Between Books - Uncanny Avengers: The Resistance

Let’s continue our exploration of recentish Deadpool stories in the Krakoan Era of Marvel Comics. Will Uncanny Avengers: The Resistance satisfy a diehard Deadpool fan?

Uncanny Avengers: The Resistance by Gerry Duggan with art by Joshua Cassara finds the Mutants of Krakoa on the run. Orchis, an anti-Mutant organization, has filled the vacuum left by SHIELD (which is always falling apart) and has forced Mutants to leave Earth for exile on the planet Arakko (which you might call Mars). Avenger Steve Rogers cannot let this stand, and forms a team of X-Men and Avengers, the Uncanny Avengers, working to expose Orchis’ evil plans and allow Mutants the right to live freely on this planet. One of those Avengers…is our guy Wade Wilson. Orchis in an attempt to further discredit Mutants has a superpowered individual steal the Captain Krakoa costume formally worn by Cyclops to spread Mutant Hate in false flag operations. Can the Uncanny Avengers expose Orchis and the identity of their suited soldier?

So, let’s examine this story in light of whether is this really good Deadpool? First, Wade is fully a member of a community in this Avengers team. He has a group, he is loyal to them and they are loyal to him. He truly has a place where he mostly fits as a bridge between Mutant and non-Mutant heroes. Second, Wade is on his 100% best behavior. Steve Rogers is leading this group and historically he has proven his willingness to do whatever Steve asks and be a better person. This is Deadpool as we generally won’t see him in movies, a good soldier. Third, honestly, Wade does not laugh away the pain. This is going to sound wild, but, while he has some jokey jokey moments, he provides some of the most sincere and truthful moments of the story. He’s clearly there for the comedy relief, but the court jester speaks some hard truth. Finally, Deadpool is not our pal. He really has nothing to say to us as this is more of an Avengers/Captain America book.

The story is written by Gerry Duggan who has given us some of the beat Deadpool out there. Storywise, he does draw on some of his Deadpool past and some of his Deadpool family creations. But he is not writing haha hehe Deadpool. He is writing an Avengers tale that is well within the Krakoan Era of X-Men comics, which he has contributed to. He is one of my favorite writers; this is a solid story. Duggan just didn’t write a Deadpool story.

Duggan does rely on the history of Deadpool and the Avengers Unity Squad. Believe it or not, Deadpool is not just an Avenger, but has led and bankrolled the team. A big part of that history is Captain America, and allow me to say again, Wade’s willingness to do anything for him. This story does lead back into that willingness in some of the reveals. What happened shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did as I was expecting the soldier to be someone else. But Duggan really did hint hard at his final reveal.

There is synergy in using Avengers and Deadpool at the same time. There appears to be some sort of Avengers team in Deadpool and Wolverine. And this book does help remind at least comic readers that Deadpool has been associated with the team. Do I think it’s this team…not even close. But it could lean heavily on X-men like this story does since the Deadpool movies have been X-Men heavy and the most exciting trailer reveals have been X-Men heroes and villains.

I will say there is a lot of value in comics in reflecting today and providing stories for moral growth. There are some real ripped-from-the-headline-type moments here which reflect current events and maybe how we should react to these issues. Some may not like where Duggan goes. But as I often say about comics, we need to learn our lessons.

Uncanny Avengers: The Resistance by Gerry Duggan with art by Joshua Cassara is a good story that supports a major Marvel Comics story line with Krakoa. But it’s not the “best” example of what I like about Deadpool. Yeah, I like that the jester is wise! But Wade is definitely a supporting hero, not the lead. So while I enjoyed the story, it wasn’t a good example of my quest to showcase Deadpool. For that, we may need to go further into the past! 

 

This post contains affiliate links, which means that Between Disney receives a percentage of sales purchased through links on this site