Deathstroke Co-Creator Praises Justice League Version as 'Perfect'

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Justice League

–

Marv Wolfman, the co-creator of famed DC supervillain Deathstroke calls the appearance of the character in Justice League "perfect." Justice League, of course, debuted in theaters on November 17, earning $94 million in its opening weekend domestically, marking the lowest opening for a DC Extended Universe film ever and a gross of $72 million less than the critically and fan-maligned Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,

Despite the underwhelming reception to the long-awaited union of the Justice League's members — Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and the resurrected Superman (Henry Cavill) — fans have still found plenty of reasons to be excited about the movie, including the long-rumored feature film debut of Deathstroke/Slade Wilson (Joe Manganiello).

Related: What You Didn’t Know About Deathstroke

Wolfman expressed his enthusiasm for the long-awaited reveal of Deathstroke in a Facebook post this weekend, where he noted, "Photo courtesy of Joe Manganiello who looks like he stepped right out of the pages of New Teen Titans. Does he look perfect or what? Cannot wait to see where he appears next." See the full post below.

The momentous appearance of Wilson and his alter-ego comes 27 years after his debut in the comics, when the character, created by Wolfman and George Perez, bowed in the Issue #2 of The New Teen Titans in December 1980. Since then, the character's only live-action appearance has come in dozens of episodes in The CW's Arrow, played by Manu Bennett.

Now, Wolfman and Perez have another reason to be excited with the appearance of Manganiello in the guise of Deathstroke/Wilson in Justice League. The character's debut comes in the Justice League post-credits scene, where Arkham Asylum authorities discover that Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has miraculously escaped from the facility. Cutting to a scene with Luthor aboard his yacht, Deathstroke appears, removing his helmet to reveal Manganiello as Wilson. Alluding to the formation of the Injustice League, Luthor asks his fellow supervillain, “Shouldn’t we have a league of our own?”

It's great to see Wolfman so excited about the appearance of Deathstroke, which clearly enhances the contributions to the famed comic book creator's already spectacular career. True, it's reward enough that Deathstroke has appeared in live-action before in the Arrowverse, but having him appear on the big screen vaults the character to a whole new level.

Perhaps the most interesting words to note in Wolfman's post are, "Cannot wait to see where he appears next," since it's anybody's guess as to where Deathstroke will appear again. The character's introduction obviously leaves the options open for Warner Bros. and DC Films, but the obvious answer at this point seems to be director Matt Reeve's The Batman, or if anything, Justice League Part II, whenever that will be. At the very least, fans know by Deathstroke removing his helmet that the role belongs to Manganiello, who only eight months ago expressed his doubts about playing the role in The Batman since Reeve said he was starting the film over from scratch after Affleck's exit from the director's chair.