Things with the DC Extended Universe have been up in the air as of late, but fans have stayed hopeful Deathstroke’s bit in the franchise would not change. However, if Arrow’s executive’s producer is right, then DC Films may have changed its plans for Slade Wilson.

Earlier this week, Collider released a lengthy interview it held with Marc Guggenheim about Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. The interview ended with a question about Arrow’s inclusion of Deathstroke next season. When Collider asked how the show got Slade back, Guggenheim said it was because DC’s on-going plans for the character had fallen through elsewhere.

“It was a function of - you know, DC control these characters. We went through a period where DC said, ‘We’ve got plans for Deathstroke that don’t include Arrow.’ That changed at the end of this year,” Guggenheim said.

The producer continued, saying how he approached DC about having Deathstroke reappear on Arrow for a Slade-centric story.

“I went to DC and said, ‘Look, I know you have plans for him and that’s all cool, but you’ve got to give us this one. We can’t go to Lian Yu and not see Slade Wilson,” Guggenheim said before stressing Arrow has “to operate within the departments of DC.”

For fans, the producer’s words are rather worrisome. After all, Deathstroke’s involvement with The Batman has been questioned since Ben Affleck left the film as director. News broke about the exit in early January - which some would call the end of last year - and Matt Reeves signed on to take over the film. The new director has been overhauling the script for The Batman, and Joe Manganiello has been tight-lipped on if he’ll still get to play Deathstroke.

In fact, the actor talked about the gig recently with The Hollywood Reporter. The site asked about his DC tenure, and Manganiello had said he’s not sure if he has any ties with the DCEU anymore.

"I don’t. Well, I do but nothing that I can share. I know everything but I can’t say any of it." When asked whether that was said in a happy or downtrodden way, the actor replied, "I'm shooting for a neutral tone."

For now, things really don’t look good for Deathstroke. There’s a chance DC Films may have given Arrow a bone with the return of Slade, but The CW has had to axe characters before thanks to DCEU plans. Arrow had to get rid of its Suicide Squad members for good when DC Films began work on a feature for the team, so fans can see what Deathstroke’s return to Arrow points to.

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