Manu Bennett’s portrayal of Slade Wilson/Deathstroke during is universally considered one of the most outstanding characters on the show. After a hiatus due to the DCU ban on crossing over characters, Slade returned for the conclusion of season 5 and beginning of season 6.  Culminating with a two-part Deathstroke-centric storyline which was believed to be a possible backdoor pilot for the character. Unfortunately, all plans for Deathstroke have been sidelined.  Durning, an interview at the ACE Comic-Con, executive producer Marc Guggenheim had this to say about characters in the Arrowverse.

“These are DC’s characters, we’re just renting them ya know, so we use the characters that they tell us we can use when we can use them, and we work around whatever limitations that places us.”

RELATED: DC on CW: Arrow Edition – ‘Deathstroke Returns’ Episode Breakdown

When asked specifically about the Slade Wilson/Deathstroke character.

“Yeah, I think you know as a result we’ve been on and off. You know, for a time they were saying ‘you can’t use Deathstroke,’ and that changed and we were able to have Slade Wilson back on the show, and now we’re back to ‘you can’t use him.’ They’re working on the feature film version, it really is sort of now that you’ve got obviously Slade, spoiler alert, Deathstroke appears at the end of the Justice League movie.”

See the full interview below

Arrow’ returns to the CW on January 18th.

Additionally, the DC on CW brand is getting bigger!

In June, the hosts of DC on CW started branching into other areas of DC content with a Patreon exclusive tier. The discussions will see the return of various DC on CW hosts, plus some new faces. The content will range from discussions on comic books to movies–the sky is the limit. Pledge and gain access!