Oswald Opines - Why I Like My Pal Deadpool

I’ve loved Deadpool for decades. I loved Deadpool before he was cool! Deadpool would probably be shocked to find out he is cool!

I get that not everyone is a fan of Deadpool. I have friends who really dislike him. I get thier impressions. Wade Wilson is gross, profane, vile, lacks morals, and is generally a horrible person. He is super violent, he is a merc with a mouth, and he uses it. He murders and kills. Shouldn’t he be a villain? Finally, a lot of times stupidity rules his stories with a large amount of absurdity. Deadpool isn’t for everyone! Even I can find Deadpool stories I don’t like, when the writer feels like Deadpool is just a slashing and shooting machine.

Not to brag, I’ve read at least 115 Deadpool specific titles. This doesn’t even count titles where he was a guest star or regular cast member like X-Force. This makes me feel like I have the receipts to discuss the best part of Deadpool’s story and why I enjoy him so much. The best Deadpool stories have the following qualities:

• Community: The best Deadpool stories see him trying to create relationships and communities. Wade physically looks horrifying, as highlighted in the Deadpool movie. His costume in’t cute…but it does scream “See Me! Look at Me! Love Me!” So while Deadpool stories often do have a lot of excessive violence, the tortilla of the chimichanga that is wrapped around character moments of an outside seeking to connect with others and feel valued. Deadpool IS NOT a Mutant. Yet for example he is X-men affiliated and a frequent member of the paramilitary Mutant squad X-Force. How did he get placed her, he sought community with Mutants. While he is an unlikable and unlovable outsider who appears to be a solo story, good Deadpool stories have a full cast of community.

• BetterUp: Wade Wilson is trying to be better. He’s trying to be a better boyfriend…or husband. He wants to be a better friend. Sometimes he wants to be a better hero while other times he wants to be a better murderer. Deadpool in his long history becomes a dad, yeah that’s not a great idea. But he works on being the best dad he can, one who teaches murder but a good dad. In the best Deadpool stories, a basic story construction I see is literally, he’s trying to be better.

• Laugh Away the Pain: A great Deadpool story needs to have a lot of humor. Often the more absurd the better. Yes, Deadpool boxing zombie Abraham Lincoln has happened and it’s hilarious. But while there is usually a lot of humor, read closely. Wade Wilson and Peter Parker quips are far from the same. Typically Wilson’s cover his own internal pain…pain over his his traumas associated with military service, cancer, non-Mutant-Mutantlike state, broken relationships, and so much more. Wade is broken. He uses comedy to hide this brokenness. Maybe that comedy can also trigger some healing!

• Your Pal Wade: Deadpool is your friend. He’s going to chat with you while he’s on his madcap adventures. Because your buddies and we all need buddies. How many other comic book heroes can you say that about? Warning: most answers for other 4th Wall Breakers are following Wade’s lead.

I was personally thrilled when Ryan Reynolds was cast as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I thought he was perfect…because of Two Guys, a Girls and a Pizza Place. As Berg, Reynolds balanced comedy with emotion with comedy. And then they SEWED HIS MOUTH SHUT! So no quips to heal trauma. And he couldn’t be our friend. And we couldn’t hear him chit chat with friends. It was a waste! Needless to say when I saw the famous leaked test footage for Deadpool, I was one of those fans screaming TAKE MY MONEY!

In short, Deadpool’s not perfect. But neither am I! He’s an exaggerated version of me and my friends. He’s trying to make himself a better person. He has trauma he is trying to get past, maybe not in a way that everyone can agree with. But he’s trying. And like so many of us he feels isolated and is just trying to create community.

These are just a few reasons why I liked Deadpool before he was cool! Maybe you should give Wade a try and see if he’s the friend you need when you can’t get the one you want.



P.S. If you see the name Joe Kelly or Gerry Duggan, it’s probably really good Deadpool!