Deadpool is one of Marvel's most popular anti-heroes, and his origin as told in his first solo movie is remarkably close to his comic book backstory. But there's more to the formation of Wade Wilson's, let's just say... specific personality than just his part in the experiments that turned him into a deadly, nigh-unkillable mercenary.
Deadpool is known as the 'Merc with a Mouth,' a sobriquet he's earned many times over, but it took a while for Wade Wilson to evolve from a quippy assassin in his original appearances by creators Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza to a full-on fourth wall breaking, self-aware comic book character who knows he's fictional.
That's the familiar version of Deadpool fans recognize now, whose personality has its roots in the first Deadpool ongoing comic series by writer Joe Kelly and artist Ed McGuinness, who will reunite as the upcoming new creative team of Amazing Spider-Man.
And Deadpool himself will soon join the MCU in Deadpool & Wolverine alongside Hugh Jackman's unretired mutant hero on a Multiversal adventure that takes more than its share of inspiration from comics.
But there's much more to Deadpool's backstory than that, and much of it is complicated and even contradictory thanks to his fractured memory and the many retroactive additions to his history. With that in mind, these are the big steps on Deadpool's journey from regular soldier to madcap Merc with a Mouth.
Weapon X
Much like Wolverine's adamantium claws, Deadpool's powers are a product of Canada's Weapon X program which actually implanted Wolverine's own healing factor in Deadpool's body, which is then amped up to be strong enough to cure Deadpool's terminal cancer and eventually to bring him back from the dead.
All of this is very similar to what's seen in the first Deadpool movie, right down to his eventually being stuck in an experimental program where he's held captive by a guy named Ajax, who Deadpool teases by calling him by his real name, Francis. It's here that Deadpool gets his name, as his captors run a so-called 'dead pool,' betting on which of their captives will die next.
In the end, Deadpool does manage to escape from Francis and his tormentors, but he's left scarred and deformed due to the experiments on his healing factor - though his powers are strong enough to effectively make him immortal. Worse, his memories are left broken and scattered, leaving many aspects of his true past in question.
Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars
Many people know about 1985's Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars as Marvel's first official crossover event, which brought together many of the Marvel Universe's top heroes and villains of the day. But few know that, despite not having appeared in a comic until 1990's New Mutants #98, Deadpool was actually a part of the action.
In Secret Wars, a cosmically powerful being known as the Beyonder brings Marvel's heroes and villains to a place called Battleworld to compete for a portion of his omnipotent power. And as revealed in the 2015 limited series Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars, Deadpool was secretly among them, even though he didn't actually appear in the original series (not having been created yet and all).
Deadpool's forgotten adventures on Battleworld include being made handsome again through cosmic power, having a brief fling with the Wasp, being the first character to encounter the symbiote that would eventually become Venom, and finally, having the memory of his participation wiped from everyone involved - a development that led to Deadpool becoming aware that he is a comic book character.
T-Ray
It's been something of a resting plot point for some time now, but there's actually a chance that Deadpool - the Deadpool we all know and love - isn't actually the real Wade Wilson, but a former mercenary named "Jack" who stole the identity of the real Wade Wilson while at war, Don Draper style.
So who's the "real" Wade Wilson? Well, it might be an extremely brutal, zombie-like mercenary named T-Ray, who claims to be the authentic Wade Wilson come back from the dead to take back his name, and punish the imposter who is Deadpool. At the same time, it's pretty likely that T-Ray is in fact Jack, who wants to steal Deadpool's identity for himself.
This leaves the biggest question of all: is Deadpool an imposter? Well… Probably not, but it's not impossible. Wade's many conflicting false backstories make it hard to say, but it's most likely that T-Ray is in fact some kind of copy of Wade Wilson made through complex magical means that split his personality into physical fragments, which were later reabsorbed. He's a rare sight these days, so we're assuming the matter is considered settled (till another writer opens it back up someday, perhaps).
Madcap
What does a C-List Marvel villain with a garish costume and a strange, Joker-esque gimmick have to do with Deadpool? Quite a lot, as it turns out. But even weirder, their association goes all the way back to a simple lettering choice in a single volume of Deadpool in 2008 when the captions of Deadpool's interior monologue were depicted in plain white boxes rather than his usual decorative yellow boxes.
As it turns out, there's an extremely Deadpool reason behind the change, a gag retcon told years later in 2013's Deadpool Annual #1, just prior to the Deadpool series with the white text boxes, Deadpool and Madcap were secretly involved in a battle when Madcap tried to drive Deadpool even more insane, eventually attracting the attention of Thor, who disintegrates them both to ash with a lightning bolt.
When Deadpool's almost unstoppable healing factor regenerates his body even from ash, Madcap's ashe's are intermingled with Deadpool's, leaving Madcap's consciousness trapped in Deadpool's body alongside his own mind. For a time, until Madcap was separated back into his own body, Madcap was a totally separate voice in Deadpool's mind - whose thoughts were shown in the now notorious white caption boxes.
Deadpool Corps
It's already known that members of the Deadpool Corps will appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, including Lady Deadpool and Dogpool, both characters straight from 2010's Deadpool Corps limited series in which a cosmic being taps Wade Wilson to lead a team of his own counterparts from other worlds to save the entire Multiverse.
Sounds maybe just a little familiar, right? Switch out "cosmic entity" for the TVA, and that sounds not too unlike the apparent plot of Deadpool & Wolverine, in which the two title characters band together on a Multiversal adventure that brings in numerous other heroes and villains, including main antagonist Cassandra Nova.
In comic terms, the formation of the Deadpool Corps marked Deadpool's confirmation of his place in the Marvel Multiverse, and also that no matter the circumstances, no matter the reality they're from, Wade Wilsons are gonna Wade Wilson, and Deadpools are gonna Deadpool - a Marvel Comics constant that seems to be coming to the MCU with Deadpool & Wolverine.
Thirsty for more mutant mayhem? Now's the perfect time to check out the best Deadpool comics of all time.
