The DCU’s Deathstroke and Bane movie has a director you’ll never see coming

A new report suggests that Greg Mottola, the director of Superbad, could direct a film for James Gunn’s DC Studios.

On May 8, Deadline reported that Greg Mottola is the frontrunner to direct a movie featuring Deathstroke and Bane, written by Matthew Orton. Mottola previously directed two episodes of Peacemaker’s second season, but this report was still surprising for multiple reasons. Namely, we’ve yet to see much traction with The Brave and the Bold— the Batman movie set in the DCU — has yet to gain much traction, and Mottola is a director more commonly associated with comedy than with action.

Deathstroke and Bane are often more serious characters within the DC Comics canon, although more comedic versions of the pair have appeared in Teen Titans Go and Harley Quinn, respectively. We’ve seen both in live action before, too. Tom Hardy portrayed Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, and Joe Manganiello briefly appeared as Deathstroke in both Joss Whedon’s and Zack Snyder’s versions of Justice League.

Although a team-up film featuring Bane and Deathstroke has been rumored since 2024, it’s difficult to predict exactly what a movie starring the pair of villains will be about, considering there’s no Batman DCU movie to use as a basis. Mottola’s involvement suggests that this Deathstroke and Bane movie could be a buddy comedy, which would be drastically different from Clayface, another Batman villain movie that fully embraces the horror genre.

Ultimately, we won’t learn much more until the project is officially acknowledged by James Gunn or Warner Bros. Deadline’s report even notes that a script has not yet been finalized, so plot details may still be in flux. Regardless, Mottola’s work on Peacemaker seems to have impressed DC Studios enough to net him a directing gig on a DCU feature film.

As of now, DC Studios officially has the following films slated for release in 2026 and 2027: Supergirl, Clayface, Man of Tomorrow, and The Batman Part 2.