Two of the greatest mercenaries in the DC universe are set to collide in an upcoming movie. Bane and Deathstroke. Bane is a deadly, greatly enhanced and cunningly smart brute, with an army acting as his dedicated servants. Deathstroke is former soldier who is enhanced himself with excellent understanding of war tactics, martial arts, and weapons. Whenever they set their sights on an enemy, it isn’t pretty for the enemy. And a hard time for their greatest enemy; Batman. This pairing makes a great one but the movie has just been announced so nothing of it has been released. Yet, that leaves room for speculation. Speculation on what the movie could be about. With some of the top mercenaries sharing the screen, this movie should not be overlooked. Bane and Deathstroke are arguably some of the most iconic villains in the DC universe. And since they are coming together, which mission is sending them on a collision course?
Because Bane and Deathstroke are mercenaries, the story will obviously lean toward that. Someone or some people are going to hire each of the men. There’s going to be a person that needs to be taken out or some type of object that needs to be collected or destroyed. It’ll be up to Bane or Deathstroke to get the job done or else they don’t get the cash. That is the inciting moment. Because two opposing forces are seeking the same result using two different means, those two means are set up to collide violently. But it opens up a question; who is Bane and Deathstroke going after if a person is their target?
The first person to come to mind is Batman of course. Bane and Deathstroke do have a history with the Dark Knight in the books. It’ll make sense for them to go after him in this movie. Since this Batman is a veteran, Deathstroke and Bane may even have a history with him within the new DCU already. It could add a little more layering to the story since it could be a revenge story as well. And since Batman makes enemies of the most corrupt, they want Batman taken out. Despite their efforts to hide from him, adapt to him, send their guys at him, Batman has proven that he is better than them. That creates desperation. That leads to looking for answers. Those answers are Bane and Deathstroke. Now, if some of Batman’s enemies (Falcone, Maroni, Black Mask, Hugo Strange) unleash Bane and Deathstroke on Batman, it creates something new in the superhero movie genre. This genre has been around strong for fifteen years. The key is to keep it fresh to keep it captivating. If this is the route the movie goes, true villains will serve as the protagonists while a true hero will serve as the antagonist. A technique that has been touched on but never fully embraced. Batman has always been depicted as an antagonistic force even when he is acting as a hero. So, to finally see that side of him through the lenses of his villains, will add new flavor to Batman and the superhero genre. While giving Deathstroke and Bane some empathy. And in addition, it breaks away from the ‘two opposing sides’ template. It will be a three-way fight; Bane vs Batman vs Deathstroke. It will force all three men, who are already similar to each other, fight a war on two fronts. A story telling technique in the superhero genre that is even rarer to see. What makes it better is that Bane and Deathstroke will appear they are fighting on the same side but with a big stack of cash waiting for them, they could easily put their deadly intentions on each other. This movie could be a very important chapter in the superhero genre because of these new, potential elements it could be adding.
If they are going after an item, this is where the title of the DCU’s first chapter could come into play to provide a hint. Gods and Monster invokes some ideas of magic and myths. No word on if there’s going to be a big bad in the first chapter or if there’s going to be a Justice League movie. Yet, with the name of Gods and Monsters, it could allow Darkseid to enter. One thing that Darkseid is on the constant search for is the Anti-Life equation. That’s something Bane and Darkseid could be hired to look for. Maybe Granny Goodness and Gordan Godfrey have taken on human form and have hired both Deathstroke and Bane to find the formula or evidence for it. Knowing how brutal the search can get, Darkseid’s devotees know that the mercenaries have the tenacity to survive. Or maybe, there’s rumors that Mother Boxes are on Earth and again Goodness and Godfrey hire Bane and Deathstroke them in. And once enough mother boxes are in their possession, they could bring Darkseid to Earth.
This could also be a story where they could just go after each other. It is very likely that they are already established. Their reputations are already in place. So perhaps, one of them was hired to do a job that negatively impact someone or some people. Then they hired the other mercenary to take out the one who completed the job. This puts them on a collision course. A fight for one’s life and a pretty good payday. It’ll be a mental cat and mouse game since both men have a strong sense of strategy. Then when they get personal, it would be brutal. They’re both great, well-trained fighters. It has the formula for having some of the best fight scenes in all of comic book films. And if this is the course the story goes, it’ll have a true villain vs a true villain conflict. An element that is again rarely used in comic book films.
Bane and Deathstroke have each been brought to life in live action. But what makes this new outing different, the characters now have a chance to been accurately portrayed. Deathstroke is seldomly portrayed as an accurate assassin as he is in the books. The movie could allow that. Tom Hardy and Christopher Nolan did a great job in bringing Bane to life, but some parts were left out. This movie could allow more accuracy. But what this movie shows more accurately is that the DCU is already making big changes compared to Marvel. Within the first chapter of the DCU run, fans are already getting a film that stars two villains. And with DC’s large and famous list of villains, a movie like this was inevitable. It has a lot of potential and lots of avenues to explore.
