Deadpool is one of the most-anticipated superhero films coming out, and to help prepare you for his upcoming film, I’ve put together a list of the five best stories that represent the character. Now when you stroll into the movie next February, you can do it like a big shot, pretend you’ve been a fan of the character forever, and make everyone around you feel foolish and uninformed.
You’re welcome.
Deadpool: Joe Kelly Omnibus
Joined by some of the biggest artists of the industry such as Ed McGuiness, Aaron Lopresti, and Bernard Chang, Joe Kelly created what is, in a nutshell, the Deadpool that we would see moving forward. To be fair, Deadpool was created by Rob Liefeld and debuted in an issue of New Mutants, but it wasn’t until Kelly’s run that Wade Wilson was given the voice we’ve all grown so accustomed to, along with his knack for breaking the fourth wall. If you want the story that most heavily influenced the upcoming movie, this is the one for you. Deadpool’s supporting characters, such as Blind Al, Weasel, and Vanessa/Copycat, all make appearances here and the groundwork is laid out for what makes Deadpool tick along with brief glimpses as to his origin.
When Deadpool first hit the scene, he was most definitely a villain, hunting down innocent people for the highest bidder, however, Kelly tried to inject some heroism into his veins and create the anti-hero we love today. Kelly’s series saw Deadpool fight the Hulk, travel back in time to pretend to be a 60’s era Peter Parker, fight an insane super villain claiming to be the “real” Wade Wilson, and generally crack wise along the way. If you want the best primer for the upcoming Deadpool movie for your money, this one’s the book to read.
Uncanny X-Force
By his very nature, Deadpool isn’t exactly a team player. In Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force however, they gave Wade the perfect excuse for him to join an X-Men team: money! Yes, X-Man Archangel decides to bring Wade Wilson into the X-fold by paying for his services as part of the team (although it’s later revealed that Deadpool was never cashing the checks). This incarnation of X-Force was created by Wolverine in order to proactively put an end to the threats to mutantkind, permanently! Yes, X-Force was essentially the X-Men “hit squad” and found themselves placed into some very tricky moral situations along the lines of “If you could kill child Hitler, would you?”.
Deadpool is tough to get right sometimes in stories, as you need to find a perfect balance between fourth wall breaking goofball and serious blood shedding mercenary. Remender, with artist Jerome Opena, was able to tap into a part of Wade that not only had you laughing, but tearing up as well as hard decisions had to be made. This story about a band of ruthless killers brought out the humanity in Wade and saw him form relationships with the other X-Men, for better or for worse. It’s not only one of the best Deadpool stories, but, to me, it’s the best X-Men story put to print.
Cable and Deadpool
You’d be hard pressed to come up with a better comic book pair than Cable and Deadpool. Taking hints from Abbott and Costello and David Spade and Chris Farley, this series saw Wade teamed up, against his will, with the futuristic son of the X-Man Cyclops, Cable. Since Cable doesn’t have a sense of humor in the slightest, it made for some hilarious scenes of Deadpool bouncing jokes off of a character who’s the equivalent of an emotional brick wall. The duo find themselves together during a mission and, in order to complete it, tinker with a teleporter which allows them to travel to anywhere in the world. Unfortunately due to a mishap, whenever either one of them uses it, the other is instantly teleported to their side regardless of what they’re doing.
Mainstay comic book writer Fabian Nicieza, and artists Mark Brooks and Patrick Zircher, created a story which perfectly displayed the characters of both Wade Wilson and Nathaniel Summers, and were able to tactfully play the two characters off one another down the road. It showed the role each character played in each others’ lives, as well as the Marvel Universe when the two were dragged into the events of Civil War. This series also introduced one of the most beloved sidekicks of all time in the form of Bob, Agent of Hydra. If you’re looking for the equivalent of a buddy cop movie in a comic book, it wouldn’t hurt to give this book a read.
Christopher Priest's Deadpool
Christopher Priest’s Deadpool was the first outting I ever had with the character, and while I don’t see it get as much play as some of the other stories on this list, I still think it’s more than deserving of the same praise. This series saw Deadpool EVERYWHERE as he went from wielding Thor’s hammer to journeying into outer space to having Tom Cruise’s face to living in an apartment with two super villains and so much more. Priest was able to not only crack into what made Deadpool great as a character, but also to really show how Deadpool’s reactions to different environments helped make the humor shine all the brighter. There was a lot to love here, especially the idea of Deadpool potentially being Loki’s son, since Wade had never quite figured out who his father was.
Priest’s Deadpool really was able to explore the character in the world at large and play around with the sandbox that was the Marvel universe. The writer also took this as an opportunity to really go off the deep end with the fourth wall breaking, taking shots at Deadpool, his cast, and even himself near the tail end of the run! You can find these stories in the collected Deadpool Classic Volume 6.
Deadpool: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Writers/Comedians Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn were brought on to Deadpool thanks to their backgrounds in comedy, but who would have known that not only would they create a deadly serious tale, but arguably the best Deadpool story of all time? Enter “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. Deadpool discovers, through a series of events, that he is being hunted by one of the doctors responsible for giving him his powers and hideous appearance. Wade asks for help from two other heroes who were “created” by shady government organizations: Wolverine and Captain America. The two don’t believe Wade’s tale and turn their back on him as Deadpool is whisked away to a military installation in a foreign country. It’s here that Wade discovers his DNA is being used to create a weird hybrid of soldiers who have both his, and the X-Mens’, powers.
Without giving away too much more, this story is pretty dark. There’s definitely that old school Deadpool humor to be found, with “Dr. Deadpool, Surprise Dentist!” as a perfect example, but there’s also the examination of Deadpool as an exceptionally tragic character. It’s a shade of Wade Wilson that usually isn’t examined as often as it could and this story shines a light directly on the darkness that comes from being the Merc with a Mouth. If you’re looking for the definitive rendition of the character, it’s in “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” that you’ll find it.