Deadpool’s reputation is a tangle of contradiction. He’s been called a mercenary, a madman, a wisecracking outlaw, and sometimes even a friend. Yet one question persists: What does Deadpool fall under? Is he a hero, or does he better fit the morally gray realm? Read on to find out.
What Is Deadpool Known For?
Deadpool, real name Wade Wilson, is an imaginary character in Marvel Comics. He is known for his sarcastic wit combined with violence and irreverence.
Better known as the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool also has a claim to fame in regard to his regenerative healing factor - a power he received from the experiment that bonded him with Wolverine's DNA. That superpower enables him to recover from injuries that anyone else would die from and an almost cartoon-like durability.
How Did Deadpool Become a Marvel Character?
The Marvel Comics character Deadpool was created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Rob Liefeld, first appearing in the early 1990s. He made his first appearance in The New Mutants #98, which came out in February of 1991 from Marvel.
At the time, Liefeld had been creating new characters to add some new faces to the mutant titles he was working on, and he did a design for a mercenary figure that would become Deadpool. Nicieza, upon seeing the sketch, added the character's backstory and personality traits, mixing influences from other popular figures like DC's Deathstroke.
What Category Does Deadpool Fall Under?
Deadpool is best described as an anti-hero. While the common hero comes with noble virtues and a fight for justice, an anti-hero can be described as a character that has questionable morality and normally acts outside the bonds of conventional heroism. This character may have good intentions but go about it in a questionable way.
Deadpool is just that — a perfect example of such ambiguity: he stands in the gray area, being unpredictable, willing to use lethal force, and making questionable moral decisions.
In the 2016 film, it was all personal, with Deadpool looking to kill Ajax, a supervillain. Other perfect examples include how he forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant, Russell, from the time-traveling soldier Cable. Despite the crude and violent methods he uses, the intent beneath it all seems to ensure that Russell does not turn into a future villain.
How Has Deadpool's Character Changed in the MCU?
Originally owned by 20th Century Fox, he stood out for his dark humor, unapologetic violence, and his limitless ability to break the fourth wall. He was depicted as a wild, free-spirited antihero, relatively unbound by the usual codes and structures that define superhero worlds.
More specifically, in the Multiverse MCU framework, Deadpool now isn't just living in a parallel universe but managed to get the ability for "hopping" through realities. For now, he still has his irreverent humor, meta-commentary, and fourth-wall-breaking antics intact.
But within the MCU, it puts him into perspective: meeting the Avengers, the interference of TVA, moving into the multiverse - a whole new dimension of openness to his personality and interactivity with more characters and events than he had ever seen or experienced.
Bottom Line
In the end, Deadpool’s actions and motives don’t fit neatly into the black-and-white definitions of hero or villain. He often saves lives and even cooperates with more traditional heroes, yet his methods are brutal, self-serving, and laced with irreverent humor. He cares just enough to do good when it suits him but never consistently follows heroic codes or ideals.
If you want to celebrate the “Merc with a Mouth” in all his antiheroic glory, be sure to check out our curated collection of Deadpool merchandise!
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