While Deathstroke’s future in the DCU remains largely unknown, toy collectors can now own a highly detailed (if unofficial) Slade Wilson.
Fans of Deathstroke’s cameo in both 2017’s Justice League and Zack Snyder’s 2021 cut can now own a highly detailed, albeit bootleg, sculpt of the movie’s take on Slade Wilson.
Flashpoint Studio’s Deathstroke — bearing the name “Deathknell” — is available for pre-order on collector toy sites like Toys Wonderland, where it sells for $159.63. The figure has an estimated release date in the second quarter of 2023. “Deathknell” might be an unlicensed figure, but boasts a highly accurate appearance that mirrors Joe Manganiello’s suit from the films. The product comes with a removable helmet, two swords and sheaths, a firearm, multiple pairs of hands and a stand.
An alternate version of the figure, also available on Toys Wonderland for $214.54, reveals Manganiello’s likeness beneath the mask, complete with the mohawk that he sported in the “Knightmare scenes” of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which showed Deathstroke working alongside Batman in a post-apocalyptic world.
Flashpoint Studio is a Chinese company that has produced unlicensed figures of several comic book heroes, all under different names — for instance, “Doomsday Lightning Man” for the Flash, “Guarder” for Spider-Man and “Hell Dominator” for Spawn. Despite their not-entirely-official nature, the company’s products have won the notice of dedicated toy collectors, largely because their sculpts mirror the intricacy of Hot Toys’ figures, but lack the extreme price point.
Manganiello’s Deathstroke Stint
Manganiello donned Slade Wilson’s black and orange armor in the post-credits scenes of both versions of Justice League, and was planned as the main antagonist in the original version of The Batman which Ben Affleck was slated to direct. After Affleck stepped away from the project, filmmaker Matt Reeves retooled the film into a noir Batman origin story set in its own universe, disconnected from the then DC Extended Universe. Reeves’ version of The Batman did not see Manganiello reprise his role as Deathstroke.
A solo Deathstroke film was also in the works, but was ultimately canceled by Warner Bros. In 2021, Manganiello said, “it was not seen as a priority to make a $40 million movie about a villain origin story.” The film’s plot supposedly revolved around Deathstroke in Washington D.C. battling government agents and had “more of a Tom Clancy ripped from the headlines sort of story, or even like a Bourne Identity where it was going to be really grounded, and political with military drama,” Manganiello said.
Source: Toys Wonderland (1, 2)
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