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Even in live-action alone, Deadpool has had more than one origin story. Ryan Reynolds debuted the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and whether you enjoyed the film or not (probably not), it was certainly a memorable on-screen intro for the Merc with the Mouth.
A member of the Weapon X program, Wade Wilson deviates wildly from the comics as the organization seals Wade’s mouth and turns him into a soundless weapon. Deadpool’s debut was so controversial that Reynolds spent the better part of a decade trying to get it right. Finally, he got his chance in his own solo move that redid his origins.
Though not technically part of Weapon X, this version depicts a mercenary by the name of Wade Wilson getting diagnosed with cancer and through desperation, agrees to be part of a test group. This group puts his body under massive strain and torture to attempt to trigger any latent mutations. It ultimately works, giving Wade impressive healing capabilities but scarring his face. The film was an acceptable addition to the Fox world of Marvel and closer to his comic persona. And while his portrayal is now beloved, there were still some elements missing from his backstory on the big screen.
Where does Deadpool come from?
As with most of Deadpool’s personality, the origin of the character came from a joke. Created by Rob Liefeld, Deadpool was an obvious parody of a DC character of a similar name. Slade Wilson was a Teen Titans villain and mercenary who went by the name of Deathstroke. He is portrayed in The CW’s Arrow series by Manu Bennett and briefly in Zack Snyder’s universe by Joe Manganiello. Marvel decided to accept Deadpool as an obvious rip-off of the character and spun a tale that was more complex than in the movies.
In the comics, Wade joins Weapon X with the hope of gaining superpowers. This doesn’t all go according to plan and when he flunks out, he’s sent to an organization that experiments on Weapon X washouts. This experimentation explains what exactly makes Wade so hard to look at. His deformity comes from the fact that his cancer now lives on top of his skin, creating the horrifying image fans are accustomed to. Additionally, other test subjects were running a bet to see who would die first from this experimentation. Otherwise known as a dead pool.
Wade lives in such tremendous pain and wants to meet Lady Death, so he does everything he can to make the test group leader, Ajax, kill him. This only results in Ajax killing the other test subjects, which drives Wade to confront him. Ajax finally kills Wade, but this triggers his healing factor. Unable to die, Wade’s psyche becomes fractured and unhinged, and he turns into the hilarious persona we know him as: Deadpool. The film version essentially does this origin, omitting a few finer details. Wade desires to die because he is in love with Lady Death and wants to see her. It was an exercise in intelligent writing to instead pair Wade with his other paramour from the comics, Vanessa. Deadpool does a well-practiced job of taking the comic history into account while still creating a grounded story. Albeit a little less tragic.