Titans’ Deathstroke Is Already Retired In Season 2 – Here’s Why

Titans‘ season 2 premiere reveals Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke, to be retired from the life of a hired assassin in the reality of the DC Universe series. While this might surprise fans of the character who see Slade as the sort of man who would rather die than give up “the game,” there is a precedent for the man once known as The Terminator trying to put his violent past behind him.

Deathstroke first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 in December 1980. A hired gun who would take any job if the price was right, Deathstroke nevertheless possessed a strange code of honor which made sense to him and him alone. The action of his first appearance saw Deathstroke trying to save the life of another assassin called the Ravager, who had taken up a contract to kill the Teen Titans and undergone dangerous experimental treatments in an effort to mimic the biological enhancements that had made Deathstroke into something more than human. Ravager’s battle with the Titans taxed his body to the breaking point, leading Deathstroke to swear revenge upon them as the end of the issue revealed that Ravager was Deathstroke’s estranged son, Grant Wilson.

While it is unclear how much of this background will be utilized for the show (though we know at least two of Deathstroke’s children will be in Titans), the scene where we first see Slade in the Titans season 2 premiere affirms that he and the Titans have a history and that he does not regard them fondly. When Deathstroke first appears, he is living in a cabin in a remote woodland area and is making a trip to the nearest town to pick up supplies at the general store. With unkempt hair and a full, scraggly beard, Slade’s appearance stands far from the standard of military discipline he usually maintains. However, a change comes over Slade as he sees a news broadcast on the television behind the counter, announcing the return of the Titans.

Deathstroke’s war on the Titans in the comics cost him dearly, destroying the family he’d abandoned to become the world’s greatest assassin and he ultimately retired from mercenary work after a blood transfusion meant to save his wife’s life resulted in her going insane because of Slade’s altered physiology. Ironically, despite the bad blood between them, Slade came out of retirement and joined forces with a new Titans team after his wife revived the terrorist organization HIVE as part of an effort to kill every metahuman on Earth. Whatever his history with the team in this reality, from what we’ve seen of Deathstroke in Titans season 2 it is clear that Slade is not pleased to hear they have returned and he is ready to end his retirement to go after them.

When we next see Slade Wilson, his hair is cut shorter and his beard has been shaven to a well-groomed goatee. He meets with an associate (who is not identified by name in the episode, but whom the credits identify as Slade’s butler, Wintergreen) who informs Slade that many people have been asking about hiring him. As they move through an opulent home, it becomes clear that Slade had broken off all contact with the outside world, confirming that he received the letters Wintergreen sent to him while remaining vague about whether or not he ever truly wrote him back or if, as Wintergreen suggested, Slade “put down the wrong address.”

The two men eventually come to a secret vault, which Wintergreen prepared to open. Deathstroke stopped him, reminding him that the house they just walked through belongs to him, before sliding aside a hidden panel and keying in the access code. The two emerge into a room full of guns and weapons as well as Slade Wilson’s trademark Deathstroke armor, which Wintergreen dryly notes he was finally able to get most of the blood out of. He then asks Slade if they are back in business, but given Slade’s earlier reaction to the news that the Titans had returned it seems likely that it is revenge, not business, that is on his mind.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

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Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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