How The Batman Fans Really Feel About Seeing Deathstroke In A Sequel
"The Batman" has given fans some of the more definitive versions of the titular character's rogues gallery. Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) is perfect as both Bruce Wayne's (Robert Pattinson) love interest and adversary. Riddler (Paul Dano) is hauntingly horrific as a serial killer molded around the Zodiac who leaves riddles and ciphers at his crime scenes. It's abundantly clear that the film's writers, Matt Reeves and Peter Craig, understand these characters and the world they're supposed to inhabit quite well, and it's incredibly exciting to think of what they could accomplish in a sequel.
Given the massive box office performance of "The Batman" in its opening weekend, becoming one of the highest-performing films of the pandemic era, a sequel is all but a certainty at this point. Seeing how Riddler and Catwoman were done so well in "The Batman," it's only natural for fans to begin speculating as to who the Dark Knight could go up against in a follow-up. There's even a possibility he could fight several villains, seeing how he does precisely that in "The Batman" with Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).
One name that's come up repeatedly in these conversations online is Deathstroke, who's usually a Teen Titans adversary but has been known to fight the Caped Crusader. He could certainly work in the grounded universe of "The Batman," but what do fans really think of the idea?
Reactions are mixed for Deathstroke's inclusion in the world of The Batman
Understandably, some fans are itching to see Deathstroke pop up in a Batman movie. The character was teased for quite a while to be the primary antagonist when Ben Affleck was attached to star in and direct his solo Batman flick. That fell through, and we eventually landed on Matt Reeves' story, but some haven't forgotten what it was like to speculate on what a live-action Batman/Deathstroke showdown would look like.
Redditor u/1993PontiacFirebird posits the following question to their fellow Batman fans, "Who else wants to see Pattinson's Batman face off against Deathstroke in the sequel?" Plenty of people, including u/KeelBjork, agree with the sentiment, writing, "I think it would definitely be cool to see, but hired as a mercenary by a bigger villain. Much like Arkham Origins. If they did a similar story with the court of owls being at the top, would be a hell of a finale to the trilogy."
Then there are those like u/Walach_Nightborn who don't love the idea: "I'll take any Batman rogue in a Batman movie over someone else's rogue in a Batman movie." Many fans agree with that statement, seeing how Deathstroke is often an antagonist for Dick Grayson and the rest of the Teen Titans. There's also the matter of Deathstroke being done to death in a litany of other projects like "Arrow" and "Titans." This is precisely what u/c_draws brings up, "Not really a Batman villain, he's also been in everything under the sun. I'd rather see a less used actual Batman villain in the sequels."
Deathstroke is just one of many villains fans have ruminated on appearing in "The Batman" sequel. Other guesses include Mr. Freeze, the Court of Owls, and Hush. There are plenty of directions for "The Batman 2" to take, so we'll have to wait and see what transpires.