Deathstroke was teased by Ben Affleck’s Twitter not too long ago and he looks absolutely badass! Joe Manganiello will be officially embodying the manipulative villain in Affleck’s first solo film as the Dark Knight after Justice League is over, but if you have no idea who Deathstroke or why he’s cool, don’t worry! We got you covered.
Created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Deathstroke is one of the deadliest mercenary assassins in the DC Universe.
Originally appearing as the archenemy of the Titans in The New Teen Titan #2 in 1980, Deathstroke went on to become a formidable villain opposite the likes of Batman and Green Arrow.
Deathstroke is not Deadshot.
Deathstroke is often confused with Deadshot because of their similar character attributes but they are two very different characters. Deadshot is played by Will Smith in Suicide Squad.
Deathstroke will be played by Joe Manganiello.
You may know him as werewolf Alcide Herveaux on the HBO series True Blood. Or if you’re me, you may know him as Flash Thompson from Spider-Man or as the guy who married Sofie Vergara.
He was also played by Manu Bennett in Arrow.
Deathstroke’s real name is Slade Joseph Wilson.
He joined the army at age 16 where he became an expert in combat and strategy. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
He was chosen for a secret experiment in the Army which essentially made him a super soldier.
His powers include heightened speed, stamina, endurance, and reflexes. He is also a tactical genius in combat warfare and possesses a healing factor that enables him to recover from physical injuries at an increased rate. However, he cannot heal his missing eye and cannot regenerate lost limbs.
He lost his right eye because his wife shot hit him in the head.
Fortunately, his enhanced reflexes allowed him to dodge the bullet and lose just an eye. She was mad at him because he didn’t tell her that he was working under the persona Deathstroke. She was also furious at him because he wouldn’t divulge information to the villain Jackal who had kidnapped their son. As a result, their son’s throat was slashed rendering him mute.
He was originally known as Deathstroke the Terminator.
However, The Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger came out 4 years after Deathstroke’s first appearance so DC decided to abandon the name to avoid confusion.
