DC Developing Deathstroke and Bane Movie

In what would surely be one of the oddest combinations of characters in superhero (or supervillain) movie history, DC is looking to partner Deathstroke and Bane in their own team-up movie.

That’s according to Deadline, who report that after early whispers about the film back in 2024, after James Gunn and Peter Safran first became co-CEOs of DC Studios. Now they hear that Superbad’s Greg Mottola is now “a front-runner to potentially direct the untitled Deathstroke and Bane feature. There are others in the mix.”

They do add that “a script hasn’t come in yet.” They previously reported that Moon Knight writer Matthew Orton was working on the screenplay.

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Both of these DC villains have appeared in live-action form on the big screen before. Deathstroke, an elite mercenary and assassin, appeared briefly in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where he was played by Joe Manganiello. (His part was somewhat expanded in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.) Manganiello’s version of the character would have appeared in Ben Affleck’s solo Batman film, which never got made. (The project eventually transformed into The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as a totally different Dark Knight.)

Speaking of totally different Dark Knights: Bane, a criminal who can juice up his muscles using a special drug called Venom, previously appeared as the main villain of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, where he was portrayed by Tom Hardy.

Although both characters have antagonized Batman through the years, they don’t have an especially long or close connection in DC Comics. But hey; if DC could make a Clayface movie — which has already been shot and is headed to theaters this fall — why not a Deathstroke and Bane?

The next DC movie, Supergirl is scheduled to open in theaters on June 26. That will be followed by Clayface on October 23. Then Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to Superman, premieres next summer.