6 Best Marvel Comics That Use Deadpool As A Villain

The fan-favorite Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool, has taken on an almost mythical persona in the comic book landscape. With a penchant for breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience, as well as his constant wise-cracking and meta-humor, it is no wonder that Marvel fans love Deadpool’s appearances, both on the big screen and on the pages of countless comics.

However, despite his regular role as a violent vigilante or a silly anti-hero, Deadpool often appears as an antagonist in the tales of other heroes. Wade Wilson has been a brutal villain in some of his comic book runs. These breaks from his usual form give fans of the ‘Regenerating Degenerate’ a unique insight into the character. Here are some of the best comics that feature Deadpool as a villain in the Marvel Multiverse.

6 The Deadpool Kid

First Appeared In Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #7

In a peculiar twist on the regular Deadpool formula, the Wade Wilson from the mainline titles, Earth 616, visits a universe where his alternate self is a cowboy who is wanted for a variety of crimes. When readers get a chance to see what crimes ‘Dead Kid’ committed, his credibility as a real villain in the Old West setting was immediately clear. Deadpool Kid is wanted for bank robbery, arson, software piracy and stampeding pygmy goats through an orphanage.

These comics allowed Deadpool to explore the multiverse and see himself in many different forms that would reappear in later series. They exemplify how evil Deadpool can be under the right circumstances. The Deadpool Kid also later joined an evil league of Deadpool’s dedicated to wiping out Wade Wilson’s across the multiverse.

5 Death Mask

First Appeared In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #38

In a story that originated in a Spider-Man annual edition, Wade Wilson received a story that interacted with many sides of the Marvel universe. Reed Richards, better known as Mr. Fantastic of The Fantastic Four, performed surgery on Wade. He successfully removed a brain tumor, but somehow managed to leave Deadpool as a hyper-intelligent psychopath.

This version of Deadpool then set about running an underground criminal organization, kitting himself out in armor that matched Dr. Doom’s iconic garb, and began calling himself ‘Death Mask.’ Death Mask went on a crime spree, including trying to kill an alternate version of himself, which is a common theme for many of the nefarious Deadpools. Death Mask even made a deal with the demon Mephisto to unleash hellish creatures on the world after he was defeated. Death Mask’s appearances are fewer than many versions on this list, but his appearances confirmed that he is a real threat to the safety of his reality.

First Appeared In X-Calibre #1

In another alternate universe, the ancient mutant Apocalypse took over the world and the X-Men never formed. In this universe, Wade Wilson is left without his signature wit and sass. Instead, taking on the moniker of ‘Dead Man Wade,’ he chases any opportunity to feel pain and engage in vicious, violent fights.

This version of Deadpool worked as an elite killer for Apocalypse himself, taking out any threats to the tyrant’s rule. However, when another of Apocalypse’s henchmen sees the way that Dead Man Wade slaughters innocents in the final safe haven on this version of Earth, he turns against Deadpool and tries to kill Wade. After a brief fight, Nightcrawler defeats Dead Man Wade. Much later on, Dead Man Wade was brought back to life and recruited to a team of evil Deadpools alongside the Deadpool Kid.

3 Evil Deadpool

First Appeared In Deadpool (Vol. 4) #44

In what many consider the ‘main’ Deadpool story, a convoluted series of events led to a Deadpool-obsessed scientist collecting and freezing pieces of Wade Wilson’s body that were lost in battle. When these limbs thawed out, the extreme healing factor allowed them to combine and form into a new Wade Wilson who calls himself ‘Evil Deadpool.’

While his title makes his morality quite clear, his actions prove that he is a truly evil character. He starts by exploding a chimchanga restaurant and then went out of his way to commit the one crime that he knew for certain that the original Wade Wilson never would: kidnapping and killing a child. To try to lure the Evil Deadpool into a trap, the real Deadpool threatened to also kill a child.

This unhinged game of chicken ended with Evil Deadpool’s apparent death. However, this version of Wade reappeared later, resurrected to take part in the Evil Deadpool Corps alongside many of the other Deadpools on this list.

2 Venompool

First Appeared In What If? Venom/Deadpool #1

One of the strange alternate versions of the Marvel universe is brought to light in the “What If?” This story sees Wade Wilson contracted to kill the Beyonder, a man that is outside of space and has seemingly infinite power. Faced with this challenge, Deadpool ends up living a life of party with the Beyonder and stumbling into Spider-Man’s ‘Venom’ symbiote. The two combine, and the resulting monstrosity — Venompool — starts to cause havoc in his corner of the multiverse.

After slaughtering criminals so horrifically that he was refused entry into any super-hero teams, and starting a fight between cosmic powers over the parentage of the child of his arch-nemesis, Venompool crafted a bizarre plan to become important. He murdered every other hero and villain, except the attractive ones, so that he would be the focus of public attention. Some version of Venompool (though it’s not clear if it’s the same one eaders see in What If?) oined up with the Evil Deadpool Corp under the guidance of perhaps the most villainous Deadpool.

1 Dreadpool

First Appeared In Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe #1

This is the man who assembled the Evil Deadpool Corp with the sole intention of destroying every other Deadpool, and then perhaps ending the Marvel multiverse in its entirety. Dreadpool is a version of Deadpool who was driven mad by his knowledge that he exists only in the pages of a comic book. In his first series, Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe, this Wade Wilson slaughters every hero and villain across his whole reality and even climbs off the pages of his comic book to take a stab at the writers at Marvel. Then he romps through the pages of classic literature in Deadpool Killustrated, where he kills Sherlock Holmes and Moby Dick.

Finally, he meets his match facing off against the prime universe’s Deadpool, and is defeated by comic book logic and flaws in continuity. His strong willpower and insistence that he must wipe out all life in the universe makes him a very dark character that serves as an interesting contrast with the lighter vibes that normally accompany Deadpool.