Is Deathstroke coming to the big screen? Ben Affleck certainly wants us to think so.
Current Batman actor Ben Affleck lit up his official Twitter account earlier today by posting a brief video of what appears to be DC Comics supervillain Deathstroke, hinting that the character will appear in an upcoming DC Extended Universe movie.
The 27-second video shown below was provided without comment by Affleck, and shows Deathstroke simply stepping forward and menacing the camera to give fans a decent look.
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) August 29, 2016
*** UPDATE *** TheWrap is reporting that Deathstroke will appear in the upcoming Batman solo movie directed by Affleck, not in Justice League.
Back in February, Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed that "The character of Slade Wilson is currently tied up in another DC project" and was unlikely to return to Arrow. It now appears that this project is Justice League.
Created in 1980 by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, Deathstroke first appeared in The New Teen Titans (vol.1) #2 as Slade Wilson, a former United States Army officer who was chosen for a secret Army experiment, which gave him with enhanced physical powers in an attempt to create metahuman super soldiers for the U.S. military. Deathstroke became a mercenary soon after the experiment, when he defied orders and rescued his friend Wintergreen, who was sent on a suicide mission by a commanding officer with a grudge. However, Slade kept this career secret from his family, even though his wife was an expert military combat instructor.
A criminal named the Jackal took his younger son Joseph Wilson hostage to force Slade to divulge the name of a client who had hired him as an assassin. Slade refused, claiming it was against his personal honor code. He attacked and killed the kidnappers at the rendezvous. Unfortunately, Joseph's throat was slashed by one of the criminals before Slade could prevent it, destroying Joseph's vocal cords and rendering him mute. After taking Joseph to the hospital, his wife Adeline Wilson was enraged at his endangerment of her son and tried to kill Slade by shooting him, but only managed to destroy his right eye. Afterward, his confidence in his physical abilities was such that he made no secret of his impaired vision, marked by his mask which has a black, featureless half covering his lost eye. Without his mask, Slade wears an eye-patch.
Deathstroke has a long history as an enemy of the Teen Titans, beginning when his other son Grant received superhuman enhancements from the H.I.V.E., dubbed himself Ravager, and accepted a contract from them to kill or capture the Teen Titans. However, Grant's enhancements proved fatal, and Slade agreed to complete the contract. His first mission involved stealing the element Promethium from S.T.A.R. Labs and selling it as the ultimate weapon. He then kidnapped the Titans and placed them in the path of a Promethium bomb to test his device for the buyers. The Titans escaped and pursued Deathstroke, but he severely wounded Beast Boy in his escape. This would be the start to a lasting animosity between the two.
Deathstroke next appeared in New York, holding officials hostage in order to lure the Titans into confronting him. Terra, a new ally of the Titans, and Beast Boy were the only ones available to answer the call. Terra knocked Beast Boy out and fought Deathstroke single-handedly in an effort to prove herself worthy of being a Titan. Deathstroke escaped as the other Titans arrived, but by then, Terra had proven herself and the team offered her membership. Later that night, it was revealed that Terra and Deathstroke had conspired to fake the fight in a plot to infiltrate the team. Since then, Deathstroke has had a number of encounters with other heroes and villains in the DC Universe.