DC is bringing more big-name villains to the big screen, as a new report suggests the comic book company is working on a Bane and Deathstroke movie.
Details on what is said to be a team-up movie come from The Hollywood Reporter. The film is allegedly still in its early stages, with no actors or director picked to work on the project just yet. However, the report states that Captain America: Brave New World writer Matthew Orton has been tapped to write the script for the Batman villain movie.
Orton also aided as a writer for Marvel’s Moon Knight series and, more recently, served as creator on the Hilton Pelser-led Devil’s Peak series. It’s unclear when the Bane and Deathstroke movie will be released and whether it will take place within DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran’s revamped DCU, but there is plenty of material to pull from.
Bane may soon be back
Bane, in particular, has a long history in live-action, with his first film appearance arriving all the way back in 1997’s Batman & Robin. Since then, Batman’s Venom-infused nemesis has shown up in the Gotham series and, most famously, as the primary antagonist of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night Rises. Deathstroke a.k.a. Slade Wilson has dropped in for his fair share of live-action projects, too, including the 2018 Titans show. Fans may also remember that the character made a cameo appearance in 2017’s Justice League, where he was played by actor Joe Manganiello.
Should the Bane and Deathstroke team-up come to be, it’ll only be the latest villain-led film in DC’s portfolio. The most infamous in the lineup is Joker, which starred Joaquin Phoenix and was released in 2019. That series is continuing with a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, which is set to premiere one week from today, though it’s unclear if a third film will follow. The live-action comic book movie universe also includes a Black Adam film, Birds of Prey, and multiple Suicide Squad entries.
Meanwhile, DC’s slate is filled with superhero projects with a lot of room for more. The Gunn-directed Superman is primed to swoop into theaters in July 2025, with a Green Lantern-focused show also in the works. Comic book fans can also look forward to movies like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, The Batman Part 2, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and more. You can see a full list of every DC movie in the works here.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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