A funny thing happened at this year's broadcast and cable television industry trade exposition, known as The TV Upfronts. During a live presentation to prospective advertisers, CW Network President, Mark Pedowitz announced that an animated series starring none other than Deathstroke is currently in development and was on its way to the CW Seed digital streaming platform. In the past few years, the CW Seed has a put together a strong track record of developing other animated series based on DC Comics' television properties such as Vixen (2015), Freedom Fighters: The Ray (2017), and Constantine: City of Demons (2018). Though unconfirmed, it is speculated that the animated series will draw its inspiration from the television version of Deathstroke that appeared in the CW's Arrow, which was portrayed by the fan-favorite actor, Manu Bennett.
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| A promo image for the animated Deathstroke series in development for The CWSeed digital streaming platform. |
Pedowitz was light on details like voice cast members or even a premiere date, but he did drop some interesting nuggets about the series premise. The show will "follow Slade [Wilson] as his family is threatened by the murderous villain Jackal and terrorist organization HIVE." It certainly sounds like the animated series' developers are borrowing heavily from Deathstroke's early appearances in New Teen Titans (1980) and the "Full Cycle" story arc from Deathstroke the Terminator (1991), all of which was written by Deathstroke's legendary co-creator, Marv Wolfman. If the image above is any indication, it appears that Deathstroke's look will resemble the bulky New 52/Arrow-style armor rather than the sleek and stealthy Ikon Suit.
As more details about Deathstroke's CW Seed animated series emerge, you can be sure that The Deathstroke Files will bring them straight to you.
