‘Deathstroke Vs. Batman’ Coming From Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan

A brand new series from DC Comics could set the foundation for a future standoff on the big screen as the world’s greatest assassin goes up against the world’s greatest detective.

While DC Comics has yet to officially announce the series, fans should expect to see Deathstroke Vs. Batman hitting stands in April. The new series will be handled by Deathstroke’s Rebirth team of Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan.

Under the direction of Priest and Pagulayan, not to mention the contributions of Joe Bennett, Deathstroke has been one of the best titles in the stacked line under DC’s Rebirth. The series has revitalized the character as a misguided hero, exploring his roots as a great assassin and terrible father.

Bringing Batman into the mix will no doubt attract fans of DC’s cinematic universe, who have been anticipating such a showdown since Ben Affleck teased Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke on Twitter as part of some test footage for The Batman.

Of course, Manganiello appeared in the post-credits scene in Justice League, meeting with Lex Luthor as part of a tease of the formation of a cabal of villains to go up against the newly formed superteam. It remains to be seen if that will actually pay off in a future film, considering the perpetually-in-flux state of Warner Bros.’ plans for DC movies.

This epic confrontation was already portrayed in video games in recent years, with Deathstroke appearing as the main antagonist in Akrham Origins and then popping up later in Arkham Knight.

Priest has proven to be a more than capable writer to handle such a title, having added layers of sophistication to Deathstroke that were previously absent from the character. His first year on the title broke down Slade Wilson’s motivations, establishing the importance of his supporting cast with a complex story that doesn’t hold the reader’s hand.

He’s also shown he has a great handle on Batman, positioning his humanity and standard of perfection as one of the biggest issues plaguing DC’s premiere super team in the current run of Justice League.

It will be interesting to see how Priest and Pagulayan tackle this series, pitting one of the publisher’s greatest heroes against one of the greatest villains.