Our Ravager Is Confirmed

Chelsea Zhang it is. So unless they start casting for Adeline or Grant Wilson (mum and brother to Joseph/Jericho, as you probably know) we have our Wilson family.

The character bio for Ravager:

“Daughter of the deadly assassin, Deathstroke, Rose Wilson was forced to undergo the same procedure that granted her father nearly superhuman abilities, becoming a weapon known as Ravager. Ever resentful, she seeks out the Titans not only for their protection but to get back at her father. Knowing how dangerous it is to be the offspring of their deadliest foe, the Titans take her in but that doesn’t necessarily mean they trust her.”

Again, this was reported by Deadline first, I believe.

And Now We Have Our Jericho

Raise your hand if you thought Chella Man would make a great Jericho!

If you raised your hand you're a filthy liar. :-)

I didn't know this guy from a hole in the ground so I looked him up. The information below is from this Deadline article.

Man is a model, a student at New York University, and a You Tube presence (173,000 subscribers, 2.5 million views) with his personal account of gender transition and living “deaf, Genderqueer, Chinese, and Jewish.”  Man has also contributed writing to multiple blogs (including Condé Nast’s Them) and is a speaker on gender, identity, race, and disability.

Okay, so...He doesn't particularly look the part and has absolutely no relevant body of work. It does appear as though the first criteria is achievable though. Prior to finding the photograph above in this article, I did not think so.

The Titans casting has been pretty solid so far so they certainly deserve the benefit of the doubt here. I remember when Daniel Craig was going to be a terrible James Bond, Ben Affleck a weak Batman and Gal Gadot couldn't fill Wonder Woman's outfit. All those opinions were ultimately proven to be very, very wrong. There's a reason why these things aren't left up to fans.

Here's the description of Jericho, from the very same article.

Son of the infamous DC villain Deathstroke (played by Esai Morales), Joseph Wilson is the Titan known as Jericho. Mute after his father failed to rescue him from having his vocal cords severed by assassins, Jericho has the unique ability to possess anyone just by making eye contact. This gentle natured yet proud hero has proven himself a formidable Titan.

Hopefully this means we gets casting news for Rose Wilson soon as well. Ironically, in light of her comic book history, I would completely expect an Asian influence where that character is concerned (her mother is Hmong). I'm curious to see if we'll get it.

Edit: We very well might. Revenge Of The Fans speculates that Chelsea Zhang may have nailed down the role. I'll wait for something a bit more official though.

Esai Morales is your Titans Deathstroke

We've known for a while that Deathstroke would appear in the Titans TV show but we finally know who will bring him to life in this incarnation. 56-year old veteran of virtually every cop show ever made (but most prominently NYPD Blue) Esai Morales has the honours.

This works for me. I have no doubt that Morales will be able to look sophisticated and/or bad ass, depending on what the situation calls for. I've already come across comments online about how he's not menacing enough and that sort of thing but I don't buy it.

For the sake of interest, here’s Titans’ official description for Deathstroke:

“Slade Wilson is known for being DC’s deadliest assassin. While serving his country, Slade became an elite soldier before government testing enhanced his physiology to near superhuman levels, putting him on a path of darkness and revenge. To his family, Slade is a father and husband, but to the rest of the world, he is feared by many as the infamous Deathstroke; selling his services to the highest bidder as the ruthless assassin that never gives up and never misses.”

Father and husband, well...By definition, that's certainly true. I know the show is not about him but if his kids also show up as rumoured I hope we get a glimpse of his dysfunctional that clan is.

I don't know how accurate this is but IMDB currently has Morales appearing in episode 2.1 of Titans.

Apparently this news was first announced by Deadline.

Deathstroke, Jericho, To Appear in Titans TV Series

The following test is lifted from cbr.com.

Fans of the professional mercenary Deathstroke and his son, Jericho, will be pleased to hear that the duo will be coming to DC Universe’s upcoming live-action series Titans. The news was revealed today at New York Comic Con by one of the show’s executive producers, Geoff Johns. 

While Johns confirmed that Deathstroke will be showing up in Titans given enough time, he did make the curious addendum that the series’ Deathstroke might not be one fans are familiar with. 

“You’ll see Deathstroke in Titans eventually, but it’ll be a new version,” said Johns. “You’ll definitely see it in the show.” 

What exactly this means is anyone’s guess, but any changes made to the character could be meant to differentiate him from his various live-action incarnations in both the Arrowverse and the DC Extended Universe. 

Deathstroke was a fixture on The CW’s Arrow for some time, where he was played by Manu Bennett. The character was also featured in an after-credits stinger for the film Justice League, where he was played by Joe Manganiello. Manganiello is rumored to be reprising that role for Matt Reeves’ upcoming Batman solo movie. 

Deathstroke’s son, Joe Wilson, otherwise known as Jericho, has far less live-action representation. The character was played by Liam Hall on Arrow, but only appeared for a brief time. At the DC Universe panel, DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee revealed that Jericho will likely be making his way into the show, too. 

“Last night at dinner, Geoff and I were talking about Jericho,” said Lee. “So yes, definitely.” 

...

There’s no telling what form Deathstroke and Jericho will take in DC Universe’s Titans series, but, if the trailers for the series are any indication, there will likely be ample cussing and lots of blood when they show up. 

As there should be!

I just happened to read that a second Titans season is already planned so it may be a while until we see out favourite merc but it's great news nonetheless. I couldn't care less about Jericho, to tell the honest truth, but since Deathstroke's daughter Rose was once a Titan, the dark and violent tone would appear to make her a natural no-brainer of a fit. Fingers crossed.

Also, comicbook.com added that the quote above was said in reference to adapting The Judas Contract storyline.

When talking about a possible adaptation of "The Judas Contract," Johns told the audience at the panel that they "would be fools not to," Johns said. Given that Deathstroke is the major villain in that comic storyline, Titans would have to introduce him on the series sooner than later.

Titans debuts October 12th on the dcuniverse.com streaming service.

Stephen Amell "hints" at Deathstroke's Return to Arrow

The image below appeared on Stephen Amell's Twitter account earlier today (and perhaps elsewhere but that's where I happened to first see it).

The Arrow television show is nearing its 100th episode and it is believed that Deathstroke, previously played by Manu Bennett, will appear in that and perhaps in the crossover episodes of Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow.

I never got into Arrow all that much but I'll bite and check that out. For those who might be interested in that Deathstroke's background, issue 19 of the digital-first series provides some detail.

You can buy it from Comixology for a buck or seek out a print version which collects issues 19, 20 and 21 of the digital-first series.

A Deathstroke Appearance on DC's Legends Of Tomorrow! (Or is it?)

The Arrow and Flash TV shows never really hooked me, even after I found out that Deathstroke would appear in the former.

I watched one episode of Arrow in which Slade was shown in a flashback scene on an island. If I recall correctly, he had no dialogue and I thought his uniform seemed a little on the "low budget" side.

Bottom line, I wasn't particularly taken in. It just didn't seem like he was particularly important. As I understand it, his role grew as the season continued but I've read feedback to the effect that he was beaten far too easily when the time for the final confrontation came. None of it seemed particularly compelling.

I gave Legends of Tomorrow a try because it featured a larger segment of the DC Universe. In truth, I find the show kind of stupid but did get a hell of a surprise during this past Thursday's episode.

Season One, Episode Six : When a malfunction sends the Waverider crashing into 2046 Star City, our heroes face a startling version of their own future where they never stop Savage and never return home. The city is in ruins and overrun by criminals, which thrills Rory. Sara is despondent over the destruction of her home and stunned when she learns what happened to her old friend, Oliver Queen.

There's a different Green Arrow in town and he's fighting a different Deathstroke.

The outfit seen from a shadowed distance initially caused me to believe that we were getting the real deal. Depending on how old Slade was in the Arrow series, the comics version has some years on his, so it wouldn't be outrageous that he'd still be kicking asses 30 years hence, in his mid-50s or so.

It wasn't Slade Wilson, however, but his son Grant, as portrayed by Jamie Andrew Cutler.

His screen time was limited but he displayed a bit of crazy and had a good scrap against the Arrows. The time-travelling nature of Legends, and its tendency to unravel potential future timelines, makes it unlikely that we'll see the character again, but it was a good jolt to see the least-used Wilson kid take the spotlight for a change.

Got to love Grant. Aside from a brief appearance in New Teen Titans #1, released on Halloween 1980, the guy died in his first ever "full' appearance the following month.

And yet he still manages to maintain a presence 35 years later. His identity has been copied several times, not only by his sister but also by a number of even less exemplary characters. He's been included in numerous flashbacks and was even suddenly alive in more recent Deathstroke books. Hell, he was even a zombie during Blackest Night. That's a lot of longevity milked out of one issue.

He hasn't been talked about much here yet...but maybe he should be. I'll figure out how I want to approach that. In the meantime, nice to see you again, Grant, no matter how brief it was.