Deathstroke might quietly be one of the most frequently adapted villains in the entire DC Universe. While characters like the Joker and Penguin boast ample screen time in DC films and animated series, they also cast a long shadow and are typically only considered a decent matchup for their respective hero, in this case Batman.

Deathstroke has no such limits. As a gun for hire, Slade Wilson can appear in nearly any setting, pitted against (or aligned with) nearly any hero. The sheer number of movies, television shows, games and animated offerings he has appeared in lately more than prove this point.

The Promise of the Injustice League

Given how many times Deathstroke has been adapted for the screen, it's easy to forget that the character was once going to have his very own movie directed by The Raid's Gareth Evans -- or so we thought. As the rumor went, Deathstroke's appearance in Justice League's stinger was actually a prelude to his larger role in the DCEU, where he would be played by Joe Manganiello.

Manganiello, a huge fan of the character, was pumped and ready to don the villain's iconic helmet in a larger role. Evans was even interested in taking on the challenge of developing a standalone film for the assassin. Now, though, it sounds like the dream of the Deathstroke solo movie has gone up in smoke.

The news came earlier this week, when someone finally tracked down Evans and pressed him on the matter of the Deathstroke movie. As it turns out, the director was only ever tangentially attached to the project, and that's pressing the definition of the word. Apparently, Evans had "a few conversations" with DC about the character, and had even spoken to Manganiello about the role, but things never went any further than that.

Part of the reason for the project losing steam so quickly might have to do with where Deathstroke was originally planned to fit into the DCEU. The character first appeared in an after-credits stinger in Justice League, arriving on Lex Luthor's yacht after the whole worldwide invasion and apocalypse thing had died down. There, Lex proposed that Deathstroke help him build a counter to the Justice League -- an Injustice League, if you will.

From there, Deathstroke was rumored to be the main villain of Ben Affleck's Batman movie, a project that will likely never come to fruition now that director Matt Reeves has taken over the project. Granted, we still don't know who the main villain of Reeves' film will be, so there's always a sliver of hope that Slade will make an appearance -- though it's still just a sliver.

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Slade is "Off Limits"

Another reason might have to do with just how popular the character has been outside of the comics medium. The master assassin and ruthless mercenary once played a significant role in The CW's Arrowverse franchise of connected shows, featuring prominently on its flagship series, Arrow, where he was played by Manu Bennett. The show explored bits and pieces of Deathstroke's origin story, elements Evans said he was eager to explore in film.

However, Bennett's fan-favorite depiction of the character came to an end when Manganiello's Deathstroke came on the scene, with Warner Bros. making it clear that the television version of the character was off limits now that the film version had arrived. It made a certain amount of sense at the time. Warner didn't want to dilute the brand by having two completely different Deathstrokes running around. As a rule, though, it was inconsistent.

Justice League, after all, didn't scrimp on scenes with Ezra Miller's Flash just because the character was also being played by Grant Gustin on The CW. Similarly, Deathstroke appeared in the recent Teen Titans Go! to the Movies as the film's main antagonist, voiced by Will Arnett. Though, there he is credited simply as "Slade."

So, Warner has made it clear that Deathstroke is a unique character that they won't put into both film and television at the same time (for the most part). Unfortunately, that leaves those eagerly awaiting a Deathstroke movie out of luck, as DC recently announced that the character and his son, Jericho, will appear in the DC Universe series Titans, though they will be a bit different from than what fans are used to.

What exactly that means is anyone's guess. Perhaps this Deathstroke will be more of an antihero, or maybe he will be an outright villain. Maybe DC will double-down on Jericho's metahuman powers rather than portraying him as a warrior and assassin like his father, as was the case with his Arrow incarnation. Nobody knows. But if Warner's original ruling stands, then the chances of Deathstroke appearing in a film while he is also on Titans are slim.

DCEWho?

That's to say nothing of the fact that Warner and DC are seemingly moving away from the DCEU as defined by Justice League. Films like Aquaman, Shazam! and Wonder Woman 1984 are all in the works, but so are Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Batgirl, The Batman, Suicide Squad 2, whatever else Margot Robbie has cooked up for her comeback as Harley Quinn and the Joker origin movie.

Perhaps all these films leave room for nods to Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor cooking up his Injustice League in the background, but that's unlikely given that the company seemingly lost its Superman, Henry Cavill, recently. As stated before, Deathstroke is a villain who isn't directly tied to any one hero, but the films did tie him to Lex, the archnemesis of Superman… who does not have another announced movie at this time.

A hefty amount of narrative finagling could tie Lex into Supergirl's solo movie, but that project is so far out that it might as well not even be on the radar. And besides, by the time Supergirl comes out, who is really going to remember that Deathstroke showed up on a boat at the end of Justice League, a movie that few people saw and even fewer people enjoyed.

Sadly, is seems that the writing is on the wall for Deathstroke: Gareth Evans, the only name besides Manganiello ever attached to the film, has made it clear that he is not working on it; Warner has stated Deathstroke is not to appear in both film and television at the same time (and he'll be on Titans soon); and the DCEU no longer has a Man of Steel, whose nemesis was the sole reason for Deathstroke existing in the franchise.

Life is crazy and news of a Deathstroke movie could drop tomorrow but, given where the character we last saw in Justice League is at now, well… we wouldn't bet an eye on it.