When we think of the quintessential villains to have been a thorn in the side of DC’s more prominent adolescent heroes, it’s only understandable that Deathstroke be among the first that come to mind. Thus, it makes sense that he show up in some capacity in this summer’s animated feature Teen Titans Go! To The Movies.
When it comes to this particular iteration of Deathstroke, he’ll be voiced by none other than Will Arnett and lately, he’s been engaging in a friendly social media war with none other than Deadpool‘s Ryan Reynolds. Long story short, it has everything to do with them sharing visual similarities – even if Slade Wilson arrived on the scene long before Wade Wilson.
Believe it or not, the confusion between the two spills over into the film itself, with the Teen Titans actually adamantly referring to Deathstroke as “Deadpool” upon meeting him. Of course, it nearly drives the guy mad, as can be seen in the clip found at the top of this article.
Like I mentioned earlier, it’s important to remember that Deadpool originally served as an analog of sorts for Deathstroke over at Marvel around the time of his earliest appearances. This may be overlooked by those less familiar with the source material – or those who are under 25 years of age and haven’t done their homework – so perhaps that’s why the filmmakers went ahead with such a gutsy scene.
But much like both TV series to have preceded this big screen outing, Deathstroke is merely referred to by his first name of “Slade,” something that began with the first Teen Titans show many moons ago because his regular moniker was deemed too harsh for children’s programming. Though I may understand, it irks me to this day.
Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is set to open in theaters on July 27, 2018, and will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Peter Rida Michail, from a screenplay by Michael Jelenic and Horvath. Scott Menville (Robin), Greg Cipes (Beast Boy), Khary Payton (Cyborg), Tara Strong (Raven) and Hynden Walch (Starfire) also star.