Deathstroke’s Son Jericho Could Be Coming to Arrow

The night of Arrow‘s season 5 finale, ComicBook.com speculated whether season 6 might include Jericho, the son of Deathstroke. Now, a casting call unearthed by TVLine suggests it could happen.

The site reports that The CW is looking for an Australian teenager to play an “introverted, moody and naturally athletic teenager.” Given the fact that Manu Bennett, who plays Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, has an Australian accent, it seems likely the character would be tied to him.

After previous episodes described the character as having died, Oliver surprised Slade in the season 5 finale with a dossier that purportedly contained everything he and Felicity had on Wilson’s son.

In the comics, Slade has two sons: Joe, and Grant. In previous seasons, Slade’s wife Adeline and son Joe have been referenced; they were both seemingly killed during a raid on Wilson’s home, something that seems to be less true than previously assumed.

No Arrow episodes had previously mentioned Grant, who first appeared in the comics in 1980’s New Teen Titans #1.

In the Arrowverse, Grant has appeared in one previous episode — “Star City 2046,” a season 1 episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, in which he was the Deathstroke of the future, squaring off against Connor Hawke, Oliver’s successor as Green Arrow.

Who is Jericho?

it isn’t yet clear whether Joe will follow his path from the comics, or be more reminiscent of Grant’s TV version, if he shows up next season.

In the comics, Joseph Wilson first appeared in 1984’s Tales of the Teen Titans #42.

When Joe, better known in the comics as Jericho, was a child, he was held hostage by The Jackal, a terrorist who was after his father. Deathstroke refused to give Jackal the information he wanted because it went against his professional code of ethics. Deathstroke managed to rescue his son, but not before one of Jackal’s men had started to cut his throat. As a result, he was rendered mute.

As a result of that incident, and the fact that Slade had lied to her, his mother divorced his father, and took her two sons with her.

Jericho’s metahuman power, a result of the biological experimentation done on his father years before, appeared in his late teens, while trying to save his mother from an assassin. He is able, essentially, to use an astral projection-like power to take over the bodies of others, speaking and acting convincingly like them while controlling their words and actions.

In the current volume of Deathstroke comics, Slade’s rocky relationship with his children has been a major part of the first year or so of issues. Currently, Jericho and Rose are part of a Deathstroke-headed teen superhero team along with Wally West (the New 52 version) and Power Girl (ditto).

A family story

Given the clear indication in the finale that Slade’s son is not dead in the season 5 finale, ComicBook.com recently asked executive producer Wendy Mericle about the character, and whether he might show up in season 6.

While she stopped short of confirming the idea that Slade’s son will play a big role, she did seem to suggest that the move would make a kind of thematic sense.

“I can’t tell you exactly that,” Mericle told us. “What I can say is that the theme this season is family, and Slade will definitely be, whether it’s flashbacks or present day, we’re not 100% sure yet, he’ll be dealing with similar debate and similar thematic territory.”

Oliver and Diggle, meanwhile, will be dealing with family and parenting issues of their own, as Diggle’s unresolved marital issues are likely to be a concern, at least at the start of the season, and Oliver is spending a lot of time with his son for the first time.

After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the South China Sea. Oliver returned home to Starling City, bent on righting the wrongs of his family and fighting injustice. To do this, he created the persona of The Arrow and allied himself with former military man John Diggle (David Ramsey), computer-science expert Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), lawyer-turned-vigilante Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), billionaire inventor Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and his sister Thea Queen (Willa Holland).

Arrow will return for its sixth season on The CW on Oct. 12, 2017, with the season premiere episode titled “Fallout.” The premiere will mark a move from its traditional Wednesday time slot to Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT.