‘Arrow’ Season 5, Episode 100: Manu Bennett Is Cryptic About Deathstroke/Slade Wilson Villain – Has Advice For DCEU’s Joe Manganiello
Arrow Season 5 is chugging right along and Manu Bennett was recently in attendance at the MCM Comic Con in Birmingham. He was answering questions at a panel when he gave a cryptic tease regarding the return of Deathstroke/Slade Wilson to The CW series, according to Screen Geek. Bennett cited Episode 100 and that fans would find out an explanation via the episode premiere.
— Manu (@manubennett) September 27, 2016
“They’re coming up to episode 100, and I think that is going to be the answer that everybody is waiting for. I’ll leave it to that episode to explain itself.”
This is interesting, as a year ago, there was an interview with Manu Bennett regarding his Deathstroke character coming back for Arrow. From his response, it didn’t seem promising, according to Cinema Blend. Although fans were deeply enamored with this well-grounded, street-level villain, Manu didn’t like how the writers handled the character during Season 2 and 3. He figured Slade Wilson still had plenty of possibilities in the direction he could go.
“I think Deathstroke had a lot of possibilities with Arrow but, I think they took it in the wrong direction.”
Of course this is the opinion of the Arrow actor back then, but he referred to the creator of Deathstroke, Marv Wolfman. That’s when Bennett cited the character as “the unstoppable mercenary.” The CW had taken their version of the character down a few notches in his tone, making him less tough.
In the comics, Deathstroke’s main forte was that of a mercenary, but the show’s version focused more on vengeance against Oliver Queen’s Arrow. Bennett acknowledges that a team-up via the Justice League was the straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to defeating Deathstroke.
“It took the Justice League to defeat him; it took an army to take him on. In Arrow, it took a while for Oliver [Queen/Arrow] to prove his point, but [Season 3] was just a beating of Slade, adding insult to injury.”
Perhaps if he appears in Arrow’s Season 5, he’ll be toughened back up? Will the aforementioned “defeat” be adapted to the big screen Justice League movies through Joe Manganiello?
In February, Arrow’s Stephen Amell talked about Manu Bennett’s return as Deathstroke, and acknowledged that there’s just something missing without him on the show. Amell touted him as a “transformative villain.”
“Manu is a character, and Manu played a great character. And I really honestly think that Arrow has been missing something since he hasn’t been around. I really do. He was a transformative villain. I would really love it if Deathstroke could keep being a part of the Arrow universe.”
It is quite true that the small screen villain made a significant impact on fans in Season 2 regarding the men that have been through the similar training and rigorousness of Lian Yu. You could say they’re quite evenly matched.
In September, Stephen Amell had hopped on social media promoting Arrow Season 5 and teased a mystery guest star of sorts. The first being a photo, pictured from left to right, Amell, the mystery person, and David Ramsey/Diggs.
Another Arrow-themed tweet by Stephen showed a tease with Deathstroke sitting with him on a park bench. According to Screen Rant, this would be an obvious indicator that Slade Wilson would be returning in Season 5, Episode 100. The particulars that leads to his appearance are not known.
That said, it seems the buzz/teases coming from Stephen Amell and Manu Bennett are quite exciting.
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) September 26, 2016
Moving on to the big screen, Screen Geek was on hand at the MCM Comic Con panel and they asked Manu if he had any advice for the DCEU version of Deathstroke, Magic Mike XXL’s Joe Manganiello.
“Any advice for Joe? Joe is my friend. I think he’s going to do a great job.”
Do you think Arrow Season 5, Episode 100, would re-introduce Deathstroke back into the eyes of Oliver Queen in some fashion? What kind of big screen translation could be taken from the small screen version? The costumes are quite similar in appearance.
[Featured Image by Mark Davis/Getty Images]
