Fans of the DC superhero Batman have recently been looking for a hidden villain in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. Starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, the beloved film series introduced multiple adversaries of the superhero, from Scarecrow, The Joker, and Bane to the likes of Harvey Dent and Talia Al Ghul.
However, a new fan-made image has sparked speculation among fans, suggesting that the final installment in the trilogy might have included another villain, Deathstroke, with a CIA agent role, portrayed by the Irish actor Aidan Gillen in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises.
Did Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises feature Deathstroke?
Each film in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy focuses on a Batman villain. Along with the lead antagonist, the filmmaker also utilized other Batman villains in the film series. And fans are now looking for some DC villains that they believe Nolan had incorporated subtly into the trilogy.
One such discussion has recently emerged regarding the hidden appearance of DC villain Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, in The Dark Knight Rises. The opening sequence of the film features Aidan Gillen’s brief appearance as a CIA agent, who questions Bane and his henchmen in the plane.
Recently, an ID featuring Gillen’s character from the film has gone viral on the internet, detailing his background. It states the CIA agent’s name as William Joseph Wilson, who goes by an alias of ‘Slade,’ suggesting that his character could have been Deathstroke in Nolan’s The Dark Knight universe.
The image seemed convincing enough for many fans, as Aiden’s character is not named in the film, but rather referred to as CIA. However, he was later revealed to be Bill Wilson in the novelization of The Dark Knight Rises. No further information about the character has been made available
The image that has been circulating on the internet, is fan-made, which has confused fans familiar with Nolan’s penchant for incorporating characters into the trilogy, from Killer Croc to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake, who later reveals his real name to be Robin.
Fans React to the Iconic Batman Villain’s Alleged Appearance in The Dark Knight Rises
The viral fan-made image, suggesting Aidan Gillen as Deathstroke, has received mixed reactions. While some directly dismissed it as fake, asserting that Gillen wasn’t cast as Deathstroke in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, others found the image to be genuine, believing that Gillen might have indeed portrayed a version of Deathstroke in the film series.
Yeah this is just as bad as “real name Robin”
— вгапdоп 🇮🇹🇵🇷 (@noiisserpmii) May 22, 2024
William Wilson? Nope, Salde Wilson is Deathstroke and I think Nolan or someone clarified that just because this character's last name is Wilson that does not make him Deathstroke
— The Mighty Wolfie (@TheMightyWolfie) May 22, 2024
And people were thinking i made this up 😭
— sabrina 🦇 (@nightwaynes) May 22, 2024
Wait so not only there was robin in this but also deathstroke and deathstroke just dies
Dayum, I kind wish Nolan did 4th entry but I know he hated doing similar movies 3 times— Damian (@wielku) May 22, 2024
For those saying he wasn’t slade. pic.twitter.com/1iAMtXXUrl
— 🔪 Cody Fandom 🩸 (@CodyFandom_) May 22, 2024
No, in the movie credits hes only credited as "CIA Agent" or "CIA Op", all the stuff that are not in the movies (or the bonus features, like the Gotham Tonight News) are not actually canon
— Jaziel (@JAZ1ELL) May 22, 2024
Echoing this sentiment, one fan shared their criticism for the inconsistency in character naming within the film series. They noted how the film uses an alias ‘Robin’ as a real name for Gordon-Levitt’s character, but uses Deathstroke’s real name, Slade, as an alias for Gillen’s character. “Yeah this is just as bad as “real name Robin,” one X (Twitter) user said. reacting to the claim.
The claim about the surprise appearance from the DC villain has received skeptical reactions from fans, while some also expressed their hopes for a fourth installment in the beloved trilogy, potentially seeing Batman against Deathstroke.
The Dark Knight Trilogy is available to stream on Max.
