Deadpool
| Wade Wilson Deadpool | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The New Mutants #98 (February 1991) |
| Created by | Rob Liefeld Fabian Nicieza |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Wade Winston Wilson |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | X-Men Avengers Astonishing Avengers Deadpool Corps Frightful Four Great Lakes Initiative Heroes for Hire Mercs for Money Secret Defenders Six Pack Thunderbolts Weapon X X-Force |
| Partnerships | Cable Domino Bob, Agent of Hydra Wolverine Spider-Man |
| Notable aliases | Merc with a Mouth |
| Abilities |
|
Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-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.
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 [sic] 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 the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).