The strange ballad of Manu Bennett and his on-again-off-again reprisal of the villainous Deathstroke in Arrow concludes (at least, we hope so) with what appears to be official confirmation that the Kiwi actor will indeed return as Slade Wilson for the upcoming season 5 finale of the CW series.
A couple of days ago, star Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) took to social media to welcome Bennett back to the show with an image of Deathstroke’s helmet. Obviously, fans took this to mean that it was a done deal – but Bennett himself then chimed in, somewhat aggressively stating that he was not returning, and that whoever was filming scenes as the fan-favorite character couldn’t be him since he’s currently shooting the second season of The Shannara Chronicles in his native New Zealand.
However, it’s now been officially confirmed (via Comicbook.com) that Bennett will indeed be back as Deathstroke for the season finale of Arrow. So, what the heck is going on? Well, it’s possible that Bennett’s agent forgot to inform the actor that his return was about to be made public knowledge (hence the intensity of his attempted refutation), or this has all simply been planned out in advance to drum up some extra publicity for the finale.
Whatever the case may be, we’ll be seeing Bennett back under the mask as Deathstroke when the Arrow season 5 finale, “Lian Yu,” airs on May 24.