Deadpool Essentials

Deadpool is one of the most eccentric and over-the-top characters in the Marvel universe. With his superhuman healing powers and his comical attitude, it’s easy to see why the “Merc with a Mouth” has gained such an iconic status among fans. In time for his new cinematic reboot, we’ve compiled all the essential details you need to know about Deadpool’s narrative history from the comics.

Origin Story

Deadpool’s real name is Wade Wilson and his early life is highly ambiguous. While he has offered various accounts of his younger life, most are unreliable due to his mental instability. In one interpretation, his mother died of cancer when he was young and his father was abusive. In another, his father abandoned Wilson and his mother, which caused her to become a depressed alcoholic. Despite the conflicting nature of his origins, both accounts end up with Wilson running away from home and joining the military.

Mercenary Life and Early Love

After some time, Deadpool left the military to focus on mercenary work. Unfortunately, not much is known about his activities during this time. He eventually met and fell in love with an American teenage mutant prostitute named Vanessa Carlysle, with whom he wanted to start a life.

Cancer and the Weapon X Program

Deadpool eventually contracted brain cancer and left Vanessa under the belief that she’d be better off on her own than remaining with a terminally ill man. Deadpool made his way back to his home country of Canada, and joined Department K, a special weapons development branch of the government that offered him hope for a cure. This led to him becoming a test subject of the Weapon X Program, a superhuman enhancement project. It was here that Deadpool adopted his name–the guards regularly pooled money together to gamble on which subjects would die next.

The subsequent Weapon X experiments arrested Deadpool’s cancer and gave him a healing factor derived from iconic X-Men, Wolverine. But the newfound ability caused his cancer cells to remain in a constant healing flux, resulting in his scarred appearance.

In Love with Death

During his time at the Weapon X Program, Deadpool was subjected to torturous experiments. But during his suffering, he was comforted by a hooded woman that came to visit him often. Deadpool fell in love with this woman, but later found out that she was the physical embodiment of Death. It turned out that she was fascinated by Deadpool and found him to be a kindred spirit. This encounter marked the beginning of Deadpool’s yearning to die in order to be with Death.

Under Tolliver’s Employment

Deadpool escaped the Weapon X Program and eventually found himself in the employ of Tolliver–a time travelling arms merchant–who ordered him to kill a mutant soldier named Cable. He also had a brief encounter with his former lover Vanessa–now known as Copycat–who had been working for Tolliver as a mercenary spy within the ranks of Cable’s mutant team, the X-Force.

After Tolliver’s death and the subsequent pursuit for his technology, Deadpool moved on to pursue more mercenary work. In this time, Deadpool recruited an arms dealer named Weasel, and he caught up with Blind Al–a former assassination target–forcing her into captivity in his home.

One More Run In With Weapon X

The Mutant Sabretooth tracked down Deadpool and invited him to join a new Weapon X Program. However, the organization’s methods prove to be too violent for Deadpool, and the resulting death of Copycat at the hands of Sabretooth forced him to question the organization. Weapon X noticed this and momentarily reversed Deadpool’s healing factor, resulting in his death. However, the lingering effects of the healing factor that remained in Deadpool resurrected him. Because it’s a comic book. And (except for Uncle Ben) nobody ever really stays dead.

Adventures with Cable

Deadpool was later hired by an organization known as the One World Church to retrieve a bio-weapon called the Façade Virus. But Cable, who was trying foil the terrorist plot revolving around the virus, attempted to stop Deadpool. Unfortunately, both were infected by the virus and were forced to merge their DNA structures in order to survive. They soon discovered that whenever Cable teleported, the duo’s combined DNA caused Deadpool to teleport as well. The two were then forced to work together for multiple adventures.

Team Ups

After his adventures with Cable, Deadpool became involved with various superhero teams. He attempted to join the X-Men, but its leader Cyclops rejected his request instantly. However, Deadpool eventually got his wish when he was asked to join Wolverine’s new X-Force, a black-ops team designed to eliminate threats to the mutant race by any means necessary. This fit nicely with Deadpool’s reckless and violent tendencies.

Deadpool also spent a period of time leading a team known as the Deadpool Corps, a superhero team that consisted of versions of Deadpool from alternate dimensions, including Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, Dogpool, and a disembodied zombified head known as Headpool.

Evil Deadpool

Deadpool faced off against Evil Deadpool, a version of himself made up of his lost severed body parts that–thanks to his healing factor–fused together to create a new being. After a long conflict between the two, it eventually ended with Evil Deadpool killed by a mysterious attacker that fired a dart at the evil doppleganger containing a serum that neutralized his healing factor.

Lost Powers

Following Evil Deadpool’s death, Deadpool formulated a plan to obtain that healing-factor-neutralizing serum, so he could finally die and join his beloved Death. He successfully retrieved and injected himself with a sample, which reverted his appearance back to his normal, more handsome, self. This gave Deadpool an overwhelming boost in confidence that inspired him to take on Inteligencia, a group consisting of the smartest supervillians on Earth. However, Deadpool failed in this effort and became driven to improve his abilities. The subsequent mission he went on ended up leaving his face burned and disfigured.

It was later revealed to Deadpool by a resurrected Evil Deadpool that the serum that both of them were injected with had a limited lifespan, which resulted in both regaining their healing factors.

Getting Engaged

Deadpool was hired by Dracula to deliver his future bride Shiklah–the evil queen of the undead–back to him while fighting off demonic creatures. While the two fought at first, they developed feelings for one another and got engaged. They were later married.

Death of Deadpool

As Deadpool was celebrating the start of a new life with his friends and family, two different Marvel universes collided, causing destruction of both universes’ Earths. Deadpool and his allies died in the process.

Back to Life: Avengers and Mercs for Money

Upon the rebirth of Earth after the Secret Wars event, Deadpool was brought back to life. In this new Marvel universe, Deadpool gained a newfound popularity across the world, allowing him to join a new Avengers team called the Avengers Unity Division. He also formed his own superteam–known as the Mercs for Money–comprised of mercenaries posing as him that take on jobs to help make the world a better place…while also earning loads of cash.