After 46 Years, DC Just Set Up Deathstroke for a Major Change

He’s been out of the game for a while, but Deathstroke is back in action, and this time, things are about to change for the infamous assassin. For those who haven’t been keeping up with Slade Wilson, his life has been on the downswing in the last few years. He went on the run after being accused of killing Ra’s al Ghul during the “Shadow War” crossover, and later, he was corrupted and used as a central antagonist during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Slade was defeated, and he was held at Amanda Waller’s Bureau of Sovereignty for months.

But as we all know, you can’t keep a good villain down for long. Deathstroke was eventually freed from his confinement by his old protegee, Terra. And as he is wont to do, Deathstroke attempted to take down his old enemies, the Titans, with a new iteration of the Crime Syndicate. He failed and made a run for it, leaving Terra holding the bag. Since then, Deathstroke has been missing, but now he’s anchoring his first title since Deathstroke Inc. ended. And this exciting Next Level book brings Slade back to his element while setting up big changes for him.

Deathstroke Loses His Closest Allies and is Robbed Blind

The debut issue of Deathstroke: The Terminator comes to us from Tony Fleecs, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Plascencia, and Wes Abbott, and it wastes no time getting to the action. Slade is on a job and keeping a direct line with his associate, Wintergreen. While Slade tries to focus on the job, Wintergreen gets personal, telling Slade that he needs to focus on his daughter, Rose. Slade doesn’t want to talk about Rose, trying to focus on taking out his target, a witness in an upcoming deposition against Cale Industries.

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The target is protected by armored trucks and ex-special forces, but it’s all in a day’s work for Deathstroke, who crashes a bus into the trucks. He begins taking out the guards one by one, with any kind of weapon he can get his hands on. He’s temporarily inconvenienced by the Body Doubles (who also possess healing factors and incredible fighting skills). But Deathstroke makes his way through everything and finds the room where the target is being held. Only instead of the target, Deathstroke finds Wintergreen, bound and with his throat cut.

While helping Wintergreen, Slade discovers a note attached to his friend’s body informing Deathstroke that someone is “taking everything”. A nearby computer reveals that all of Slade’s accounts have been completely zeroed out. Before he can make sense of anything, the remaining hired guns swarm Deathstroke and try to take him out. Worse, a bomb goes off, bringing everything around Slade down. He manages to emerge from the rubble, still outnumbered and outgunned, utterly confused about who stole every penny from him and killed his best friend.

This is An Inflection Point For Deathstroke

Now obviously, Deathstroke is a monster. From his cold-blooded killing to the way he groomed Terra, there are very few things to like about the guy. But this issue does invite the question of whether Slade is able to change or not. In fact, the first page isn’t of Slade on business, but of Wintergreen and Rose Wilson discussing that very idea. Rose is certain Slade can’t, though Wintergreen has a bit more faith, provided that Slade looks beyond his business and starts trying to mend his relationship with his daughter.

So now Slade has lost everything. He’s lost his money and Wintergreen. I’ve got no doubt that Slade is going to want to get his pound of flesh over whoever stole from him and took Wintergreen’s life. But this could be good for Slade. For the first time in a long while, he’s truly lost everything (at least as far as his mercenary business is concerned). Slade isn’t the most loving person, but it seems like now is a fantastic opportunity to turn to family and make even more positive changes in his life.

Of course, this is a book called Deathstroke: The Terminator. Slade’s not just gonna suddenly turn into a family man and abandon his lethal ways. But I do think the creative team made these big, shocking changes for a reason. This is the Next Level of DC Comics, a chance to take characters like Slade and turn them into something better than they were before. Can Slade truly change for the better? I don’t know. But I do think that losing everything could give Deathstroke some new perspective, provided he’s willing to listen to Wintergreen’s final words about family.

What do you think about this new development for Deathstroke? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!