Slade Wilson is a mercenary, a father, a super villain, and an all around badass within the universe of DC Comics. He’s also what I like to call a “catch-all villain”, in so much as he doesn’t firmly have a set place in any given hero’s gallery of villains and rogues. First and foremost, you’d probably categorize him as a villain of the young heroes called the “Teen Titans”, but he's also managed to tangle with the Justice League, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern and many others. Slade is a gun for hire so his usual clientele of shady businessmen and other villains brings him into close contact with DC’s brightest and best superheroes rather frequently.

This information is all relevant of course as recently, Ben Affleck shared a video on his Twitter page of what appears to be Deathstroke on the set of Justice League, teasing an upcoming appearance in the DC Extended Universe. How exactly he fits into the DCEU is unclear—Affleck is shooting Justice League now, but the character is rumored to be the antagonist in the Affleck-directed new Batman movie that's in development. Mr. Wilson has also been something of a big name villain for the Dark Knight in various pieces of media in the past years.

With all this being said, you may not exactly be as familiar with Deathstroke as, say, The Joker, so we've put together a look at Deathstroke’s backstory along with his abilities and recent notable splashes in the media, which should get you well acquainted with what appears to be a shining new DCEU baddie.

Deathstroke Begins

Slade Joseph Wilson was originally created by comic book legends Marv Wolfman and George Perez as part of their run on the now classic comic series New Teen Titans in 1980. Wilson started off as a member of the US Army but eventually was chosen to participate in an experiment that granted him superhuman abilities, which is usually the case for mercenaries in comic books don’t you know? Falling in love with the woman who trained him in the military, he had a son who was kidnapped and nearly killed because of Slade’s “wetwork” as a gun for hire. Slade’s wife, and mother of his son Joseph, wasn’t too keen on her son getting his throat cut by Wilson’s enemies, so she shot Deathstroke through the eye, permanently disabling him. Needless to say, the two are no longer seeing each other.

When Slade’s other son, Grant Wilson, decided to become a super villain like his father, “Ravager”, as he called himself, ended up dying in a fight with the Teen Titans. Deathstroke wasn’t too pleased and vowed revenge against the younger, less experienced group of teen heroes. In the now classic storyline, “The Judas Contract”, Slade infiltrated the team with the help of a young girl named Terra who had the power to manipulate the earth under her feet. Terra would feed intel to Deathstroke about the team’s weaknesses that eventually helped the mercenary defeat the Titans, only to eventually lose once again when the heroes were aided by the now super-powered son of Slade, Joseph (going by Jericho). From this storyline on, Deathstroke has walked the line between supervillain and antihero, going wherever the biggest paycheck led him.

Mind and Bullets

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Image via DC Comics

Without even taking into account Deathstroke’s superpowers, he’s beaten Batman before in a fist fight, so that should tell you how dangerous Slade Wilson actually is. Proficient in more martial arts styles than you can count, Slade’s superpower allows him to “access 90 percent of his brain”, and as scientifically inaccurate that may be, it works wonders for him. Deathstroke is somewhat comparable to Captain America in that he is a super soldier in top physical form, which basically makes him superhuman for comic book purposes. Wilson is also a master at nearly every weapon he gets his hands on, from guns to swords to bo staffs, and specifically carries around a staff that is able to fire off energy blasts at his enemies.

Aside from his fighting prowess and mental capabilities, Slade Wilson also possess a healing factor that, while not quite as adept as say Wolverine’s, allows him to take a number of hits that would kill any regular joe on the street. While not necessarily enough to save his lost eye, if Deathstroke receives a “deathstroke”, he’ll manage to bounce back and recuperate to hang onto life. Slade has managed to take on the Justice League, by himself, from time to time thanks to his abilities and years of experience, but he won’t be going toe to toe with Superman any time soon.

Hollywood Deathstroke

Deathstroke has actually appeared in quite a number of live-action and animated series throughout his publication history. Most recently, you may remember him as the main antagonist of the CW’s Arrow during its second season (making a brief appearance in season three). Portrayed by actor Manu Bennett, Slade’s origins tied heavily into those of Oliver Queen, the titular hero of that CW smash hit. Gaining his abilities from an elixir found on the island where the pair originally met, Wilson eventually came to hate Queen for the loss of his lady love and swore revenge. Unfortunately, Bennet’s character was eventually shelved as he is apparently being used for bigger things on the movie front (as evidenced by Affleck's tease), only briefly appearing in the third season, never to show his one-eyed face again. On top of everything else, Deathstroke’s costume here was pitch perfect with his comic book version and is still pretty spot on with what we’re seeing in the recently released video from Affleck.

On the animation front, Slade Wilson appeared as the primary villain of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans, which ran from 2003 to 2006. Playing close to his comic book roots, Deathstroke (never referred to as such in the series, mind you) torments the young heroes while also attempting to gain an heir in the form of Batman’s sidekick and leader of the team, Robin. Voiced by actor Ron Perlman, the series even managed to incorporate the “Judas Contract” arc into its episodes by introducing Terra into the mix. Wilson eventually dies fighting the team but is resurrected, as all good villains are, to fight the team another day. Deathstroke also made appearances in the world of video games with the recent Batman titles Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight wherein he plagued the Dark Knight on the streets of Gotham City.

Deathstroke has been a significant figure as of late within the stable of DC Comics’ villains these past few years. Incorporating this mercenary into the DC Extended Universe on the big screen seems like a slam dunk, and hopefully we’ll be getting some casting news sooner rather than later.