Deadpool - WikiHQ

Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, the character first appeared as a supervillain in The New Mutants #98 (cover dated February 1991) before recurring throughout X-Force and receiving his first miniseries, The Circle Chase, in 1993. Deadpool received his first ongoing solo title in 1997 and has since starred in numerous series, including Cable & Deadpool (2004–2008), in which he is frequently paired with his former enemy Cable.

Deadpool is the persona of Wade Wilson, a disfigured Canadian mercenary who underwent an experimental procedure that grafted an artificial healing factor onto his cancer-ridden cells, granting him superhuman regenerative abilities at the cost of severe physical scarring and chronic mental instability. Originally conceived as a parody of the DC Comics villain Deathstroke, Deadpool was further shaped by Liefeld's admiration for Spider-Man and Wolverine, characters he sought to evoke with his own creations. In addition to his healing factor, Deadpool is a master assassin, an expert swordsman and marksman, and is fluent in multiple languages. Uniquely among Marvel characters, he is explicitly aware that he is a fictional comic book character, a trait he exploits to break the fourth wall for comedic effect.

The character's popularity has seen him featured in numerous other media outlets. In the 2004 series Cable & Deadpool, he refers to his own scarred appearance as "Ryan Renolds crossed with a Shar Pei". Reynolds developed an interest in portraying the character after reading the comic, which was ultimately realized in the X-Men film series, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Deadpool (2016), and its sequels Deadpool 2 (2018) and Marvel Cinematic Universe's Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

Publication history

Creation

thumb|upright|left|The character's co-creator, [[Rob Liefeld, holding up a copy of New Mutants #98, in which the character first appeared, during an appearance at JHU Comics in Manhattan held three days before the release of the film Deadpool (2016)]]

Deadpool was created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, making his first appearance in The New Mutants #98, published December 11, 1990 with a cover date of February 1991. Liefeld had joined The New Mutants in 1989, tasked with reviving a title that had fallen to approximately 100,000 monthly copies at a time when the core X-Men books were selling in the 500,000 range. Within months of his arrival, sales began climbing by roughly 50,000 copies per month, eventually approaching parity with the flagship X-Men series. Marvel rewarded this performance by granting Liefeld full creative control over plots and new characters, and The New Mutants #98 was his first issue exercising that authority.

The character's name was derived from an expression Liefeld heard from his parents: when a celebrity died, they believed two more deaths would follow in rapid succession, calling this scenario a "dead pool" and placing informal bets on the outcome. Liefeld was drawn to the sound of the combined term. The visual design followed: a red-and-black costume with ammunition pouches and a full-face mask with large oval eye apertures. Liefeld later acknowledged that the mask was directly inspired by his admiration for Spider-Man's design, which he described as easy to draw and instantly recognizable. Marvel acted on this quickly: Deadpool was selected as one of five characters to receive a trading card inserted into X-Force #1 (August 1991), the rebranded successor to The New Mutants with largely the same cast and creative team. Nicieza has cited his mother-in-law's battle with cancer as a personal influence on this aspect of the character, describing the hook as a blend of Bugs Bunny and Frankenstein: the thing that saved Wade's life also made him a pariah. Kelly recalled that editorial expected the series might last only six issues. Rather than following the action-centred direction of earlier development pitches, Kelly made the interplay of comedy and character depth the defining quality of his run. His central conception was of a character who "would like to do the right thing but is constitutionally incapable of pulling that off"; someone for whom doing good was a perpetual aspiration and a perpetual failure, with the universe reliably undermining any success.

Earlier portrayals had established Deadpool as a darkly humorous combatant in the mode of a wisecracking action hero. Kelly developed the character into something more unhinged: manic, free-associative, and given to extended comedic monologues that drew on contemporary pop culture and showed no regard for narrative propriety. Though the series provided substantial material for both characters, it consistently ranked near the lower end of the top 100 monthly comics by sales. It was cancelled with its fiftieth issue in 2008, replaced by a new Cable solo series. Nicieza incorporated significant fourth-wall material into the run, including monthly recap pages written in Deadpool's voice.

Resurgence (2008–2012)

With Cable & Deadpool concluded, Marvel editor Axel Alonso and writer Daniel Way, who had discussed the character's underperformance independently, collaborated on a new ongoing Deadpool series launched in September 2008, positioned as a tie-in to the publisher-wide "Secret Invasion" crossover event. Alonso's stated mandate was to foreground the "sophomoric, anarchic humor" he regarded as central to the character. Way's stated version of the brief was more succinct: the character had "flatlined," and the task was simply to generate reader interest. The series lasted twelve issues.

Marvel also published Deadpool titles through the Marvel Knights and MAX imprints: Deadpool: Wade Wilson's War, by Duane Swierczynski and Jason Pearson, and Deadpool MAX by David Lapham and Kyle Baker.

Deadpool vol. 2 was written by Daniel Way and drawn by Alé Garza. In the story arc "DEAD", Wade is "cured" of his healing ability and becomes mortal. As a side effect, he also has his old, unscarred face once again. Although he spent the majority of the story arc looking forward to dying, he suppresses his desires to protect his friend and sidekick Hydra Bob.

After he loses his healing factor, Wilson claims he felt "more alive than ever." However, after a harsh beating from the Intelligencia, Wade realized that he had let his ability to heal compensate for skill so he decided to ask for help from Taskmaster in training. Taskmaster asked Wilson to help him steal Pym Particles from S.H.I.E.L.D., but actually, he allowed Black Box to study Wade in order to prepare his vengeance against Wilson, even letting him know Deadpool lost his healing factor.

Wade managed to defeat Black Box, Black Tom and Black Swan, but in the process, his face was burned and disfigured again. Former FBI agent Allison Kemp wanted to get revenge on Deadpool because of his involvement in an accident which left her in a wheelchair, and she called other enemies of Deadpool such as T-Ray and Slayback and trained them to kill Deadpool. Deadpool infiltrated their base and managed to get T-Ray and Slayback killed when Kemp was about to kill herself in an explosion which would kill Wade in the process, he convinced her not to attack him. At that moment, he was surprised by the returned Evil Deadpool, who informed Wade that the serum they took was not permanent, which was why Wade's face did not heal or a finger he lost grew back, so Wade would return after Evil Deadpool shot him. Daniel Way's Deadpool series concluded with issue 63.

As part of Marvel's Marvel NOW! initiative, a new Deadpool ongoing series was launched. He is also a member of the Thunderbolts. In the 27th issue of his new series, as part of "All-New Marvel NOW!", Deadpool was married for the third time. Initially a secret, his bride was revealed in the webcomic Deadpool: The Gauntlet to be Shiklah, Queen of the Undead. Deadpool also discovers that he has a daughter, Eleanor, from a former flame named Carmelita.

During the events of "Original Sin", it was revealed that Deadpool was tricked into killing his parents by a scientist known as Butler (who abducted Eleanor and gave her to his brother); however, Deadpool does not know about it.

Much later, he clashed with Carnage, believing the universe was telling the latter to defeat him. After several fights and getting torn to pieces, Deadpool bonds with four symbiotes: Riot, Phage, Lasher and Agony. Playing mind games, Deadpool tricked Shriek by using his shapeshifting abilities to make her disoriented and having her flee. After the symbiotic Deadpool and Carnage fought again, Deadpool captures Shriek and forces her to impersonate himself, making it trick Carnage into almost killing her in the process. Feeling broken after a mental breakdown, Carnage allowed himself to be arrested and was placed in an unlocked cell. While sitting in the cell until he was his own self, Carnage swore vengeance on Deadpool. Deadpool, after defeating Carnage, gives the four symbiotes to a war dog who helped Deadpool fight Carnage to deliver them to the government.

During the "AXIS" storyline, Deadpool appears as a member of Magneto's unnamed supervillain group during the fight against Red Skull's Red Onslaught form. The group of villains becomes inverted to heroes, after a spell cast by Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom. This group was later named the Astonishing Avengers. This Deadpool, referred to as "Zenpool", was pivotal in turning Apocalypse to fighting the Inverted Avengers.

Deadpool's death occurs in Deadpool #250. Deadpool faces off in a final showdown with ULTIMATUM and Flag-Smasher, killing all of them, and gives up the "Deadpool" identity, wishing to have a better life. He, along with his family and friends, are all killed when the Earth collides with an alternate universe's Earth. Deadpool laments that the Secret Wars should have stayed an Avengers event, but then dies at peace, content that everybody else is dying with him.

All New, All Different Marvel

Eight months after the events of Secret Wars and the restoration of Earth, Deadpool is seen working for Steve Rogers. After stealing some potentially life-saving chemicals needed by an ailing Rogue, he is offered membership in the Avengers Unity Squad.

Deadpool Vol. 4 began in 2016. In the course of the following months, Deadpool's popularity skyrocketed after the mercenary Solo impersonated him to piggyback on Deadpool's reputation and take jobs at a higher pay rate. One of Solo's jobs in Washington, D.C. had Deadpool's public opinion drastically change for the better when he saved an ambassador from his telepathically manipulated agents. After learning of Solo's impersonation, Deadpool came up with the idea to form a group of mercenaries called the Mercs for Money to extend his reach across the globe. However, Deadpool's newfound popularity forced him to leave his family behind, fearing his enemies could endanger them. Deadpool additionally joined the Avengers Unity Division and used his popularity as a means of funding the team, with the profit from the merchandise.

Madcap additionally returned to Deadpool's life, though Wade was unaware his experience inside his mind left Madcap emotionally damaged and vengeful. Madcap initially posed as an ally, joining the Mercs for Money, but eventually showed his true intentions after he was discovered impersonating Deadpool to defame and threaten his loved ones. Seeing as he had had enough fun, Madcap used an alien weapon to molecularly disintegrate himself. For his second coming, the villain had Deadpool unwittingly become the carrier of a deadly airborne virus with which he infected his family. Wade found a cure, though had to resort to Cable's evil clone Stryfe to find it. Around this time, tensions between Shiklah's domain and the surface world sparked an invasion of Manhattan from Monster Metropolis, which in turn led to Shiklah divorcing Deadpool, opting to return to Dracula instead.

Not long after Wade joined the Avengers Unity Division, the real Steve Rogers was secretly supplanted by an evil fascist counterpart from another timeline that operated as a Hydra sleeper agent within the superhero community. When Phil Coulson became suspicious of Steve, Rogers convinced Deadpool to kill him, claiming that Coulson had gone rogue. A short time afterward, Captain America's machinations resulted in Hydra rising to power, taking over the United States of America. When Hydra's conquest had barely begun, Preston found out about Coulson's death and confronted Deadpool about it. The fight ended in Preston's death. As Hydra's empire grew stronger, Wade joined its own version of the Avengers out of blind loyalty for Captain America. Plagued by guilt, Wade held back when tasked with hunting down the rebel alliance known as the Underground and eventually helped, behind the scenes, to lay part of the foundation of Hydra's eventual defeat. With his mistakes costing the lives of two of his friends, the love of his daughter, and any respect the world had for him, Deadpool turned his back on what little remained of the life he had built.

In Deadpool (vol. 9), Deadpool adopts Princess, a symbiote and clone of Carnage who takes a hyena-like form.

Characterization

Personality

Deadpool is aware that he is a fictional comic book character. He commonly breaks the fourth wall, which is done by few other characters in the Marvel Universe, and this is used to humorous effect, for instance, by having Deadpool converse with his own "inner monologue", represented by caption boxes. In stories by writer Daniel Way between 2008 and 2012, Deadpool was, without explanation, shown to have developed a second "voice in his head", represented by a second set of captions with a different font; Deadpool vol. 3 Annual #1 (2014) would retroactively explain that this voice belonged to Madcap, a psychotic Captain America villain, who had become molecularly entangled with Deadpool.

The character's back-story has been presented as vague and subject to change, and within the narrative, he is unable to remember his personal history due to a mental condition. Whether or not his name was even Wade Wilson is subject to speculation since one of his nemeses, T-Ray, claims in Deadpool #33 that he is the real Wade Wilson and that Deadpool is a vicious murderer who stole his identity. There have been other dubious stories about his history—at one point the supervillain Loki claimed to be his father. Frequently, revelations are later retconned or ignored altogether, and in one issue, Deadpool himself joked that whether or not he is actually Wade Wilson depends on which writer the reader prefers.

Deadpool is depicted as having a regenerative healing factor, which not only prevents him from being permanently injured through enhanced cell regeneration throughout his body, but also causes psychosis and mental instability, as his neurons are also affected by the accelerated regeneration. It is thought that while his psychosis is a handicap, it is also one of his assets as it makes him an extremely unpredictable opponent. Taskmaster, who has photo-reflexive memory which allows him to copy anyone's fighting skills by observation, was unable to defeat Deadpool due to his chaotic and improvised fighting style. Taskmaster has also stated that Deadpool is an expert at distracting his opponents.

Deadpool has sometimes been portrayed to have a strong sense of core morality. In Uncanny X-Force, he storms out after Wolverine tries to rationalize Fantomex killing Apocalypse, who was at the time in a child form. After Wolverine argues that Deadpool is motivated solely by money, Archangel reveals that Deadpool never cashed any of his checks.

Sexual orientation

In December 2013, Deadpool was confirmed as being pansexual by Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan via Twitter. However, this post on Twitter has since been deleted by Gerry Duggan. When asked about Deadpool's sexuality, co-creator Fabian Nicieza stated, "Deadpool is whatever sexual inclination his brain tells him he is in THAT moment. And then the moment passes." Nicieza has also stated,

<blockquote>Not trying to be dismissive, but readers always want to 'make a character their own', and often that is to the exclusion of what the character might mean to other fans. I've been dogged with the DP sexuality questions for YEARS. It is a bit tiring. He is NO sex and ALL sexes. He is yours and everyone else's. So not dismissive, but rather the epitome of inclusive.</blockquote>

Powers and abilities

Deadpool's primary power is an accelerated healing factor, depicted by various writers at differing levels of efficiency. The speed of his healing factor depends on the severity of the wound and Deadpool's mental state. It works most efficiently when he is awake, alert, and in good spirits. Deadpool's accelerated healing factor is strong enough that he has survived complete incineration and decapitation more than once. Although his head normally has to be reunited with his body to heal a decapitation wound, he was able to regrow his head after having it pulverized by the Hulk in the graphic novel Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe.

Deadpool's brain cells are similarly affected, with dying neurons being rejuvenated at a super accelerated rate. This allows Deadpool to recover from any head wounds, and it renders him nearly invulnerable to psychic and telepathic powers, although this ability is inconsistent. It has been revealed that at the time his healing ability was given to him, Deadpool suffered from some form of cancer; after the healing factor was given to him, it made his normal cells as well as his cancerous cells unable to die, giving him a heavily scarred appearance beneath his suit.

Deadpool's body is highly resistant to most drugs and toxins, due to his accelerated healing factor. For example, it is extremely difficult for him to become intoxicated. He can be affected by certain drugs, such as tranquilizers if he is exposed to a large enough dosage. Unlike Wolverine, Deadpool has some degree of pain insensitivity, often referring to his gore and impalement injuries as being "ticklish".

Deadpool is effectively immortal, although he has died several times. He is still alive 800 years in the future when the new X-Force encounters him. In addition, Thanos once declared that Deadpool should "consider yourself cursed... with life!" out of jealousy over Deadpool's status as Death's love interest. His enemy T-Ray later resurrected him,

Deadpool is a highly trained assassin and mercenary. He is adept in multiple forms of martial arts, including Savate. Deadpool is an extraordinary athlete, and an expert swordsman and marksman. He is skilled in the use of multiple weapons, including katanas, knives, grenades, and guns. His accelerated healing factor may contribute to his abilities, allowing him to perform the intense exercise for extended periods of time with minimal aches and fatigue. Although in earlier years he was originally portrayed as having superhuman strength, he is no longer depicted as having this ability.

Over the years, Deadpool has owned a number of personal teleportation devices. Also, during Deadpool's first ongoing comic, he possesses a device that projected holographic disguises, allowing him to go undercover or conceal his appearance. Deadpool is multilingual, with the ability to speak fluently in German, Spanish, ASL, and Japanese, in addition to his native English.

Since Deadpool is aware that he is a fictional character,

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Deadpool was redubbed Dead Man Wade and reimagined as a bitter, humorless member of Apocalypse's Pale Riders, having received his flawed healing factor from Apocalypse's eugenics program. Sent with his team to invade the Savage Land, he attempted to unleash chaos upon the sanctuary but was killed by Nightcrawler, who teleported his head off his body and hid it in a crater. Later, Dead Man Wade was revealed to be resurrected like many of the other Alpha mutants.

Apocalypse Wars

In the Extraordinary X-Men Apocalypse Wars crossover, Deadpool is a Horseman of Apocalypse.

Captain America: Who Won't Wield the Shield

The World War II-era version of Deadpool is introduced in the one-shot parody issue Captain America: Who Won't Wield the Shield. Frederick "Wheezy" Wilson, the nephew of President Woodrow Wilson, is a soldier who is experimented on by the Nazis to become 'Veapon X'. Despite the nature of the story as a period piece, Wilson peppers his speech with anachronistic slang from the 1990s.

Deadpool Corps

Deadpool Killology

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

In the storyline Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, the X-Men send Deadpool to a mental hospital for therapy. The doctor treating him is actually Psycho-Man in disguise, who attempts to torture and brainwash Deadpool into becoming his personal minion. The procedure fails but leaves Deadpool even more mentally unhinged, erasing the "serious" and "Screwball" voices in his head and replacing them with a voice that only wants destruction. Under "Evil Voice's" influence, Deadpool develops a more nihilistic world view and as a result, after killing Psycho-Man by repeatedly smashing him against a desk, (and after he burns the hospital by using gasoline) he begins assassinating every superhero and supervillain on Earth, starting with the Fantastic Four and even killing the Watcher, in an apparent attempt to rebel against his comic book creators. The book ends with him breaking into the "real" world and confronting the Marvel writers and artists who are writing the book. He says to the reader that once he is done with this universe, "I'll find you soon enough."

Deadpool Killustrated

After the events of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Deadpool has killed many versions of Marvel superheroes and villains across the multiverse to no effect and comes to a conclusion that infinite alternate versions of the heroes and villains he killed exist. In the series, Deadpool hires a team of scientists to help him get rid of all Marvel characters. The Mad Thinker gives the Merc with a Mouth a device that transports him to the "Ideaverse", a universe that contains the classic characters that inspired Marvel characters. In each book, he hunts down and murders characters such as the Headless Horseman (who inspired the Green Goblin and Ghost Rider), the characters of Little Women (Black Widow, She-Hulk, Elektra), Captain Ahab (General Thunderbolt Ross), the Little Mermaid (Namor), Mowgli (Ka-Zar), Count Dracula (Marvel's Dracula, Morbius, Blade) and more. He also installs his own brain into Frankenstein's monster, giving his dark inner voice a body to help him with. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson enlist Beowulf, Hua Mulan and Natty Bumppo to stop him.

Deadpool Kills Deadpool

On April 4, 2013, Cullen Bunn revealed that, following the publication of Deadpool Killustrated, the next and last part of the "Deadpool Killology" is Deadpool Kills Deadpool, stating that the murderous, nihilistic Deadpool that appeared in Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe and Killustrated is now called "Dreadpool" and, in the series, he hunts down all versions of Deadpool, while "our" Deadpool, the light-hearted Merc With A Mouth, hunted down Dreadpool. Bunn stated that the Deadpool Corps appeared along with many other versions of Deadpool and new versions. The first book was released in July 2013. The first issue opens with Deadpool dealing with yet another attack by ULTIMATUM, after which the Deadpool Corps quickly ropes the titular character into the crisis. Over the course of the storyline, the Deadpool Corps is killed (not including Headpool, who was already killed prior to the events of the storyline), and it concludes in Issue #4, where Deadpool clashes with Dreadpool, who is eventually shown the error of his ways and killed by Deadpool in vengeance for causing the death of his friends. Somehow, the mainstream Deadpool finds his way back, but not before the reader is aware that Dreadpool is still alive and scheming.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again

In the storyline Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, in another universe diverging from the events of Wolverine: Old Man Logan, the villains of the world elect to use a brainwashed Deadpool instead of Wolverine to wipe out the X-Men, and in-turn all the other heroes of the world. Once Mr. Knight's assistant Gwen Poole realises what is going on, just after Deadpool has killed every hero in the alternative continuity but for her, she makes a sacrifice play and uses his trigger word to set him against the villains instead.

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth

Several alternate incarnations of Deadpool are introduced in the series Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth. Attempting to return Headpool to the Marvel Zombies universe, Deadpool encounters multiple versions of himself as they exist in other universes, including a female version of himself named Lady Deadpool, Major Wade Wilson, a militant but sane version of Deadpool, and The Deadpool Kid (KidPool), a cowboy version of Deadpool who exists within a universe resembling the Wild West.

Deadpool Pulp

Deadpool Pulp is a four-issue limited series from writers Mike Benson and Adam Glass and artist Laurence Campbell, with Deadpool set in the 1950s drawing on pulp fiction (similar to the Marvel Noir fictional universe). This version of Wade is a World War II veteran broken by torture who is recruited by Generals Cable and Stryfe to take down the traitor Outlaw. This version retains his twin katanas and wears a ninja style mask.

Deadpool: Samurai

In the manga series Deadpool: Samurai, which takes place on Earth-346, Deadpool travels to Japan and joins Samurai Squad, the Japanese division of the Avengers. While he is a member of Samurai Squad, Deadpool battles villains such as Loki and Thanos.

"Heroes Reborn"

In an alternate reality depicted in the 2021 Heroes Reborn miniseries, Deadpool is the mallet-wielding sidekick of the Goblin and an enemy of Nighthawk.

House of M

In the House of M reality, Wade Wilson was a field commander and active agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. During one of his missions, Agent Wilson contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. They had to patch him through the TB-Link satellite to communicate with him.

Hulked-Out Heroes

Appearing first in Hulk vol. 2 #21, Deadpool is "hulked-out" near the end of the Fall of the Hulks storyline. A two-part miniseries called, World War Hulks: Hulked Out Heroes followed Hulkpool as he travels back in time to kill himself, disrupting the origin stories of many heroes as he goes.

Identity Wars

When Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Hulk went to another universe, Deadpool found Death Wish who looked like Deadpool but the red part of his costume was green. Deadpool and Death Wish started hanging out with each other and having a lot of fun until Wade Wilson of this universe named Death Mask came in and killed Death Wish who was revealed to be the Victor von Doom of this universe gone crazy. Then Deadpool vowed revenge against Death Mask for killing Death Wish and killed all of the members of Death Mask's group. After that Deadpool defeated Death Mask by throwing a bomb at him, which knocked him out. Deadpool started impersonating Death Mask until he and the other Heroes went back to their universe.

Marvel 2099

In the potential future of Marvel 2099, Deadpool is Warda Wilson, the daughter of Wade and Shiklah. She collaborates with a gang inspired by Hydra Agent Bob and is wanted by the police. She has taken an older Wade prisoner and forces him to watch political debates while chained up, angered that he has ruined her life and hopes she can use him to find her mother. Wade reveals he and Shiklah had a falling out after the death of Ellie, which led to a battle between the two former lovers in Hell. The new Deadpool is also being pursued by a woman who wears a costume that looks like Wade's "Zenpool" identity from Axis. The mysterious woman rescues Wade and gives him access to her bike to a hologram Preston. She then battles Warda and is revealed to be an alive Ellie, who plans to reclaim the Deadpool name. Wade and Preston break into the old hideout of the Uncanny Avengers for Wade to gear up. Warda and Ellie continue fighting until Warda reveals she will unleash a demonic monster unless Ellie does not get Wade to confess where Shiklah is. After Wade and Preston reunite with Ellie, Wade tells Ellie to search for Shiklah's casket at Doc Samson's grave while he and Preston then go to the Little Italy of 2099 to seek the help of one of the few heroes alive in this time period: Iron Fist.

The heroes and Danny's Iron Fists confront Warda in Madison Star Garden, where the Iron Fists fend off the giant monster while Wade tries to prevent his daughters from fighting by promising to tell Warda where Shiklah is. Despite his plea, Warda murders Ellie with liquid napalm and takes Wade to the sewer to interrogate him, where Wade reveals that Ellie's mutant ability is to regenerate all at once into her teenage body, allowing her to survive Warda's attack. After Wade, Preston, and Ellie defeat Warda, Wade tells her that he and Shiklah had an on-and-off-again relationship, but were always on the path for war which eventually resulted in her death, as on Earth, those who refuse to co-exist cease to exist (with Wade bringing up the Skrulls to support his point). He implants Preston into Warda's head so she can aid Warda in clearing her conscious and becoming a better person and tells his daughters that they can both be Deadpool. He later tells Ellie that he now plans to travel the world and rid the planet of his old enemies and that Shiklah's resting place is in a shrunken glass coffin located on top of his heart.

Marvel 2997

In Messiah War Deadpool is locked in a freezer for eight hundred years. When he escapes he is captured by the armed forces of the few surviving humans left. He helps Cable to get Hope Summers back from Stryfe who is later revealed to be inside this version of Deadpool's head. After seemingly defeating Stryfe, this version of Deadpool is quickly ripped in half and appears to die shortly after, his last words being a joke on "severance" pay.

Marvel Zombies

In the first Marvel Zombies limited series, a zombie version of Deadpool is seen fighting the Silver Surfer. The zombie Deadpool eventually loses his body and appears as a disembodied head beginning in Marvel Zombies 3. This incarnation of Deadpool, frequently referred to as Headpool, entered the mainstream Marvel continuity when he is encountered and captured by the original Deadpool in Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth. Along with several other alternate versions of Deadpool, Headpool went on to appear in Deadpool Corps with a propeller beanie mounted to his head, granting him flight.

Spider-Man & Deadpool

In an alternate future, Spider-Man is an old man who got paralyzed from a Life Model Decoy Deadpool and lives in a retirement home with an elderly Deadpool. Unknown to Spider-Man, Oldpool was giving his blood to Peter so he would not die due to his old age. In a battle between LMD Deadpools, Oldpool uses a time machine and mistakenly switches places with the mainstream Deadpool. After they got to the main timeline they are reunited with the main Spider-Man and Oldpool. Then after stopping Master Matrix (the LMD master created by Peter's parents) and Chameleon, Old Man Peter and Oldpool fade away to their timeline.

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel version of Deadpool is Sergeant "Wadey" Wilson, a Gulf War veteran. Depicted as an anti-mutant extremist, he is a cyborg and leader of the Reavers who hunt mutants for sport on a reality TV show. Beneath the mask, Deadpool appears to be a skull with an exposed brain, his skin formed by a transparent shell. He also has the ability to mimic an individual's appearance and voice, though not their powers. Wadey reappears in Deadpool Kills Deadpool (written by Cullen Bunn and released in 2013) as a member of the Evil Deadpool Corps, led by Dreadpool, whose aim was to exterminate alternate versions of Deadpool across the multiverse, including the regular Deadpool Corps. In issue #4, he is killed by the mainstream Deadpool.

Venomverse

In Edge of Venomverse, Deadpool from another universe investigated a facility where illegal experiments were being performed with parasitic worms. He bonded to the Venom symbiote to expel the worms inside him. In the event, he willingly got consumed by a Poison to act as a double-agent for the Venom army. In the end, he is presumed dead.

Weapon X: Days of Future Now

In the alternate Earth ending of the Weapon X comic, Deadpool is recruited by Wolverine to be part of a new team of X-Men after the old team is killed. He joins, claiming Wolverine only wants him as the "token human". This version of Deadpool is killed by Agent Zero's Anti-Healing Factor corrosive acid. This version of Deadpool speaks in white text boxes.

What If...?

In a What If...? one-shot titled "Demon in the Armor", which happens to take place in Earth-90211, Wade Wilson, like Deadpool, is hired by Galactus to kill the Beyonder for merging MODOK to Galactus's rear end in exchange for the Community Cube. He was given a weapon called the Recton Expungifier, the only weapon that could kill the Beyonder. When Deadpool tracked down his target to a nightclub, he was enticed into the Beyonder's partying lifestyle, getting Jheri curls in the process. While hanging out with the Beyonder in a flying limousine, Spider-Man broke into the car and demanded the symbiote costume be removed from himself. Beyonder's driver shoots Spider-Man out of the limousine, the symbiote leaves Spider-Man and merges with Deadpool, creating Venompool. However, after years of partying, Beyonder grew tired and threw Venompool to the world, snapping him out of Beyonder's magic. Venompool attempted to resume his contract and kill the Beyonder, but he accidentally pawned the Recton Expungifier. He decides to get himself clean by kidnapping and selling a drunken Tony Stark to A.I.M. Unfortunately, he cannot join any major superhero teams, like the Avengers, Defenders and Fantastic Four because of his newly acquired Jheri curls.

X-Men '92

In the Secret Wars Battleworld based on the 90s X-Men animated series, Deadpool is a member of X-Force with Cable, Bishop, Archangel, Psylocke, and Domino.

Reception

Critical reception

Over the years, Deadpool has been recognized and celebrated in various rankings, each highlighting different aspects of his character. In 2008, Wizard Magazine ranked Deadpool 182nd in their "The 200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time" list, acknowledging his early appeal as a unique anti-hero in the comic world. Similarly, Paste Magazine included Deadpool at 61 in their list of "The 100 Best Comic Book Characters of All Time," highlighting his unique self-awareness in the Marvel Universe, which sets him apart from typical archetypes. By 2014, Deadpool's blend of humor and action had gained significant momentum, leading IGN to rank him 31st in their "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes" list, praising his offbeat nature and sharp wit that set him apart from traditional heroes. Empire similarly noted his importance, placing him 45th in their "50 Greatest Comic Book Characters" list the same year, emphasizing his unpredictable and comedic approach to crime-fighting.

His role within the X-Men universe has also garnered attention, as Entertainment Weekly ranked him 9th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list in 2014, appreciating his unique relationship with the team and his unconventional methods. In 2018, GameSpot recognized Deadpool's influence beyond just humor, ranking him 29th in their "50 Most Important Superheroes" list for his impact on modern superhero storytelling and his ability to break the fourth wall. That same year, CBR ranked him 3rd in their "X-Force: 20 Powerful Members" list, highlighting his contributions to the team and his combat skills.

In 2019, ComicBook.com placed him 30th in their "50 Most Important Superheroes Ever" list, acknowledging his broader cultural impact, especially as a character who blurs the lines between hero and anti-hero. Finally, in 2023, CBR ranked Deadpool 8th in their "10 Most Popular Marvel Characters" list, recognizing his continued global popularity and his status as one of Marvel’s most beloved and enduring characters.

Impact

In Superman/Batman Annual #1, an unnamed antimatter doppelganger of Deathstroke looks like Deadpool. DC Rebirth has given Harley Quinn a stalker/friend named Wayne Wilkins, a.k.a. "Red Tool", who is a direct parody of Deadpool.