Warning: This article contains spoilers for Deadpool #1
It’s been a crazy few months for the Marvel Universe’s favorite foul-mouthed, unkillable, mercenary. As well as returning to the big screen in Deadpool 2, in the comics, Despicable Deadpool ended its run - and Marvel restored the character to ‘factory settings’. That means that all of his recent comic history has been erased from his memory (something Deadpool chose to do to himself, rather than dealing with his emotions), and he’s back to his usual chimichanga-eating, sailor-swearing self.
This week, the first issue of the new Deadpool (Deadpool #1) was released, giving fans a little look at what Marvel has in store for Wade Wilson. The issue manages to cram in an impressive amount, too. Deadpool #1 includes a few scenes of Deadpool doing what he does best (killing people), as well as introducing his new partner (Negasonic Teenage Warhead), setting up an incoming big bad that is sure to cause chaos for Deadpool in the long run.
Finally, adding something very special to Deadpool’s backstory: the dramatic reveal that he was the one to kill Batman’s parents!
The big reveal comes as Deadpool is trying to figure out a new backstory for himself - something to make people like him a little bit more so that he can get more work. He’s looking for something to make him seem sympathetic, and the issue has some fun reimagining him with the famous origin stories of other superheroes, including Spider-Man and Superman.
However, when he gets to the classic Batman origin story, the family walking down a dark alley, the broken pearl necklace… something shifts, and Deadpool remembers that he was definitely not the young boy in this story, but the one doing the killing!
Unlike the previous ’new origins’ Deadpool is trying to come up with, this one is presented as an actual memory. Negasonic Teenage Warhead even double checks, asking ’this one really happened, didn’t it?’. They then take a moment to wonder what happened to the kid in the story, wrapping up the issue with a final panel that suggests the kid in Deadpool’s story has not grown up to become Batman in this universe, but a violent, hulking, brute… and one that they are likely to run into again in future!
Of course, for obvious (legal) reasons, the kid in this story isn’t named as Bruce Wayne, and the word ‘Batman’ doesn’t come up in Deadpool’s story either. These two characters exist in totally different universes, and the story of Bruce Wayne’s parents’ deaths has been explored more than one in the DC comics. However, there can be no mistaking what this story is in reference to - and it’s hilarious to see the issue poking some fun at the classic DC hero mythology.
It looks like we’ll find out what the kid’s name actually is in the Marvel Universe soon, in any case, because Deadpool #1 does some heavy hinting that Deadpool is going to be taking on the man that this unnamed child has become very soon… and we’ll see how far Marvel wants to drag out their newly introduced Batman parody!
Next: Deadpool 2’s Cable Isn’t Like The Comics (That’s A Good Thing)
Deadpool #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
