Deadpool’s healing factor is among the weirdest in all of comics. First, it should be noted that he's not a mutant, but a mutate. His powers are derived from Wolverine’s, which means that they were essentially given to him second-hand. Second, because the healing factor is keeping his cancer at bay, if he loses it, the cells that it kills will continue to grow and he'll explode. This happened in Undeadpool and to some of the Skrulls in Secret Invasion. His abilities are also the reason his skin looks like hamburger meat.
Most Marvel Comics fans know the previously mentioned facts. The 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios movies changed a thing or two, but the important parts remained, meaning that Deadpool's healing factor - and the lore behind it all - became known by a much more mainstream audience. However, only hardcore fans of Wade Wilson know the next two facts.
In Gail Simone’s Deadpool Agent X, readers learn that Wade Wilson’s healing factor is more mental than physical. During Daniel Way’s Evil Deadpool, it’s discovered that putting his body parts together can create a new Wade. Both help to understand why something odd is happening with the antihero in Wade Wilson: Deadpool No. 6.
Wade Wilson: Deadpool No. 6 creative team
- Writer: Benjamin Percy
- Artist: Alex Lins
- Colors: Alex Sinclair
While Wade and Blind Al were fixing the damage to their house caused by Tombstone in Issue Nos. 4 and 5, someone who looked like a more deformed version of Deadpool (yes, that’s possible) shot Wade. After a quick recovery, the real Wade kills the demented version of the Merc with the Mouth, who implodes in a puff of green smoke.
Wade knew there was more to this attack, so he looked over what was left of the body and its clothes and found a pair of zip ties that were clearly going to be used to capture him. Later, Deadpool tracks down the hideout of the duplicated Wades. Then, readers see multiple monstrous and disturbing-looking versions of the character. While they are attacking Wade, they all repeat the same thing: "I am you, and you are me."
Before the last one of them is killed, Deadpool asks it what this was about. It says that they (the castoffs) are pieces of him. All of his body parts that were discarded become them, and they need their creator’s blood to stop feeling pain and to survive. This theory is tested when Deadpool bites his finger off. It quickly grows and body and becomes sentient. Now the question Wade has is how and why his healing factor is mutating.
Wade Wilson has gone through a lot over the years. In this series alone, he becomes the reason why his daughter (Ellie) has disappeared and is possibly dead (she's probably in the timestream). This has caused him to focus on hurting himself as punishment. Now, writer Benjamin Percy is continuing to use his brilliant mind to create another disturbing and horrific story with the Merc with a Mouth. But this is only the beginning of the “Badpools” storyline. We can assume things will get more unsettling, and I am here for it.
Keep up with Bam Smack Pow on Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter for more Marvel Comics news, opinions, and rumors as they come out.
Add us as a preferred source on Google