Deadpool's one thing, Dogpool's another — but what about Hello Kittypool? Here are the Mercs with Mouths who should have wound up in Deadpool & Wolverine.
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00:00Deadpool's one thing, Dogpool's another, but what about Hello Kittypool?
00:05Here are the mercs with mouths who should've wound up in Deadpool and Wolverine.
00:09Let's give the people what they came for!
00:11To kick things off, let's head into the world of children's animated television, where we
00:15find one of the best and earliest portrayals of Wade Wilson, predating the leaked Deadpool
00:20test footage by over a year.
00:22Back in the early 2010s, the Disney XD series Ultimate Spider-Man followed Peter Parker
00:27as he trained with Nick Fury and an ensemble of young heroes to stop foes from his usual
00:32rogues' gallery, as well as other threats.
00:35In a 2013 episode of the program titled Ultimate Deadpool, Spider-Man encounters Wade Wilson
00:40while trying to recover a stolen database of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret identities.
00:45This version of Deadpool was voiced by Will Friedle, perhaps best known to comic book
00:49fans as a longtime voice actor for Terry McGinnis on Batman Beyond.
00:53"...Stop doing that!
00:54You can't attack me with puns!"
00:57"...Puns and bullets and pointy things, yes I can!
01:00I'm running the show now!"
01:02Though aimed at a younger audience, the series was able to effectively and accurately portray
01:06Deadpool, without all the gore and swearing.
01:09They even wrote his knack for murder as a central conflict between him and Spider-Man,
01:14as well as allowing him to break the fourth wall numerous times throughout.
01:18Friedle also happens to be an excellent choice for the character, and it would've been fun
01:22to hear him voice one of the many generic Deadpools in the final sequence.
01:27Not all Deadpools hail from TV shows with expensive voice actors.
01:31In fact, some of the most iconic variants of Wade Wilson can be found in the pages of
01:35his comics.
01:36In this case, the 2013 Cullen Bunn miniseries, Deadpool Kills Deadpool.
01:41Spinning out of Bunn's Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe and its follow-up, Deadpool
01:45Killustrated, this multiversal tale seemingly inspired certain elements of Deadpool and
01:50Wolverine.
01:51Some behind-the-scenes set images early on that led fans to theorize that Bunn's work
01:56would be the basis for the film's plot.
01:58"...I am Marvel Jesus."
02:04In this series, one of Deadpool's allies against the so-called evil Deadpool Corps is Panda
02:09Ball, who appears to be essentially just a giant panda in a Deadpool costume.
02:13One reason why Panda Ball could've been left out of the movie, despite being such a visually
02:17distinct character, might be that faithfully recreating them in live-action would simply
02:22be too difficult.
02:23In a sequence that already featured a dizzying amount of CGI, a photorealistic panda probably
02:28would've been too much to ask.
02:31Whether it's a misconception, a mere rumor, or a comic book conspiracy theory, it's long
02:36been whispered that Deadpool is either a ripoff or parody of the DC Comics character Deathstroke.
02:42This so-called theory has become something casual superhero and comic book fans generally
02:46believe is genuine lore, so much so that Rob Liefeld himself has had to publicly dismiss
02:51it.
02:52He has since revealed that the real comic book inspiration for Deadpool was the G.I.
02:55Joe character, Snake Eyes.
02:57It has also led to the comics themselves joking about the comparisons between Deadpool and
03:01Deathstroke, starting with co-creator Fabian Nicieza coming up with the name Wade Wilson
03:06as a nod to Slade Wilson.
03:08More recently, DC has taken part in the fun by coming up with their own version of Deadpool,
03:13the Deathstroke of the Anti-Matter universe colloquially known as Deadstroke.
03:17The character wears an orange, blue, and black version of the Deadpool costume, has Deadpool's
03:21superior healing factor, and, of course, Deadpool's juvenile sense of humor.
03:26Deathstroke and Deadstroke encountered one another in Batman Superman Annual Issue 1
03:30in 2006, which saw Deathstroke embark on a mission to assassinate Bruce Wayne.
03:35Who are you?
03:37I'm Batman.
03:40Dressing one Deadpool and Wolverine variant in orange and blue might have given Marvel's
03:44lawyers some pause, but Invincible Season 2 did manage to feature a pseudo-Spider-Man
03:49cameo.
03:50Perhaps Kevin Feige and James Gunn could have made this happen after all.
03:54One variant of Deadpool seen in Marvel Comics' universe seems to be a mashup with the iconic
03:58Japanese character Hello Kitty.
04:00Released in 1974, Hello Kitty has been featured across film, television, video games, comics,
04:06and merchandise, and is easily one of the most recognizable fictional characters of
04:11all time.
04:12All this to say, when someone with her silhouette shows up in a comic wearing a Deadpool costume,
04:16the connections are a tad more obvious than those between Deadpool and Deathstroke.
04:20Still, this version of Deadpool is all but a visual Easter egg in the comics, not playing
04:24a major part in the story or even being given any dialogue.
04:28This would probably be because anything beyond merely drawing the general shape of Hello
04:32Kitty would have tempted legal fate too much for editorial comfort.
04:35The same would be extra true for a major blockbuster feature aiming to be one of the most-watched
04:40movies of the year.
04:41So even if Hello Kitty Ball were ever thought of as a real possibility, it would likely
04:45have been decided that her inclusion was too risky to be worth the trouble.
04:50In the years 2016 and 2017, it seemed as if all the stars were aligning for one strange
04:55yet inevitable purpose, a Deadpool animated series written and produced by Donald and
05:01Stephen Glover for the FX network.
05:03For one thing, the film had finally taken the character mainstream.
05:06For another, Donald Glover had developed a great relationship with Marvel thanks to his
05:10role in Spider-Man Homecoming.
05:12This was also the same period that saw Marvel execute a genuine prestige television series
05:16in Legion around the same time the Glovers were bringing home Emmy Awards for Atlanta,
05:21both under FX's watch.
05:23And when a test animation clip debuted not long after the Deadpool series was announced,
05:27everyone was excited, to say the least, including Ryan Reynolds.
05:30It seemed to be a series destined to be a creative and commercial powerhouse… until
05:34it wasn't.
05:35Ah!
05:36Fake laugh, hiding real pain.
05:39In 2018, development on the show was halted, apparently due to creative differences.
05:44The Glovers seemed particularly heartbroken, with Donald publishing a spec script titled
05:49in which Deadpool questions why the show might have been canceled or trying to decide whether
05:53or not to save or kill Sudan the Rhino.
05:56It's an uncomfortably sad episode that makes one wonder whether the wound could ever have
06:00been healed, at least enough for a big-screen cameo.
06:04In Deadpool and Wolverine, Logan and Wade first learn of the Deadpool Corps while traveling
06:08through the Void.
06:09Nice Ball is the one to deliver the bad news about this roaming band of psychopaths, warning
06:13the duo to avoid them at all costs.
06:15Though this confrontation ultimately turns out to be unavoidable, it's a memorable moment
06:20in the film that raises a sense of danger in the Void even beyond what audiences have
06:24already seen.
06:25And it's another moment that mirrors Cullen Bunn's Deadpool Kills series.
06:29In Bunn's story, there is also a scene where Deadpool is warned of a group of Deadpools
06:32that may or may not want to kill him should they get the chance.
06:35There, however, this message is delivered via Birdpool, a yellow bird who is later revealed
06:40to be a member of the evil Deadpool Corps.
06:43One consideration production might have taken in regards to the various unused animal Deadpool
06:47variants is that they might have stolen Dogpool's spotlight.
06:51At the same time, it would have required them to explain whether or not Dogpool is just
06:54a dog in a Deadpool costume or an actual Deadpool variant, which the film didn't seem too keen
07:00on getting into.
07:02Though he might not have had enough impact on the comics to land on Sean Levy's and Ryan
07:05Reynolds' radar, we still think it's worth casting our vote for President Deadpool.
07:09Like so many other variants, the Merkin chief made his first formal appearance in Cullen
07:14Bunn's Deadpool Kills series, in which he's one of the infinite versions of Deadpool seen
07:18throughout the multiverse.
07:20He's easy to spot thanks to his presidential formal wear, which would have been a pretty
07:24effective and simple costume for Deadpool and Wolverine to adapt.
07:27That said, there are two major reasons why President Deadpool may not have made it far
07:31in their process.
07:32For starters, anything related to a president probably would have sparked a little creative
07:37anxiety, given the film released during one of the most contentious election years in
07:41American history.
07:42But second, and perhaps most importantly, President Deadpool may have seemed like a
07:46retread of the similar President Loki, another resident of the void who Tom Hiddleston played
07:51in Loki.
07:52And while President Loki actually ended up with an entire comic series, President Deadpool
07:58was most prominently a variant cover for the dead president's storyline.
08:03If Ryan Reynolds was going to play two different characters in Deadpool and Wolverine, why
08:07not add in a third?
08:08And what better way for the film to celebrate its own achievement by looking squarely in
08:12the face of the Wade Wilson from X-Men Origins Wolverine?
08:15In the 2009 movie, Reynolds made his debut as Wade under less-than-auspicious circumstances,
08:20with the studio making drastic changes to the character that were received harshly by
08:25fans.
08:26Essentially, this guy is a quasi-zombie with weird tattoos, laser vision, teleportation
08:31powers, and swords coming out of his hands.
08:33On one level, however, this bizarre hodgepodge of powers combined with his history in the
08:41Deadpool lore could have made this one of the more interesting variants to appear in
08:44the film.
08:45It could even make a case for him standing in for either Cassandra Nova or Paradox in
08:49terms of story function.
08:51Then again, Reynolds probably wouldn't have wanted to bring back this Deadpool, as he
08:55technically killed him at the end of Deadpool 2.
08:57And if nothing else, reviving him might have come off as a little… repetitive.
09:02Not to be confused with Warder Wilson, the Deadpool of the year 2099 who actually does
09:07make an appearance in the movie, future Brotherhood Deadpool hails from a distant future in which
09:12the X-Men have been destroyed by a group of time-displaced mutants known as the Original
09:17Five.
09:18Notably, during this period in X-Men comics, younger versions of characters like Beast,
09:22Jean Grey, and Iceman have been transported to the present-day Marvel Universe.
09:27They were known in comic book stores as the all-new X-Men.
09:30Wade and the rest of the future X-Men in Brotherhood of Mutants come to the past during the Battle
09:34of the Atom event, which tackles the issue of five time travelers marinating outside
09:38their timeline for an extended period of, well, time.
09:42This version of Wade is more mature than his other counterparts, albeit for tragic reasons.
09:47Because of the sheer amount of senseless death and betrayal he's experienced, he's seemingly
09:52too sad and exhausted to joke around like he once did, and he even attempts to build
09:56a bridge between the two factions rather than delight in their unchecked violence.
10:00His inclusion in Deadpool and Wolverine might've been too complicated, lore-wise, of course.
10:05Then again, they did manage to fit in Zen-Paul, a version of Wade that only exists because
10:09Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom cast a spell one time that changed everyone's personalities,
10:15so maybe the movie could've pulled it off.
10:18Of all the Deadpool-kills-Deadpool variants featured on this list, Venom-Paul is undoubtedly
10:22the most popular.
10:24After appearing in the miniseries as a member of the Deadpool Corps, he was brought into
10:28the popular mobile video game Contest of Champions, in which the Grandmaster and the Collector
10:33forced various variants of Marvel characters to battle one another for their amusement.
10:38Notably, at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, Marvel Legends announced they were releasing a Venom-Paul
10:43action figure, alongside some newly revealed pieces inspired by Deadpool and Wolverine.
10:49So why didn't this crossover hit make it to the big screen?
10:52The simplest answer is also the most obvious.
10:54The character Venom is currently owned by Sony Pictures, along with the rest of the
10:58villains in Spider-Man's rogues' gallery.
11:00While he did appear briefly in the Sony Marvel feature Spider-Man No Way Home, having entered
11:05the MCU briefly at the end of Venom Let There Be Carnage, it's unclear whether or not Marvel
11:09would need Sony's approval to use a character like Venom-Paul, or if either Marvel or Sony
11:14would even want their brands to intersect right now.
11:17However, given that Venom The Last Dance is just around the corner, it might've been fun
11:21to include Venom-Paul in some minor way in Deadpool and Wolverine.