Slade Wilson is not a good man.

The world’s most effective assassin, he’s responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of people. So what on earth is he doing assembling a new team of heroes?

Slade’s recent experience attempting to save his son Grant has left him a changed man, determined to leave his murderous ways behind. But is he for real? Can he be trusted?

You certainly can’t fault any of the people in his life for wondering just that in this week’s DEATHSTROKE #21 by Christopher Priest, Diogenes Neves, Jason Paz and Jeromy Cox. None are questioning his motives more than his ex-wife, Adeline, who is actually responsible for obtaining the funding and government resources for his team. Adeline established the team for their son, Joey Wilson, to allow the still developing young hero to gain some leadership experience. Joey, however, seems more interested in learning what really happened to his murdered fiancée—something Slade has falsely claimed responsibility for.

Yes, Rose Wilson is onboard with this new team as well, along with Tanya Spears and Wally West—better known by all as Power Girl and Kid Flash. However, for Wally, at least, it comes with more than a few reservations…

As for Slade, so far he seems pretty sincere about this dramatic new direction, and is eager to give the team their first field test. But finding a good one proves to be a challenge, forcing Deathstroke to step into his former role as an assassin one final (or so he claims) time. Slade hunts down and kills a chauffeur working for the authoritarian president of the tiny island nation of Chetlan. When it’s revealed the chauffeur had a background as a ruthless drug dealer and was carrying out a longtime affair with the president’s wife, it ignites an international crisis as the president blames America for the assassination, seizes the American embassy and takes the Americans there hostage.

The United States alerts the Justice League, but Slade asks them to stand down because…well…

Yes, Defiance! A super team for a super uncertain era. Perhaps most remarkable of all is that with Jericho, Ravager, Kid Flash and Power Girl all among its members, Slade’s actually put together  a potentially great team. One that could go toe-to-toe with, if not the Justice League, then many of the other super-teams to be found within the DCU.

However, it turns out that’s not the complete lineup. Adeline has invited one other former associate of Deathstroke’s to join the team, and well, she and Slade have some complex history.

Yep. That just happened. Terra is a part of the team as well. But what does her seeming loyalty to Adeline and Adeline’s vow to “end Deathstroke forever” mean for Slade and Defiance? We’ll all have to wait until this intriguing new storyline continues in next month’s DEATHSTROKE #22 to find out!