Titans rumors: What you need to know from Jericho to The Judas Contract

Deathstroke (2016) #26 – cover. Photo Credit: DC Comics.

So… why does Deathstroke hate the Titans?

Other than being a grumpy old man who can’t get over the fact that his kids don’t want to join the somewhat murderous family business (unless they’re manipulated, by Slade, an event on Azarath, or anything else), Deathstroke blames the team for Grant and Jericho’s deaths (at least for a moment in time).

Sure, the introductory conflict in the Teen Titans (2003) comic paints Slade as a scorned, but misguided, antihero, who suddenly wants to intimidate, punch, and shoot the Teen Titans until he convinces them to give up their heroic endeavors for good. He might seem like he’s heartbroken over having to kill his own son, but it turns out he’s just being possessed by Jericho (thanks to his body-leaping abilities).

The mission to avenge his son has always been there, though. The first Ravager, Grant, dies fighting the Titans while he was working the H.I.V.E. contract. Inheriting the contract and getting a chance for vengeance against the team, whom he holds accountable for his son’s death, is just an added bonus to Slade’s contract work. Even after he finishes the contract, Deathstroke still made it his personal mission to defeat the Teen Titans every now and then.

Since Slade does sometimes help the team of teens, at least conditionally, he doesn’t necessarily hate the Titans. It’s mostly just business, after all. Regardless, there’s no doubt that we’ll see a similar conflict on the series.

The contract also brought us Nightwing

In the foreword to The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Marv Wolfman and George Perez note that the contract birthed Dick Grayson’s new heroic alias as Nightwing. Deathstroke and company’s on-screen saga probably won’t kick off with The Judas Contract immediately — after all, the contract needs time to unfold and mesh with the show’s current events. However, Slade Wilson’s introduction could be the breakthrough Dick needs to finally reinvent his heroic persona. (You know, once Trigon stops possessing him.)

Speaking of Trigon, Deathstroke’s entrance as the main antagonist on the series doesn’t mean we won’t see Trigon again. Unless the on-screen team somehow finds a way to defeat Trigon permanently in season 2, we’ll probably see another unexpected demonic encounter in the future.

As ScreenRant reports, the first season of Titans progressively gained more viewership as the series went on. Now that a canon Titans nemesis and potentially two more sometimes Titans members are rumored to join the series, we can only expect the season 2 premiere to gain even more popularity. We’re thankful for that because we want the series to succeed — so that we can continue watch Titans beyond its second season.