'Arrow's' Manu Bennett Upped to Series Regular for Season 2 (Exclusive)

The CW

"Arrow's" Stephen Amell and Manu Bennett

The CW's Arrow continues to bulk up for season two.

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The series has promoted Manu Bennett to series regular for its recently announced second season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.

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On the network's adaptation of DC Comics' long-running title, Bennett plays Slade Wilson -- who in the comics ultimately becomes Arrow's villain Deathstroke. Producers have been cagey about whether Bennett would follow his comic book counterpart and transform into the famed villain; the show has featured multiple Deathstrokes during its freshman run.

Exec producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim thus far have written Slade as an ally to Stephen Amell's Oliver, appearing in Arrow's flashbacks to their time on the island.

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Bennett joins Colton Haynes (Roy Harper) and Emily Bett Rickards (Ollie's IT whiz Felicity Smoak) as series regulars for Arrow's second season. He's currently wrapping the third and final season of Starz's Spartacus, where he plays Crixus. Repped by Sanders Armstrong Caserta Management, Bennett also stars as Azog in all three Hobbit films.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit