s heard pans out, then Killer Frost may be included on the team as well. I considered this to be especially good news since she was on my shortlist of hopefuls. But when it comes to my top choice, Deathstroke, the future looks decidedly bleaker.

According to the very same report, Slade Wilson would’ve featured in Gavin O’Connor’s version of Suicide Squad 2, but he doesn’t factor into Gunn’s plans. Who knows, maybe the former Guardians of the Galaxy director doesn’t want there to be two separate world class assassins in his movie?

What makes this doubly disappointing is that a perfectly cast Deathstroke in the form of Joe Manganiello is currently riding the bench. Having debuted in a post-credits cameo in Justice League, he was originally intended to serve as a villain in The Batman when Ben Affleck was still in charge of the project, but that’s probably no longer the case now that Matt Reeves is calling the shots. And since JL bombed at the box office, it’s doubtful the Legion of Doom will ever come together on film. This guy just can’t seem to catch a break, eh?

And if that weren’t enough, whatever “plans” there are for Deathstroke on the big screen now prohibit Manu Bennett’s iteration of the character from making further appearances on Arrow. DC Universe’s Titans, meanwhile, will introduce its own version of the mercenary during season 2, though significant changes are expected to be made. In short: it’s a real shame that all of this red tape is in place.

The Suicide Squad arrives in theaters on August 6th, 2021.