For the longest time, Deathstroke was a rather obscure DC character. But, thanks in large part to Arrow, the world’s deadliest mercenary permeated the mainstream, with appearances in video games such as Batman: Arkham Origins and animated films like Batman and Son also doing wonders to help his cause.
Much to our delight, Slade Wilson’s future is looking brighter than ever, as the character recently appeared in a post-credits scene for Justice League, in addition to Warner Bros. kicking around the idea for a solo film. And in a rather classy move, Arrow‘s own Manu Bennett has given his big screen counterpart, Joe Manganiello, his blessing:
“Joe Manganiello is gonna bring — well, he’s already brought — Deathstroke to the screen in the new Justice League. You know, Joe’s a really fantastic, fantastic, wonderful guy who’s done a lot of work in preparing himself for whatever his next role is, you know, and I know physically he’s like the right size and everything for a great Slade Wilson.”
To be honest, the possibility of Deathstroke taking on a prominent role in the DC Extended Universe probably means we’ll see less of the character on The CW going forward. Evidencing that was Bennett’s Slade literally laying down his sword and declaring himself “Deathstroke no more” during last week’s episode.
Regardless, it’s important we note that he’s still alive, therefore the potential for future appearances exists. But as Bennett continued paying respect to Manganiello, he couldn’t help but say he’d appreciate a headlining gig of his own in the form of a spinoff:
“You know Joe, Joe’s going to do something wonderful on the big screen with him and so, maybe when that has figured itself out, because Warner Bros are behind them both, right now they just want to put it out there in the film world. I’ve done my little run, I’ve had a good last episode so now Joe will go and do something on the big screen and maybe when there’s a bit of a window in between that they’ll say that Marc [Guggenheim] can write some more stuff, maybe even a TV series! Let’s just put that one out there.”
Arrow airs on Thursday nights on The CW.