Arrow fans’ dreams came true when Manu Bennett's Deathstroke came back into the picture for the Season 5 finale. Fans rejoiced even more when it was confirmed Deathstroke did not die when Lian Yu exploded and even more when Marc Guggenheim revealed at SDCC Deathstroke would return for a two episode arc involving flashbacks in Arrow Season 6.
Now, DC fans have reason for another round of applause. Entertainment Weekly exclusively confirmed The CW cast Lucifer alum Liam Hall as Joe Wilson -- Deathstroke’s son. If you remember in the finale, Oliver promised Slade he’d help find his son, Joe, in exchange for helping him defeat Prometheus.
“The son of one of the Green Arrow’s greatest foes, Joe Wilson, has followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the secret Australian military agency, A.S.I.S. After years of brutal combat, Joe now finds himself in a remote Kasnian prison under the alias, Kane Wolfman, fighting for his life.”
Joe Wilson’s existence is intriguing because we met a potential version of Deathstroke’s son, Grant Wilson, on Legends of Tomorrow during the year 2046. In the episode, Grant Wilson continued his father’s legacy as Deathstroke and overtook Star City. The potential future version of Oliver’s Green Arrow went into hiding after losing to Deathstroke, which prompted John Diggle’s son, Connor Hawke, to become the new Green Arrow. In the end, the Legends convinced Oliver to put back on his suit and join forces with Connor Hawke to take down Grant Wilson. After they won back Star City, Oliver passed on the Green Arrow name to Connor Hawke.
In present day, Deathstroke has never mentioned a son named Grant, only Joe. Flashpoint could have something to do with this. After all, the event caused John Diggle to have a son, John Diggle Jr., instead of a daughter. Or perhaps Deathstroke could have both, like in the comics. This could be a story that has yet to be told. If that’s the case, there will likely be clues in the flashback storyline from Deathstroke’s perspective.
In the comics, Joe Wilson went by Jericho. As a metahuman, he can possess others and physically take control of their body. Jericho cannot speak, unless he is doing it through someone else, because The Jackal (one of his father’s enemies) cut his throat. Jericho also went on to join Teen Titans. Slade Wilson is also the father of Rose Wilson and Grant Wilson, who both continued their father's legacy as Ravager in the comics.
While the Mirakuru drug that made Slade lose control of himself, kill Oliver’s mom, and go on a violent rampage that eventually landed him in the Lian Yu supermax has worn off, that doesn’t necessarily mean he and Ollie will be best pals again. Slade even says in Season 2, “It’s not the mirakuru that made me hate you.” According to executive producer Marc Guggenheim, we can’t rule out the possibility of Deathstroke going rogue again.
“We are dealing with a Slade Wilson in possession of all of his marbles. But to me, what makes the character so interesting is he’s never black or white, pure good or pure evil he’s complicated so to me he’s a character that it’s not that he’s beyond redemption, you just never know what you're going to get with him,” Guggenheim said in a video interview with Collider.
Needless to say, there’s a lot riding on this two-part Deathstroke arc that will unfold in the fifth and sixth episodes of Season 5. If Deathstroke only has one son, Joe, it could mean that terrible future where Star City falls will never happen. Or, Deathstroke and Oliver could have some sort of fallout that holds that leaves that dismal future intact.
