The History Of Deadpool's Relationship With Wolverine

In some ways, Wolverine and Deadpool couldn't be more different. One is a gruff, no-nonsense, cigar-chomping X-Man with unbreakable claws who's bound by a code of honor but willing to cross lines that many of his teammates won't. The other is a wisecracking mercenary who breaks the fourth wall constantly and drives friend and foe alike up a wall with his jokes, pointy swords and big ol' guns.

It's natural to think two people with such contrasting personalities wouldn't exactly get along. Indeed, the relationship between the best there is at what he does (Wolverine) and the Merc with a Mouth (Deadpool) is complicated, to say the least, especially since the two share a lot of history together. They've been teammates, Weapon X test subjects, pains in each other's butts, and of course, proudly Canadian. They've even interacted outside of comics, with "Deadpool 3" being the latest looking to put its own stamp on the pair's unique dynamic. Which, of course, begs the question: just what exactly is their dynamic, anyhow? Make sure your healing factor's in working order and get ready to pit adamantium against chimichanga, as we explore the history of Deadpool's relationship with Wolverine.

Though we may know about Logan's first meeting with a young Wade Wilson, the first time Wolverine meets Wade as Deadpool is trickier to pin down. You could point to "X-Men Premium Edition" #1 or "Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars," but the former might not be canon (since it's a Toys'R'Us promotional comic) and the latter Logan doesn't even remember. Enter the next best pick: "Wolverine" #88 by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert. In that issue, Logan finds the Merc With a Mouth on the prowl for both Garrison Kane and Vanessa Carlysle, aka the shapeshifting Copycat. Not down with Wade's plan, Wolverine takes Deadpool on, but their battle ends when Wade sinks his twin swords into Logan's back. Naturally, Wolverine recovers, and later stops Deadpool from stabbing Kane and Copycat with his swords at the Grand Guignol stage theater.

It's a bumpy "reunion" between Logan and Wade, ending with Deadpool using a grenade to cover his escape. Perhaps if Wolverine had known he was fighting the same young man he'd faced Hydra with years earlier, he might have been able to get through to Wade. Naturally, one can't expect them to remark on that meeting in this story, as "Deadpool Nerdy 30" was published 27 years later after "Wolverine" #88. Yet it's still odd that Logan doesn't remember Deadpool, as Wade's costume masks his appearance, not his scent. Given how many people Wolverine's met, however, it does make sense that he'd forget the odor of someone he only briefly interacted with years earlier.

Just because Logan recognizes something special about Deadpool doesn't mean they start getting along right away. In "Deadpool" #27 by Joe Kelly and Walter McDaniel, Wade commits the ultimate superhero faux pas: clocking another hero's crimefighting partner. The incident occurs in San Francisco's Chinatown district, where Deadpool literally uses Ken's Shoryuken move from "Street Fighter" on Shadowcat to provoke Wolverine into fighting him. 

Infuriated by Deadpool sucker-punching Kitty, Logan breaks into one of his berserker rages, but is soon brought back to lucidity by Wade's incessant bantering ... and getting stabbed. Hoping that fighting Wolverine would help him deal with his recent hallucinations, Deadpool accidentally ends up shooting Logan's acquaintance Black Crane, prompting Wolverine to accuse Wade of having no honor or remorse. Yet Logan seems to simultaneously sympathize with Wilson, noting he'd once been like him, due to their similar histories. 

Thanks to Logan encouraging him to deal with his past, as well as Doctor Bong helping him understand what his visions represent, Wade is able to make the hallucinations disappear and recall a woman he had met years ago: namely his wife, Mercedes Wilson. Thus Logan plays a key role in helping Deadpool's memory and mental health improve, even if their encounter does end with Wolverine stabbing Deadpool with all six claws while hoisting Wade's body in the air.

Circumstances pit Wolverine and Deadpool against each other anew in "Wolverine" #154 and 155 by Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson. This time, Logan is Deadpool's target, and he finds himself outnumbered by Wade and a quintet of fellow mercenaries known as the Scourge. Recalling their amicable parting of ways in "Wolverine Annual '99," Logan tries to get Wade to reconsider. Deadpool fights Wolverine anyway, citing money woes, and downs Logan with a ton of potent tranquilizer darts. In reality, however, Deadpool's employer, an organization called the Watchtower, has offered to use Logan's healing factor to treat the injuries of Theresa Cassidy, aka Siryn, even if it means dissecting the X-Man in the process.

Interestingly enough, Wolverine doesn't hold Wade kidnapping him for a job against him, reasoning, "You can't change what you are." Their fight ends when Deadpool is shot into the healing vat containing Siryn, who's fully recuperated. Finally understanding Wade's actual intentions, Wolverine lets Deadpool leave with Siryn while he continues pursuing Watchtower with a group of superbeings led by Geronimo Crowe.

The whole ordeal is proof that their dynamic's already changing. Rather than looking to start a scrap with Deadpool, Logan instead tries to deescalate hostilities. Wade, meanwhile, again gets agitated when someone calls Logan his "friend," but this time out of guilt for kidnapping him.

Between Deadpool shooting Wolverine in the back in "Cable & Deadpool" #9, Logan slicing Wade's head off over a misunderstanding in "Cable & Deadpool" #43, and a tense (albeit brief) rooftop showdown in 2006's "Marvel Team-Up" #25, it's safe to say the two characters' bond sours somewhat after Wade's resurrection. This escalates in "Wolverine Origins" #20-25 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon, in which Logan's again the target of a contract Wade's pursuing. After enduring a lot of hits, stabs, explosions, and gunshot wounds, Wolverine's taken to Deadpool's safehouse and chained above a pool in which Wade intends to drown him. Logan stalls Deadpool, however, with enough verbal jabs to aggravate the normally jovial Merc. Wolverine then reveals an even bigger con, explaining he had a hit placed on himself, knowing that Wade's attempts to kill him would lure Logan's son, Daken, out into the open.

The showdown reveals that whatever respect the two have for one another is also accompanied by a lot of resentment. Deadpool flat out states that killing Wolverine is something he's envisioned doing for some time, partly due to his frustrations with being compared to him. He even expresses jealousy toward Logan, as despite their mutual pasts as killers, the X-Men have no problem making Wolvie a member, yet steadfastly oppose Deadpool joining. To be fair, some of Deadpool's feelings may have been influenced by Madcap, to whom he's bonded at the time.

Deadpool's desire to be part of the X-Men manifests somewhat differently when mutantkind sets up its own nation on the living island Krakoa. Displeased he's never been invited despite being Staten Island's monster king, Wade sneakily hitches a ride inside the gelatinous body of the mutant Jelby in "Deadpool" #6 by Kelly Thompson and Kevin Libranda. Once the X-Men figure out what Deadpool's done, they agree to let him visit, but only "through the proper channels." Before Wade goes, Rogue hands him a flower unique to the island he tried to steal — a gesture that she and Wolverine explain is a token of the X-Men's friendship. It's a major moment, as not only does Logan finally state that he's come to consider the Merc a friend, but implies the X-Men feel similarly, despite never making Wade an official member.

For reasons unknown, however, Deadpool loses his Staten Island royalty, and eventually decides he wants to live on Krakoa. After various foiled attempts to break in again, he decides to try convincing Wolverine directly by botching a deal Logan's investigating between the A.I. known as Danger and the nefarious X-Desk in "Wolverine" #20-23 by Benjamin Percy and Adam Kubert. The two then confront Danger, learning the X-Desk had promised to return her cybernetic daughter under the condition she create an army of mechanized X-Men dupes for them. After Deadpool saves Wolverine from Danger, Logan finally offers Deadpool the chance to live on Krakoa, as part of the latest incarnation of X-Force.

Wolverine and Deadpool have it pretty complicated in live action. In "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," the two start as teammates working under William Stryker — while they don't have much of a problem with each other at first, Logan eventually gets fed up with Wilson's constant wisecracks. Wolverine later receives word from Stryker that Wilson's been killed, but that proves misleading — he's actually been transformed into Weapon XI. Armed with the power of many mutants, XI (also called Deadpool) faces Wolverine and Sabretooth together, and the battle ends when Logan decapitates Wade and sends him plummeting with a kick.

Thanks to time travel shenanigans (and movie retcons), Wade's time as Stryker's operative is wiped from history when he reappears in the "Deadpool" solo movies. As a result, he has a far less antagonistic attitude toward Wolverine, partly because they still haven't actually met. Wade does seem to know of Logan, however — or at least of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, as he hilariously wears a paper cut-out of the actor's face from a People magazine cover. In "Deadpool 2," Wade definitely knows who Wolverine is, and is humorously ticked off by the movie "Logan," which he feels has stolen his thunder. Wade's clearly resolved his jealousy issues when the two do encounter each other, however, in a brief scene in which Deadpool travels back to the original "X-Men" movie timeline and shoots his Weapon XI self repeatedly. Deadpool then tells Logan, "Love you," before continuing his time escapades.