Slade Joseph Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, the character first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980) as Deathstroke the Terminator. In his comic book appearances, Slade Wilson is a former U.S. Army operative who gains enhanced physical and mental abilities from an experimental super-soldier serum and becomes the mercenary Deathstroke. Widely considered the greatest and deadliest assassin in the DC Universe, he serves as the archenemy of Dick Grayson and the Teen Titans, and is also an adversary of other superheroes such as Batman, Green Arrow, and the Justice League. Deathstroke's vendetta against the Titans began when he swore revenge for the death of his eldest son Grant; his other two children, Jericho and Rose, would go on to join the Titans to oppose him. A bicolored black-and-orange mask that covers his missing right eye serves as Deathstroke's visual motif. Deathstroke has been adapted in various media incarnations, having been portrayed in television by Manu Bennett in Arrow and Esai Morales in Titans, and by Joe Manganiello in the DC Extended Universe film Justice League and its director's cut. Ron Perlman and others have provided the character's voice in animation and video games. The character’s popularity with readers also led Rob Liefeld to create the popular Marvel Comics character Deadpool, whose name, powers, and costume were originally patterned on Deathstroke.
