DC Studios Is Bringing Bane and Deathstroke Together in a Movie, and Fans Already Have Opinions About the Writer
Few pairings in the DC villain roster feel as instantly combustible as Bane and Deathstroke, two characters defined by brutality, strategy, and an almost pathological drive to destroy anything that stands in their way. The announcement that DC Studios is actively developing a feature film around the two iconic Batman antagonists has been making the rounds, and it carries the kind of weight that gets comic book fans debating in comment sections for days.
Deathstroke, the superpowered mercenary also known as Slade Wilson, was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez and first appeared in “New Teen Titans” number two back in 1980. Originally conceived as a one-off villain for the teen heroes, he has since become one of DC’s most recognizable assassins, racking up appearances across animated series, live-action television, and the big screen. Bane arrived later, created by Chuck Dixon, Graham Nolan, and Dennis O’Neil, debuting in 1993 as a powerful crime lord raised in a South American prison who was eventually forced to undergo testing of a drug called venom that granted him extraordinary strength.
Now confirmed as the film’s screenwriter, Matthew Orton, who contributed to ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ has been tapped to write the Bane and Deathstroke project for DC Studios, according to an insider, with no director currently attached. Orton’s path to this assignment runs through both studios in the superhero space. He launched his career writing the Nazi hunter thriller ‘Operation Finale,’ then served as a writer and consulting producer on the Marvel Studios series ‘Moon Knight,’ and co-wrote the upcoming thriller ‘Hostage.’
The hiring has not landed without some turbulence from fans. ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, earning a 46% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 5.4 out of 10, and audiences gave it the lowest CinemaScore of any MCU film to date. Because of that reception, some DC fans are questioning whether Orton is the right person to handle a movie featuring two of the company’s biggest villains, especially at a time when audiences have become more selective after years of superhero releases dominating theaters.
The project has been gaining momentum since its initial announcement. Word of the film first emerged in September 2024 under the James Gunn and Peter Safran-led DC Studios, and by May 2026, Deadline reported exclusively that Greg Mottola, who helmed episodes of ‘Peacemaker,’ had emerged as a frontrunner to potentially direct, with others also in the mix. Jeff Sneider also weighed in, noting that Ilya Naishuller, the director of ‘Nobody’ and ‘Hardcore Henry,’ is another contender for the chair. The scope of the project itself remains deliberately open-ended. Sources close to the project indicated early on that while the two characters would appear in the film, it remains unclear whether they will function as the central figures or as part of a larger ensemble.
Bane’s last live-action appearance on the big screen came in the 2012 film ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ with Tom Hardy in the role, while Deathstroke was set to be played by Joe Manganiello in the Zack Snyder line of DC films before those projects were ultimately retooled. Both characters carry enormous fan investment, which means every development decision is being watched closely. Whether Orton can shake off the ‘Brave New World’ shadow and deliver something worthy of two of DC’s most dangerous antagonists is the question this early corner of the internet cannot stop asking, and it would be great to hear where you land: do you think pairing Bane and Deathstroke makes for a genuinely compelling movie premise, or does this feel like a team-up that only works on paper?
