After far too long apart, Batman and Deathstroke will soon face off again in 2020, with a new story arc written by James Tynion IV and art by Tony S. Daniel and Danny Miki. While a fight between Bruce Wayne and Slade Wilson doesn’t happen often in comics, when these two legendary fighters do occasionally engage in fisticuffs, comic nerds tend to take notice. And with both characters being put through the wringer in their own respective books of late, it will be interesting to see how these two battle-hardened men act when thrown into a direct confrontation… and who will walk away the worse for wear.
After a long and arduous war with the venom-pumping luchador known as Bane—a feud that not only wrecked Bruce’s engagement with Selina Kyle in Batman #50, but also led to Alfred Pennyworth’s neck snapped—the Dark Knight really ought to take a vacation (or three). But this is Gotham, and evil never rests in the city Batman calls home. And while the Caped Crusader has beaten Deathstroke in the past, he has also lost to the world’s greatest assassin multiple times as well, so this is unlikely to be a one-issue fight.
DC recently released a cover of Batman #86 along with the rest of its January 2020 solicitations, which depicts Deathstroke with a blood-soaked sword pummeling an injured Dark Knight. Two other characters are seen on the cover, presumably the sword-swinging femme-fatale Cheshire and the bow-wielding assassin Merlyn. According to the solicitation, Deathstroke has a contract that involves new plans for Gotham, which was previously under occupation by Bane and his criminal associates. Take a look:
But Batman isn’t the only one to have gone through a rough spell. Wilson had been presumed dead courtesy of an arrow through the eye shot by Emiko Queen, the Red Arrow. Deathstroke narrowly survived the encounter thanks to his healing factor, and has been laying low as a nurse. In Deathstroke #48 a new, Darth Vader-esque Deathstroke emerges with new armor and a bone to pick with the Legion of Doom. How this Deathstroke will factor in to Batman #86 is currently unknown. But near death or not, they don’t call Slade “the Terminator” because he does a good Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. If Deathstroke is coming to Gotham, he’ll be coming fully loaded.
It isn’t surprising that writer James Tynion is opening his new story arc with a heavy-hitter like Slade Wilson. Tom King’s 85 issue run of Batman threw everything but the kitchen sink at Bruce Wayne. Not only did King humanize Batman by depicting surprisingly vulnerable moments between Bruce and his “bat-family,” but he raised the stakes so unfathomably high, it’s hard to imagine any writer being able to take over now that he’s leaving the series. Even Batman’s father from the Flashpoint reality, Thomas Wayne, shows up to beat his son into the dirt. How do you top all that with your first issue? Sending in Deathstroke the Terminator to raise hell in Gotham is a good start.
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