Everyone’s favorite Merc with a Mouth is officially dead, asDeadpoolfinally meets his match. But how was it possible to kill the Regeneratin' Degenerate when he famously hasMarvel’s most unbeatable healing factor, capable of everything from surviving an atomic bomb to keeping him alive as just a head? The answer is thatDeadpool’s killer knew exactly who he was dealing with and brought the right tools for the job.
Deadpool bites the bullet in Cody Ziglar, Rogê Antônio, Guru-eFX and Joe Sabino’sDeadpool #6. Injured from his previous fight with the villainous Death Grip, Wade is convalescing while his daughters Ellie and Princess go on a mission with ally Taskmaster. Sadly, his moment of contentment is interrupted by Death Grip, who somehow survived their last fight and has come to finish the job.Death Grip tears Wade to pieces, leaving Deadpool repeating his daughter’s name as his final words.
Death Grip is the leader of the Touch - a new cult in Marvel lore who are obsessed with understanding every aspect of death. Death Grip became obsessed with Deadpool after the two clashed on a mercenary mission, and has dedicated himself to finding a way to kill the unkillable antihero. Now, in a terrifying show of power, he’s successful.
Marvel’s marketing has confirmed there’s no healing from this attack: Deadpool is officially dead.
Deadpool Officially Calls Out 1 Marvel Character as a “Derivative Piece of @$#%?!”
As Deadpool’s co-creator Rob Liefeld returns to Wade Wilson, the Merc With a Mouth calls out a Marvel antihero as a bad imitation.
Death Grip Just Killed Deadpool
Merging with the Muramasa Blade Allowed Death Grip to Nullify Deadpool’s Healing Factor
But how did Death Grip manage to kill Deadpool where even Thanos has failed?The answer is the Muramasa Blade.An ancient sword forged by the swordsman Muramasa, the blood-red sword was originally forged from Wolverine’s distilled rage during the time when he was Muramasa’s student. This powerful energy source gave the blade the power to cut on the molecular level, causing injuries that heal over an immense amount of time, even with a healing factor.
After the original blade was melted down, Wolverine was involved in a challenge between the mutant nations of Krakoa and Arakko, journeying to Hell in order to find Muramasa and have him forge a new sword. His mission was successful, however Muramasa actually forged two swords, with one going to Krakoan warrior Wolverine andthe other to Arakko’s warrior Solem, an ages-old warrior with unbreakable adamantium skin.
Wade Wilson may be dead, but his daughter Ellie is stepping up to verify Marvel fans still have a Deadpool.
Deadpool Is Secretly Immune to the Watcher’s Observation (& It Could Destroy Reality)
Deadpool is known for breaking the rules of the Marvel Universe, and that includes his exemption to the power of the nearly-omniscient Watchers.
It’s this second blade that Death Grip sought out to kill Deadpool,performing a mystical rite to shatter the sword and bond with it on a physical level. This allowed Death Grip to cast slashing magic that, like the Muramasa blade, cuts on the molecular level. Previously, he severed Deadpool’s arm and leg during a fight, with the injuries failing to heal in the aftermath. While Wade thought he and his allies had beaten Death Grip, the mystic’s study of death allows him to return, this time cutting Deadpool to ribbons, with Marvel’s marketing confirming that there’s no healing from this attack: Deadpool is dead.
Deadpool’s Daughter Is Replacing Him
Ellie Camacho Is the New Deadpool, But With 2 Major Differences
Thankfully, that doesn’t mean Marvel has to go without a Deadpool from now on. Having recently discovered her mutant power of healing, Wade’s daughter Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Camacho has taken on his mantle. While Deadpool had planned to keep a close eye on Ellie and train her, his death now means that she’s left under the tutelage of Wade’s frenemy Taskmaster. While Deadpool’s death will hit her hard, Ellie couldn’t be in better hands, given Taskmaster is the pre-eminent trainer of superhuman fighters in Marvel lore - indeed, he already equipped her with an armored,fireproof costume that’s objectively better than Wade Wilson’s.
However,the new Deadpool isn’t just a different face under the mask - she has added abilities and added limitations. Before Deadpool died, he made Ellie and Taskmaster promise that she wouldn’t kill on any of her missions. Wade created blunted shock daggers she can use to incapacitate her enemies, but didn’t want his daughter to suffer the same misery and self-hatred that has blighted his mercenary career. It’s essentially guaranteed that, with Wade’s death, both Ellie and Taskmaster will feel even more beholden to Deadpool’s wishes.
Thankfully, Ellie also has a power that Deadpool never did. Her healing factor, while notquiteas overpowered as Wade’s, had a unique effect on her brain and muscles that Taskmaster claims makes them ‘hyper-receptive.‘Ellie can therefore learn new skills and build muscle mass in a fraction of the time of a regular human.This means she is quickly becoming one of Marvel’s most capable combatants, especially under the tutelage of Taskmaster, whose own photographic memory makes him a living encyclopedia of the world’s most effective fight moves.
As powerful as Wade’s healing is, there are several weapons that can kill him - Death Grip just claimed the one that’s easiest to use.
Ellie also inherits another major advantage from her dad: Princess. Despite the cute name,Princess is a gigantic symbiotein the shape of a dog who was grown from Deadpool’s body by the villainous Harrower, using scrapings of Carnage. Princess and Deadpool have adopted a father/daughter relationship, and she’s been more than happy to eat his enemies during missions together. With the ability to form her symbiote matter into shields and weapons, she’s the ideal ally to accompany Ellie on missions, especially because Deadpool has no qualms withthisdaughter taking human lives.
10 Most Important Deadpool Moments That Defined Wade Wilson in Marvel Canon
Deadpool’s lived a crazy life within the pages of Marvel Comics, with some moments even impacting the real world. Here are the Top 10 most important!
Deadpool’s Healing Factor Is Powerful, But Not Unbeatable
The Muramasa Blade Isn’t the Only Anti-Healing Factor Weapon
While the Muramasa Blade is powerful, it’s not the onlyweapon that can beat Deadpool’s healing factor- just the most famous. The single most effective weapon against Wade’s healing was introduced in Joe Kelly and Mike Hawthorne’sDeadpool: The End. In that potential future, an aging Ellie is dying, but Wade can’t bear to live without her. In response to his rampage to kill Death itself,Ellie creates a black hole bomb that will vaporize both of their bodies then collapse in on itself, guaranteeing neither will regenerate.
There are other anti-healing factor weapons that are less extreme. When fighting the multiversal Evil Deadpool Corps, Wade discovered they used weapons that totally incinerated other Deadpools and managed to take some for himself. Wade’s longtime ally Weasel was able to create a similar weapon called the Annihilator after turning on Deadpool, guaranteeing it would put him down for good.
Attacks on the cellular level can also kill Deadpool. When he was infected with the Facade Virus, it threw his healing factor out of control and his body began literally melting (untilhe was able to merge with Cable, purging the virus and connecting the two forever), and Weapon X also implanted a kill switch that could cause his body to rapidly degenerate. While Deadpool is immune to most disases including some zombie viruses, there are also plenty of worlds where specific undead infections were able to overcome his healing.
In short,while Deadpool’s healing is incredibly powerful and can shrug off most conventional weaponry and even grievous injuries, it’s not infallible, and the right weapons can absolutely kill him. As a master of death and someone who has studied Wade extensively, Death Grip was able to access a weapon that Deadpool’s healing factor couldn’t stop, and he committed himself to bonding with it on a physical level. Now, it’s up to thenewDeadpoolto seek revenge for her father, but despite her powers and allies, will she be able to take down Death Grip, or will another member of Wade’s family fall to this ultra-prepared villain?
Deadpool #6is available now from Marvel Comics.
Deadpool
The merc with the mouth first appeared in an issue ofNew Mutantsin 1990, and since then has gone on to get his own series and a massive cult following. With his incredible powers of healing and regeneration, Deadpool was initially depicted as an X-Men villain but went on to become an anti-hero. After getting his own movie series starting in 2016, the third Deadpool movie finally brings the wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
