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Let me start by saying that I am, as a rule, weary of hyperbole when I hear it from comic book writers and publishers, but I actually think Marvel might be able to pull off “the most epic Deadpool story of all time” with its upcoming miniseries, which will complete the infamous Deadpool Kills trilogy.

In an interview with IGN, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time author Cullen Bunn – who is joined by artist Dalibor Talajić for the series – “[threw] down the gauntlet” for the series, and I find myself getting hyped despite my better judgement.

It is nothing new for creators to hype their latest project as the “best work they’ve ever done,” or “the greatest [insert character name here] story ever told,” and usually that kind of talk is all noise to me, but I am open to the possibility that Cullen Bunn’s proclamation will hold weight when all is said and done.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1– Written By Cullen Bunn; Art By Dalibor Talajić; Main Cover By Davide Paratore

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time is the culmination of a nearly fifteen year journey, which started with Cullen Bunn and Dalibor Talajić’s over-the-top 2011 series Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. The creative duo produced a sequel, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, in 2017, and now they have one more story to tell, in order to complete the trilogy. The previous two titles certainly pushed the boundaries of what a Deadpool story could be, and now there is a great deal of expectation from readers that the author and artist will outdo themselves with One Last Time.

While I enjoyed the previous two Deadpool Kills stories, now I have a vested interest in finding out if Cullen Bunn’s words ultimately ring true.

Cullen Bunn acknowledged this himself, telling IGN:

I spent a lot of time researching the “worst” (meaning “the best”) variants of Marvel heroes and villains. What I didn’t realize when I set out is that we were creating the most epic Deadpool story of all time. How’s that for an escalation? How’s that for throwing the gauntlet down?

What I appreciate about this comment from Bunn is the artistic bravado of it all; the author essentially says that he wrote the best Deadpool tale of all time without even actually meaning to – the story is just that wild, and creatively uninhibited. In the sense that his tease for One Last Time is meant to drum up interest for the series, I’m happy to admit that it worked on at least one reader: me. While I enjoyed the previous two Deadpool Kills stories, now I have a vested interest in finding out if Cullen Bunn’s words ultimately ring true.

Cullen Bunn “[Threw] Down The Gauntlet” With His Latest Deadpool Story, And I Believe It Can Live Up To The Hype

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1– Variant Covers By Greg Land, Leineil Francis Yu, & More

Cullen Bunn’s rhetorical question, “how’s that for escalation?” is definitely tongue-in-check, to a certain extent; it is an acknowledgment of the generally held truism that sequels need to continually ramp up the stakes, action, and overall spectacle of each previous installment. The goal of a sequel, in other words, is effectively to take a story’s premise “to the next level” – and I would argue that it is fair to say that Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again did this for the original miniseries, which makes it reasonable for us to expect One More Time to push the envelope even further.


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Every Death In Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe Again

Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe Again features the title character going on another massacre through Marvel’s iconic superheroes and villains.

According to Bunn, this final installment of the trilogy has been in the works for a long time, and will feature Deadpool on a whirlwind, murderous tour of the Marvel Multiverse, which is an important part of why I actually, tentatively, buy into the creator’s “most epic” hype. Bunn explained:

The multiverse most certainly opens up a lot of new avenues of exploration We wanted this to be different from what you’ve seen before in the series. We wanted to show Deadpool battling different versions of Marvel heroes (many readers will have seen before, many who are new).

To me, this is especially intriguing; not only will Deadpool face off against iconic, already established Marvel variants in One Last Time, but the series will introduce a whole new slate of unique versions of Marvel characters, which is always one of my favorite parts of a Multiverse story.

The Final Installment Has A Lot To Live Up To

I’d like to take a moment to scrutinize Cullen Bunn’s use of the word “epic,” because the word has taken on a colloquial usage that has all but neutralized its actual meaning. An epic, in the traditional sense, is a story with a profound sense of scope, scale, and ambition; the first two Deadpool Kills books might have approached a sense of “epicness,” but Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time truly has the opportunity to live up to the meaning of the word with its Multiverse-spanning story of slaughter and mayhem, and I personally hope it does.

I am going to invest my time and energy into reading the series – and so naturally, I want it to live up to everything that has come before, and exceed my expectations.

In other words, perhaps it is fair to say that it is less a matter of me believing Cullen Bunn when he says the series will be “the most epic Deadpool story of all time,” but rather wanting this to be true. I am going to invest my time and energy into reading the series – and so naturally, I want it to live up to everything that has come before, and exceed my expectations, just like it exceeded its author’s; I want this last Deadpool Kills series to be the GOAT, when all is said and done.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1 will be available April 2, 2025 from Marvel Comics.

Source: IGN, Cullen Bunn interview

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