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Is Manu Bennett Really Returning As Slade Wilson/ Deathstroke on Arrow’s Season Finale?

Between its incredible fight scenes, storytelling and flashbacks, this season of Arrow has been glorious! We’ve seen betrayals, Earth-2 resurrections, and our hero pushed to his absolute limits against not one, but two incredible villains! It’s hard to imagine things getting any crazier. Well…. Strap in.

Manu Bennett is supposedly returning to Arrow as Slade Wilson/ Deathstroke!!!

This news was first revealed on Amell’s Twitter citing “desperate times call for desperate measures”. Full details on the return obviously haven’t been revealed yet, but could this tweet hint at Oliver enlisting Slade’s help in taking on Prometheus and Talia?

The last time we saw Deathstroke was in Season 3 when Oliver and Thea traveled to Lian Yu, where he was still being held in an ARGUS prison. Has Slade recovered from the adverse mental effects of Mirakuru? What could Oliver possibly offer Slade to have him help him rather than join the growing forces of Team We Hate Oliver?

Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim later added some details to this developing story revealing the title for Episode #523 being “Lian Yu” and adding that Manu’s return as Slade Wilson is just one of the surprises in store for the Season Finale. Another previously revealed twist was Black Siren returning for the final two episodes in order to set up her Season 6 series regular status.

Though things got much more confusing after Manu Bennett tweeted this:

Well… that’s a buzz kill. In fact, Manu also replied to Stephen’s initial tweet with “WTF?????”. Although considering both Stephen Amell and Marc Guggenheim tweeted at him with their reveals, either Manu is definitely returning to the show and is just being silly, OR Stephen and Marc are trolling him. Though upon a closer look at the tweet, notice how Manu doesn’t say he’s “not going back TO Arrow” but rather “FOR”. Is this him saying he’s going back FOR the fans as opposed to ‘for the series’. Or maybe he’s saying he’s not going back FOR Oliver/ Arrow but rather FOR Prometheus. Or maybe this whole thing is a cautionary tale on social media reveals and we’re reading into this way too much…

Regardless, Deathstroke is set to return in this Season Finale. Whether or not Manu will be a part of it – or if it’ll just be a stunt double in a costume – remains to be seen. Though Entertainment Weekly claims to have confirmed the actor is INDEED returning. Did they in fact confirm it or have they been taken for a ride too? We should know soon and you can be sure Fan Fest News will stay on top of all these developments. Stay tuned for more details!

UPDATE – 4/11

Manu Bennet just tweeted that he is not the Deathstroke filming currently in Vancouver as he is in Auckland. So case closed right? Well, rumor has it that since Manu Bennett is indeed busy filming in Auckland, he will not be in the Deathstroke costume, BUT will swing by for some out of costume scenes and to provide the voice over. Is it the Arrow Season Finale yet, because this back and forth is reminding me why I have trust issues lol

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