Could Manu Bennett return during Arrow season 5? The Deathstroke signs

If you had asked us if Manu Bennett was returning to Arrow after the 100th episode, our answer would’ve been somewhere between “no” and “hell no.” Remember for a minute that the show used Deathstroke, but only in stunt-double form as the actor was back in New Zealand at around the time. He is a busy guy, given that he films The Shannara Chronicles in addition to being active on the convention circuit, but there was also this sentiment that Bennett himself was not altogether interested in coming back to the show. After all, he’d made comments at conventions about being disappointed in the way Slade Wilson was neutered effectively back in season 3, and he also developed a tendency of trolling the show hard on social media.

Personally, we’ve always found Bennett’s comments towards the show (at least since the convention comments) to be theater. He’s a smart guy, and he knows very well that people pay attention to that sort of stuff. Often, some of the comments he makes, including some recent ones he made in response to a Stephen Amell Twitter photo, are in character as Deathstroke rather than as Manu.

Do we think that some of the recent Twitter shade on Bennett’s part is a sign that he’s coming back to the show? Maybe. You’ve got the Deathstroke mask, and given that Oliver is returning to Lian Yu in the flashbacks, that will conjure up Slade’s memory if nothing else.

We do also have this quote that Bennett gave recently to Digital Spy, one that makes it clear that a return is a possibility even still:

“[There are] a lot of fans wanting Deathstroke back … If Deathstroke shows up again on Arrow, everyone will be a lot happier if they didn’t know [in advance].”

In this same interview Bennett reiterated his sentiment about the end of Slade’s story, though he conceded that the internet “exacerbated” the comments to make it look more of an attack on the producers than he meant for it to be.

Given that Slade is one of the show’s best villains, bringing him back would be a wonderful move for the show to generate some further excitement. Not only that, but it would enrich a story that already has another great villain in Adrian Chase / Prometheus. We already said earlier today that Josh Segarra should get some Emmy consideration for the performance.

Oh, and here’s one other tease as to why this could be happening…

Do you want to see Manu Bennett return as Deathstroke on Arrow this season? Do you think that it’ll actually happen? Share now in the comments! (Photo: The CW.)