X-Men: The 11 greatest characters of all time

7. Deadpool

While this character may have started out as a jab at DC’s Deathstroke he’d take on a life of his own. Wade Wilson bounced around the country adapting a number of combat techniques in route to becoming a mercenary. One day he received the diagnosis that he had incurable brain cancer. Wade would join the Weapon X program which participates in experimental gene splicing. In Wade’s case he was going to be infected with Wolverine’s genes for its regeneration factor.

The surgery was successful though it left him unstable schizophrenic. Deadpool would be introduced in the New Mutants in 1991 and has since taken off on his own as the loud, foul-mouth, fourth-wall breaking ass kicker we know and love today. Because his overhearing popularity, Fox committed to giving him a feature film starring Ryan Reynolds. The small budget film became a instant classic as it dominated the box office and heaped praise from critics. The style and success of the film moved the needle on the superhero genre promoting the studio to make a sequel. Deadpool 2 is set to hit theaters May 18, 2018.