Yesterday evening, the news broke that DC Studios is developing a Bane & Deathstroke (Deathstroke & Bane?) team-up movie from Captain America: Brave New World writer Matthew Orton.
For fans of the iconic villains, this came as an exciting development, even if it does seem a little odd for James Gunn and Peter Safran to seemingly be prioritising these two over the likes of Batman and Wonder Woman.
It didn't take long for some fans to point out that this feels like a blatant way to try and emulate Deadpool & Wolverine's success. However, there could be more to the project than meets the eye.
According to Deadline's report, "Exact plot details are still uncertain and sources also stressed the two characters would be in the movie but it’s unclear if they would be the central figures of the project."
In other words, it may not be a feature revolving solely around the two Batman villains. While there's a slim chance Orton is secretly working on The Brave and the Bold or Teen Titans, there are rumblings among social media's scoopers that this movie is, in fact, Secret Six.
"Secret Six" is a moniker that has been used by a few different teams in the DC Universe. The original version was a group of adventurers blackmailed into working together by their mysterious leader Mockingbird.
"Villains United" later introduced a new version consisting solely of supervillains. This team was put together by Lex Luthor posing as Mockingbird to take down the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and they used the House of Secrets as their base.
There are at least some similarities between them and the Suicide Squad/Task Force X, but given Gunn's love of that team and his interest in having villains team up (and, as he's done with Peacemaker and Bloodsport, revealing they're not all bad) Secret Six makes sense.
It's clearly still very early days for this project, anyway, and as it wasn't mentioned on DC Studios' "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" slate, it could be a "Chapter 2" project meant for the next wave of DCU storytelling.
Bane was born in the fictional Caribbean prison of Peña Duro where he was forced to serve a life sentence from birth. Using a drug called Venom to enhance his physical power, his most iconic feat came when he "broke the Bat."
Deathstroke, a.k.a. Slade Wilson, is a highly skilled mercenary and assassin who gained enhanced strength, agility, and intelligence through a government experiment. Known for his tactical genius and expert combat skills, he's targeted many heroes over the years, including Batman and the Teen Titans.
Would you like to see a Secret Six movie in the DCU?