The appearance of Deathstroke in the DCEU has been somewhat of a mystery and a huge rollercoaster of emotions.
Deathstroke has already appeared on the small screen in CW’s Arrow, played by Manu Bennett. However, fans want more from the character and have speculated when we will see him on the big screen.
In 2015, rumors circulated that Joe Manganiello was in talks to play Deathstroke in Suicide Squad. However, the actor set the record straight before the release of the movie tweeting, “To the #SS rumor mill, that’s not the character I was in talks for, nor was I replaced by anyone. Never signed on.” The rumor was then confirmed to be completely false when the movie was released.
However, this didn’t stop fans from speculating about the next DC movie. Many fans believed that Deathstroke would feature in Justice League... and they weren’t completely wrong.
Although Deathstroke wasn’t seen in the movie, he did appear in the end-credit scenes. This has added more confusion about the future of the character, but has given fans hope that we will see him on the big screen sometime soon.
So, to prepare for when the assassin does make his debut in the DCEU, here are the 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Deathstroke.
He is As Strong as 10 Men and Can Use 90% of His Brain
After the experiment that changed Slade Wilson forever, he gained many superhuman abilities. He is as strong as ten men and can lift up to five tons. He also gained access to 90 percent of his brain, making him smarter than any human. Therefore, he can speak many different languages and is nine times faster with fighting strategies than his enemies.
His advanced brain has also equipped him with extraordinary reflexes. According to him, he can see things faster than “ordinary mortals” which makes his reflexes ten times faster than any man.
Not only does he have superhuman strength, speed, and intellect, but he also has an arsenal of weapons to help him conduct his missions. He has an energy lance that can fire lethal and non-lethal energy blasts to incapacitate an enemy, and a promethium sword that is more durable than titanium. His sword has been known to cut through a jet wing in one single strike.
His Power Runs In His Family
Deathstroke isn’t the only superhuman in the family. His oldest son Grant grew up idolizing his dad. He became bitter at the Teen Titans when Starfire crash-landed on his apartment and ed a terrorist organization called H.I.V.E to destroy them.
While with the organization, he took on the name Ravager and submitted to an experiment that made his brain 100% effective and quadrupled his speed and reflexes. His experiment failed however, and his powers slowly killed him.
Deathstroke’s second son, Joseph Wilson became mute when one of his father’s enemies slit his throat. He, however, genetically received powers from his father, and gained the ability to talk to people through his mind. Taking on the name Jericho, he could also possess any human he made eye with and could make someone explode with just one look.
Deathstroke also conceived a daughter named Rose through an affair. Once Grant died, she took up the mantle of Ravager. Deathstroke secretly injected her with the serum that gave her his abilities and she gained enhanced strength, reflexes, intelligence, and speed. One day she even cut out her eye to prove her loyalty to her father and he replaced it with kryptonite.
He Has Killed a God
In Deathstroke, Deathstroke is hired by Hephaestus, the forger of weapons for the Olympian Gods, to go to Themyscrya and kill Lapetus. To help with his mission, Hephaestus arms Deathstroke with a sword called the God Killer.
On Themyscrya, Deathstroke accidentally unleashes Lapetus by shattering his statue and is forced to go head-to-head with Wonder Woman and Superman prior to defeating the Titan. The sword allows him to forge through the battles with the superheroes and he takes on Lapetus one-on-one.
Deathstroke’s superior intelligence and quick-thinking, paired with the God Killer, allow him to defeat the God on his own.
At the end, he is congratulated by Hephaestus and told that he has done what no other mortal could do. Deathstroke truly is one of the greatest assassins in the world.
He Has Regenerative Powers, Yet His Eye Can't Regenerate
Deathstroke went through a process in order to gain the power of regeneration. This power allows him to survive any wound as long as his brain stays intact. The downside of the ability, though, is that, although he can survive any attack, he still feels the pain of the blows.
Also, although he has regeneration powers, the one thing he is unable to regenerate is his missing eye. This may be a good thing though, as his lack of an eye may actually be the reason why he is such a great mercenary.
In Gods of War, Deathstroke is given the gift of youth and he wakes up as a younger version of himself with both eyes intact. However, he starts to realize that he can’t fight with both eyes and has to constantly shut one during battle.
He Knows Batman's True Identity
Nothing gets by Deathstroke-- not even Batman’s true identity. There are multiple instances where it is revealed that Slade Wilson knows exactly who is underneath the bat mask.
In Deathstroke #8, Slade Wilson attends Bruce Wayne’s Christmas party in order to ask for his help. Bruce Wayne surprises him by telling him that he knows he is Deathstroke and that Dick Grayson vouches for him. In return, Wilson says “Your ex-ward’s grown into a good many. Grayson’s extracurricular abilities, shall we say, are among the best I’ve ever seen. But then again, he did have the greatest teacher.”
Upon entering the Teen Titans, Dick Grayson also revealed Batman’s true identity to his teammates. However, unbeknownst to him, one of Deathstroke’s sidekicks was present. Therefore, Deathstroke was able to learn about Batman’s true identity and his relationship to Nightwing.
He Was Originally Named after His Sword and Went By "Deathstroke The Terminator"
Deathstroke ed the DC universe in 1980 as "Deathstroke the Terminator." Born as Slade Wilson, the anti-hero was forced to trade in his life of honorable military service, for the dark road of a contract killer.
In Deathstroke: Rebirth, we learn that Slade Wilson donned the name Deathstroke after winning a sword from a Croatian during a private poker game. This sword was forged during the age of the Crusades and used during the 17th century British Civil Wars before changing its name and finding its way into the Croatian’s possession.
Wilson plays the winning hand and the Croatian attempts to use the sword against him, accusing the assassin of cheating. However, Wilson disarms the man and kills him using the newly named sword: Deathstroke.
From then on, Wilson took on the name of the sword and called himself Deathstroke the Terminator. However, after the release of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator movies, DC distanced themselves from “the Terminator” part of his name to avoid competition and confusion.
From time to time though, he is still referred to as the Terminator, depending on what comic you read.
He Lied About His Age to the Army and Got His Abilities Through a Military Experiment
Slade Wilson lied about his age and ed the United States Army at the age of 16. He excelled through all his training, and was everything the military could have expected in a soldier. Therefore, they offered him the opportunity to partake in an experiment that would make him immune to truth serums. He gladly volunteered and was strapped in for the trial.
The serum, however, had adverse side effects on Wilson’s body. It gave him uncanny superhuman strength and drove him mad. Wilson eventually fell into a coma and the experiment was labeled a failure.
The Army, refusing to it their mistake, forbade Wilson from re-enlisting and his career in the military was over. Unable to serve his country, Slade turned to the life of a mercenary and rebranded himself as Deathstroke.
He Has Taken Down Every Member of the Justice League
In Identity Crisis, Deathstroke cripples every member of the Justice League present at the battle. He stabs the Flash, silences Zatanna with a hit to her liver, cuts Hawkman’s wings, breaks the Green Arrow’s arrows, put a rubber mask on Black Canary, hits the Elongated Man unconscious, disorients Atom with a laser, and breaks all of Kyle Rayner’s knuckles. He is only stopped when he is caught off guard by Green Arrow shoving an arrow into his right eye socket.
Now Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman weren’t present for the fight, but Deathstroke has held his own against these super heroes in the past. He has virtually beaten Batman in Deathstroke (1991) and Gods of War, and fared well against Wonder Woman and Superman in Deathstroke.
His Wife is The Real Reason Why He Lost His Eye
There are many different versions of how Deathstroke lost his eye. In The New 52, he lost his eyes after battling North Koreans, and in the Arrow TV show, he lost it when Oliver shot him in the eye with an arrow. However, the original story is one of love and loss.
Slade Wilson married his military trainer, Adeline Kane. They had two sons together and lived a good life until tragedy struck. One of their sons, Joseph, was captured by a terrorist called Jackal. Jackal was trying to use Joseph as leverage against Deathstroke. However, instead of giving in, Deathstroke gambled with his son’s life and attempted to save Joseph before Jackal could hurt him.
He failed, and Jackal slit Joseph’s throat. The act didn’t kill Joseph, but it destroyed his vocal chords and rendered him mute.
After taking her son to the hospital, Adeline realized that neither of her children were safe with their father and decided to take his life into her own hands. She tried to kill him by shooting him, but only managed to hit his right eye.
He is the World's Deadliest Assassin
Although Deadshot would repute this claim, Deathstroke is called "the World’s Deadliest Assassin" multiple times in the DC comics.
According to Deathstroke: Gods of War, the assassin has over 600 kills under his belt and everyone including the CIA and FBI knows his name. Not only is he feared throughout the United States, but he has also been banned from Russia by Putin himself.
Although Deathstroke doesn’t take every contract, he is known to complete all of the ones he accepts with extreme precision. In essence, he never fails.
Depending on who you talk to, he is known as a mass-murdering psychopathic killer, the world’s greatest mercenary, the deadliest assassin, or a gun for hire. Although to Slade, Deathstroke is not who he is, but simply his job – but it’s a job he isn’t giving up anytime soon.