Warning: SPOILERS for Black Panther Vs. Deadpool #2
The fight between Deadpool and Black Panther just got kicked up to a new level, now that Wade Wilson has decided to upgrade the severed limb he used to call an arm… with something far more horrifying.
The shocking case of Deadpool body modification comes in the latest issue of Black Panther Vs. Deadpool, the Marvel Comic pitting the two least likely Avengers against eachother over the fate of Wakanda - and the life of a neighborhood mailman. But before their battle can escalate to see Deadpool take the throne as Black Panther, he decides to offend T’Challa by doing the unthinkable. Take Deadpool’s healing factor? Fine - he’ll just replace his arm with a living zebra’s head.
- This Page: Deadpool Gets The Arm Black Panther Stole Next Page: Deadpool Trades an Arm for a (Zebra) Head
Black Panther Took Deadpool’s Arm as a Trophy
Marvel fans who missed the first run-in between Black Panther and Deadpool may have a hard time believing even Wade Wilson could push a noble king like T’Challa to such extremes, but believe it or not, Black Panther took Deadpool’s arm and healing factor away from him. According to T’Challa it was all in the name of science, which Wade Wilson should support if for no other reason than to prove he really is a “hero,” and not a hired gun. But T’Challa didn’t bother to give Deadpool a replacement for his limb, either.
So as easily as the King of Wakanda may have dismissed Deadpool as a minor annoyance, teleporting him to the borders of the country with no arm and no apology is coming back to bite him. First things first, though: Deadpool needs an arm. And to prove he’s no villain, he’s taking a replacement from the right kind of person…
Deadpool Takes an American Trophy Hunter’s Arm
Never one to back down from a fight, the fact that Deadpool is on a mission to acquire vibranium to save an innocent mailman’s life makes him even more determined than usual. Determined enough to travel all the way back to Wakanda on foot, where he gets to meet up with some locals roped into escorting American trophy hunters. Most fans of Deadpool will know how this interaction is going to go from the moment it begins - more than the American, trophy hunting brothers desperately seeking their father’s approval (no political commentary there).
There’s more than a little bit of irony to the scene, since Deadpool’s arm has also been taken as a trophy by Black Panther, no matter how much he may claim it is all in the name of science. The bottom line for Deadpool is that he needs an arm to reattach and return to fight Black Panther. And a trophy hunting idiot’s is as good as any. Or so he thought…
Deadpool, That Zebra Isn’t Dead…
There’s no way to adequately prepare fans for what they’re about to see, since even the R-rated Deadpool movie stops short of dismemberment or the Frankenstein-esque merging of man and beast. All for the right reasons, however, as Deadpool notices (hilariously, after he’s already sliced one the men’s arms clean off) that the zebra being hunted wasn’t actually killed.
Seeing the situation before him - dying, innocent animal in need of a living body, and his stump covered in Wakanda science-goo just waiting for a limb to knit back together - there is only one thing that Deadpool’s sentimental heart can do. Slice that zebra’s head off and smash it into his arm stump. Then go to WAR.
Page 2 of 2: Deadpool Trades an Arm for a (Zebra) Head
Deadpool’s New Arm is a Zebra Head
Now that the rights to Deadpool and the rest of the X-Men are returning to Marvel on film, there are plenty of obvious reasons for fans to hope that the movie universes will be combined. But in that long list of crossovers, teamups and cameos, we doubt fans imagined the scene that next plays out in Black Panther Vs. Deadpool #2. Because seeing T’Challa behold the returned Deadpool, zebra head knitted to where his living arm should be is something every fan should be able to enjoy.
Just to make sure that readers are more stunned and amused than genuinely horrified, we should remind everyone that the zebra head is alive, thanks to technology recently discovered by T’Challa and his sister Shuri. Known as Star Cells, the healing particles seek to repair any wound they come into contact with. For Deadpool, that means his cancerous tissue is unable to multiply and form a replacement arm. But for the zebra, it appears the Star Cells can cure even inter-species trauma, making Deadpool’s shoulder and the zebra’s head the weirdest twist on a Marvel symbiote we’ve ever encountered.
And even though Black Panther drove Deadpool to such extreme circumstances, witnessing Deadpool’s idea of wildlife conservation isn’t an easy thing to absorb.
Black Panther, Deadpool & Spot Join Forces
For those curious, the issue shows the two main flaws in surgically attaching the head of a zebra to the bas of the right arm. First, it is guaranteed to send the king of Africa’s mightiest nation into mortified anger, understandably assuming that the animal has been mutilated for some twisted reason only rational to Deadpool’s broken mind. And two, it represents absolutely not offensive capability whatsoever. Although its bleating does provide some effective tension to Deadpool and Black Panther’s second hand-to-head showdown.
Despite the title of the comic preparing fans to see an extended rivalry, Deadpool proves entirely accurate in his prediction of how his and T’Challa’s comic series would go. With the first big misunderstanding out of the way, and now the second fight built on yet another, the time has come for them to set aside their differences… and take on a common foe now coming crashing into Wakanda in flames. Oh, and they’ll have to figure out what to do with the severed head of Spot, Deadpool’s pet (sidekick?) zebra.
The issue ends with King T’Challa committing to giving Deadpool his original arm back (since his vision for this technology’s true purpose has grown well beyond Wade’s appendage). But that still leaves the problem, first Wade’s, now T’Challa’s, of what to do with the severed, living head of the zebra. And considering the ludicrous lengths the comic has already gone to, we’re not convinced T’Challa’s answer is going to be any less outrageous. Just one more reason to keep reading into Issue #3.
Black Panther Vs. Deadpool #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.
