Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success (2024)

Credit: 20th Century Studios

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) is one of the most successful films of the year, with a global box office of $550 million at the time of writing, but what does this big heaping help of fan service say about the current state of Marvel Studios? With the Sacred Timeline and the Marvel Multiverse pushing things into rigamarole status for the MCU, the Merc with the Mouth has only further pushed things off the rails.

Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success (3)

It’s no secret that Deadpool is one of the most beloved heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (since he has technically joined). The thing is, he’s far from the character Marvel needs in the forefront.

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Marvel Needs Its Heroes

Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success (4)

If you’ve been keeping track of the recent Marvel headlines, the two names getting the most heat are Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.). Marvel truly hasn’t had a huge success with its classic heroes since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), which proves to be a problem for Marvel’s image.

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Deadpool is a crowd favorite; that much cannot be denied, but it feels incredibly unusual that a studio built on heroes saving the world from the forces of evil currently depends so much on villains and antiheroes. Both archetypes have their place, but many longtime fans would agree that it’s time for Marvel Studios to bring back the classic good versus evil storylines.

The Merc with a Mouth, is a fourth-wall-breaking, wisecracking anti-hero with accelerated healing and a penchant for ultra-violent action, crude jokes, lewd humor, and relying on far too many gimmicks to stay popular. Deadpool might have a massive following, but Wade Wilson is hardly the heroic type the studio is known for.

Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success (5)

Additionally, it doesn’t just stop with Deadpool. Kathryn Hahn is set to reprise her iconic MCU role as Agatha Harkness for Agatha All Along on Disney+, continuing this antihero fascination Marvel seems to have in recent media.

Related:Marvel Restarts ‘Black Panther’ Franchise Two Years After Boycotted MCU Sequel

Similar to characters like Deadpool and Loki, Agatha might not be 100 percent pure evil, but her aptitude for black magic, dark rituals, and manipulation hidden behind that smiling face doesn’t exactly fit the heroic standard. This anti-hero quality makes her a captivating and morally ambiguous figure, but it blurs the lines between good and evil and forces viewers to question their own perceptions of heroism.

Getting Back to Basics

Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success (6)

There’s nothing wrong with wanting or even expecting more from our heroes and antiheroes, but the primary reason millions love Marvel is that they love seeing strong, likable, and admirable characters triumph over their evil adversaries. Leave the darker stuff to DC.

Related:‘Iron Man’ Confirmed to Return This Summer Following Years-Long Hiatus

Additionally, it seems that Marvel is even preparing to return to its original motifs. As of now, Anthony Mackie takes up the stars and stripes again for Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and Marvel’s first family is set to take on Ralph Ines’ Galactus in the MCU arrival of the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success (7)

So much has been said about superhero fatigue being the biggest problem plaguing the genre, but director James Gunn said it best. In a report from The Independent, the former Marvel mainstay had this to say on the matter.

“We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense on-screen, it gets really boring.”

In this writer’s opinion, that sounds an awful lot like the most recent Deadpool film. Deadpool & Wolverine was a good time, but it wasn’t exactly an emotional powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination.

Related:‘Thor 5’ Set To Take ‘Mad Max’ Turn, Likely Kill off Character: Report

When I think of a good Marvel movie, such as Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), I love seeing a team of different superpowered individuals working together despite their petty gripes to overcome a common enemy who threatens their world. Whether that’s Ronan the Accuser, the High Evolutionary, or even Thanos the Mad Titan, watching the good guys beat the bad guys will never go out of style.

Do you think Marvel needs to get back to basics? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

FAQs

Marvel Needs to Kill Deadpool, Despite Massive Success? ›

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) is one of the most successful films of the year, with a global box office of $550 million at the time of writing, but what does this big heaping help of fan service say about the current state of Marvel Studios?

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What caused Deadpool to kill the Marvel universe? ›

The storyline where Deadpool infamously killed the Marvel Universe occurred outside of main comics canon. It was just a fun elseworlds storyline, of what might happen if Deadpool tried killing the Marvel Universe. The Deadpool kills the marvel universe was an off-canon, one-shot story and it was purely meant for fun.

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What is the only way to kill Deadpool? ›

When Weapon X upgrades Wade's healing factor, they also add a brutal kill switch, choosing to disintegrate him when he turns against them. Deadpool was resurrected using magic shortly afterwards, but it's made clear he's truly dead thanks to the kill switch, even appearing as a ghost.

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Is Deadpool Marvel or DC? ›

A first of its kind for Marvel Studios, the R-rated comedy will bring Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and Logan Howlett (Hugh Jackman) to the MCU, with the two sharing the screen for the first time ever.

Why did Thanos make Deadpool immortal? ›

Thanos is jealous of Deadpool's relationship with Death and T-Ray is to "curse him with immortality" so that he may never see Death again. In the end, Deadpool destroys the artifact and all the copies, but not the real Deadpool, are drawn into T-Ray, destroying his mind.

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Why can't you kill Deadpool? ›

His power is so effective that it allows him to be immortal despite him carrying his cancer. But that doesn't mean he is unkillable. One way of killing him is to put a mutation-dampening collar on his neck. It will disable his regenerative ability and allow the cancer cells to grow, thus deteriorating his body.

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Can Deadpool kill Thanos? ›

Thanos was murdered by Deadpool when he was forced to battle other cosmic characters by the merc's use of Puppet Master's puppets.

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What is Deadpool's weakness? ›

Deadpool, even after being unkillable, has some crazy weaknesses. Deadpool can be killed by the Muramasa Blade which cancels out every form of regenerative abilities. He is also deathly scared of Cows and Clowns.

Why is Deadpool disfigured? ›

Wade Wilson was struck with his facial disfigurement in Deadpool after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Accepting his fate, the former Special Forces operative was sought out by a mysterious recruiter who promised he could not only cure his cancer but also grant him exceptional abilities.

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Is Deadpool a mutant or mutate? ›

Although, what the cells can't do (aside from completely curing his cancer) is make Deadpool any less of a Mutate, a person whose body is mutated through an outside force rather than a mutant.

How does Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe again end? ›

The final issue of the story sees Deadpool turning his wraith on the villains who corrupted him, and quickly wiping most of them out. Green Goblin loses his head, Carnage is held against a train, Mysterio is drowned in gasoline and Wrecker is crushed by his own wrecking ball.

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What caused Deadpool to mutate? ›

Rather than a Wolverine blood transfusion, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool is pumped full of an unnamed serum that awakens any latent mutant genes present in the victim's body. It turns out, Wade was born with a healing factor that never manifested itself. After the serum, Ajax tortures Wade until his mutation shows itself.

What made Deadpool insane? ›

Deadpool is depicted as having a regenerative healing factor, which not only prevents him from being permanently injured through enhanced cell regeneration throughout his body, but also causes psychosis and mental instability, as his neurons are also affected by the accelerated regeneration.

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What earth is Deadpool kills the Marvel universe again? ›

Then in 2017, Marvel published a spiritual sequel titled Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, not connected to the original tale of Deadpool of Earth-12101, in which Deadpool cuts his way across another version of the Marvel Universe, this time as a sleeper assassin for a group of supervillains.