Overview[]
Hey true believers! 'Pool here. Or Mister Pool. And I am a gentle, fun loving, badass mercenary who loves to play with guns, swords, and myself. Mostly myself.
And I was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. And some other schmuck *cough* Scott Adkins *cough*, but we don't mention him. Anyhoo, Reynolds would subsequently reprise his role for the 2016 spin-off film Deadpool starring me! And it was super-awesome! Go see it. Go ahead. I'll wait right here.
Oh you're back! How lovely! So, Reynolds would continue getting paid much moola for several sequels and me? I've been getting the shaft! I haven't seen a freaking dime in royalties! Where the HELL IS MY PAYCHECK? I WANT SOME CASH AND I WANT IT NOW! And not American crap either because your economy is in the toilet! CANADIAN MONEY @$$HOLES! Or I will go to your house with my guns and knives and swords and show you just what kind of fun lovin' badass mercenary I am! And it ain't going to pretty.
Or gentle. Deadpool out.
Background[]
Deadpool is a major anti-hero based on the comic book character published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, Deadpool debuted in The New Mutants #98, published in February of 1991.
Originally Deadpool was a very different character unlike his present incarnation. At first, he was portrayed as a grim mercenary and amoral supervillain with a tendency to talk snarkily and incessantly which earned him the nickname of "The Merc with a Mouth". Deadpool was a recurring nemesis to the New Mutants who later became X-Force as well as Garrison Kane aka Weapon X but most notably; the mysterious time-traveling mutant known as Cable.
However, as Deadpool's popularity grew, he similarly evolved into an increasingly complex character and an anti-hero with the occasional bouts of moral ambiguity. In his solo comic book series, it was writer Joe Kelly who truly developed and defined the character as well as most of his backstory and history. Deadpool became a mercenary cursed with a mentally unstable persona thanks to an unfortunate side effect of his enhanced healing factor and an irreverent attitude. Furthermore the rest of the Marvel-verse thinks of him as delusional for believing himself to be a comic book character with the ability to break the 4th Wall with his random quips.
Born Wade Wilson, he was a heartless and ruthless Canadian-born mercenary who had a love affair with a mutant shapeshifter and prostitute known as Vanessa who was dubbed "Copycat". Falling madly in love with Wilson, she was distraught when she learned that he was simply using her and that all of his claims that once he had enough money that they would run away together was nothing but a lie. In truth however, Wilson had discovered that he was terminal with cancer and chose to willingly break off their affair rather than stick Vanessa with a dying man.
Shortly afterwards, Wilson was approached by the Weapon X Program which was experimenting with mutant genes to turn ordinary soldiers into super-soldiers. He was told that there was a high fatality risk but there was also a chance that he could be cured of cancer and in exchange: would have a period of service with the Weapon X Program. Wilson agreed and underwent agonizing treatments before he was deemed to be a failure and was sentenced to a facility of terminal medical genetic rejects who were cruelly and sadistically tortured by the chief guard, Ajax.
Ajax created a game among the other guards known as "The Deadpool" in which they would bet over which inmate would be the next to expire. Ajax chose Wilson and was continually frustrated over the fact that Wilson stubbornly refused to die. Wilson finally goaded Ajax into killing him but Ajax's brutal attack inadvertently triggered the activation of a healing factor in Wilson which allowed him to fight off Ajax and escape. Wilson remained in agonizing pain however as his flawed healing factor did not "cure" his cancer but rather healed him faster than the cancer could kill him and left him increasingly horribly disfigured and scarred. He subsequently fell back into his long time profession; that of a mercenary but with superpowers and assumed the name of Deadpool as his moniker. In addition, his enhanced healing factor caused his brain neurons to be a constant state of flux and thus made him hugely mentally unstable and schizophrenic.
Deadpool worked with a number of criminals over the course of the next few years including Hammerhead, the Kingpin, Bullseye, the Taskmaster, and the Wizard but most often, he worked for the mysterious high-tech arms dealer Tolliver which had him becoming a frequent antagonist to Cable and his group, X-Force beginning a long-term enmity between the pair of men. Their grudge was exacerbated by the reemergence of Deadpool's ex-girlfriend Copycat who had become a mercenary working for Tolliver as well and was sent to infiltrate and kill Cable and was posing as Domino, a member of X-Force. Copycat/Domino however had become enamored with Cable resulting in her refusing to carry out her orders.
When Tolliver was killed, Deadpool found himself hunted by bounty hunters who believed he had secret information on Tolliver's "lost" assets. He was forced to ally with several members of X-Force when he found out that all former employees of Tolliver was being hunted down including his ex-girlfriend Copycat. Furious, Deadpool swore that he and he alone could kill her. However in the end, Deadpool ended up saving her life and reluctantly admitted that their relationship was never going to work and let her go.
Deadpool later became inextricably and accidentally linked to Cable in an incident where they had to fuse their genetic structures to save the others' life. Their antagonistic relationship became a reluctant friendship thanks to their link and Deadpool began exhibiting more heroic tendencies and has become a reluctant anti-hero and a frequent ally and associate/annoyance to Cable and through him, the X-Men and most recently, as an irregular member of the Avengers.
Deadpool has made several appearances in various animated cartoons and live action films, usually involving the X-Men.
Major Plots[]
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1975; Wade Wilson later became a member of the Canadian Special Forces. In the original timeline, he was a mutant whose powers included superhuman agility and reflexes and specialized in wielding a pair of katana blades with such precision that he could deflect machine-gun fire with them. He was recruited into Team X; a special black ops run by William Stryker. His irreverent attitude and tendency to mouth off often irritated his teammates such as Wolverine and Sabretooth and infuriated his Commander.
Following the dissolution of Team X, he retired and became a mercenary for hire based in New York City. Six years later, Sabretooth tracked him down and captured him for Stryker. He was the first experimental subject and was killed in the process of grafting Adamantium alloy to his skeleton and inserting a pair of retractable swords into his forearms; transforming him into Weapon XI. Stryker would resurrect his dead body and inserted additional mutant powers as a "pool" for his usage thus earning him the unflattering nickname of "Deadpool". Out of whimsy, Stryker also had Deadpool's mouth surgically sealed as he often complained that Wilson would have been the perfect soldier were it not for his tendency to talk.
Stryker would send Deadpool off to kill Wolverine after the failure of Sabretooth. In the process of their struggle, Stryker's test subjects manage to flee from captivity. Sabretooth saved Wolverine's life from Deadpool as he refused to allow anyone else other than himself to kill Wolverine. The pair were forced to team up against the enhanced Weapon XI and Wolverine successfully decapitated him, apparently ending the threat. Evidence however would suggest that Deadpool survived the encounter.
Due to Wolverine traveling back in time, his interference prevented the formation of Team X and through some unknown fashion, Wilson's mutant powers from developing. As in the previous timeline, Wilson joined the Canadian Special Forces before retiring to become a freelance mercenary in New York City.
Personality and Traits[]
Appearances[]
Films[]
Trivia[]
- Rob Liefled heavily based the character of Deadpool on a long-time enemy of the DC Comics The Teen Titans known as Deathstroke the Terminator and admitted to being inspired by Clint Eastwood's 1988 Dirty Harry film, The Dead Pool for the name and Spider-Man for the basis of his appearance. Co-creator Fabian Nicieza was responsible for creating Deadpool's personality and speech mannerisms. Nicieza also jokingly played up the Deathstroke connection by naming Deadpool as "Wade Wilson" after Deathstroke's identity of "Slade Wilson".
- Ironically enough, both the comic book Deadpool and Ryan Reynolds who portrayed him in the live action incarnations are both Canadians and proud of it.
Quotes[]
- "All I ever wanted was to travel off in exotic places and meet new exciting people and then kill them, so I became a mercenary. My name is Wade Wilson. And I love what I do." ―Wade Wilson, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- "You whip out a couple of swords at your ex-girlfriend's wedding; they'll never, ever forget it." ―Wade Wilson, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- "If you didn't have that mouth of yours, Wade, you'd be the perfect solider." ―William Stryker about Wade Wilson, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- "You're probably thinking: 'My boyfriend said this was a superhero movie but that guy in the suit just turned that other guy into a fucking kabab!' Well, I may be super ... but I'm no hero. And yeah, technically, this is a murder. But some of the best love stories start with a murder. And that's exactly what this is ... a love story. And to tell it right... I gotta take you back to long before I squeezed this ass into red spandex." ―Deadpool, Deadpool
Other Versions[]
- Deadpool (X-Men: TAS)
- Deadpool (Hulk Vs.)
- Deadpool (Marvel Anime)
- Deadpool (Ultimate Spider-Man)
- Deadpool (Marvel Disk Wars)