10 Best Deadpool Storylines in Marvel Comics, Ranked by Impact

Deadpool has been one of Marvel Comics most popular antiheroes since Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza debuted him in The New Mutants #98 (1991) as a villain. By the time 1997 rolled around, Deadpool Vol. 1 by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness redefined Wade Wilson, planting the seeds of his fourth-wall-breaking comedy, and Marvel never looked back. Over three decades after his debut, Deadpool is one of the most successful Marvel movie characters, with his third movie breaking the $1 billion box office mark. He has been involved in comic book stories by acclaimed writers like Gail Simone, Fabian Nicieza, Daniel Way, Gerry Duggan, and Kelly Thompson, all of whom have redefined the Merc with a Mouth for a new generation of readers.

From his mercenary origins to his King of the Monsters run, Deadpool’s best stories blend brutal action, parody, and often even emotional depth, all of which have greatly impacted his run in Marvel Comics.

10) “Deadpool: King of the Monsters”

In 2019, Kelly Thompson and Chris Bachalo created Deadpool’s 2019 solo series, which includes 10 issues and features Deadpool as the King of Monsters. In this storyline, Wade Wilson defeats the existing King of Monsters and becomes the ruler of Staten Island, a kingdom of monsters hidden alongside humanity. He ends up crossing paths with Captain America, works with Elsa Bloodstone, and even fights Kraven the Hunter, who wants to kill monsters in Deadpool’s kingdom. Deadpool even faces Knull’s symbiote invasion from King in Black in this series. This showed Deadpool as a political leader, while never losing his comedic leanings.

9) Deadpool & The Mercs For Money

Deadpool & The Mercs For Money was a 2016 miniseries that ran for five issues by Cullen Bunn and Salva Espin. This is a team-up series, and Deadpool leads his team of mercenaries, which includes Stingray, Massacre, Solo, Foolkiller, Terror, and Slapstick. The main plot sees Wade renting out his image to the other mercenaries and then having them take the low-tier jobs he can’t be bothered with. He is also a terrible boss. Outside of the obscure Marvel characters on the team, this offers Deadpool a chance to lead a team, although he does so quite badly. There was a second volume with Domino taking Deadpool’s place as the team leader.

8) Deadpool: Dracula’s Gauntlet

Deadpool: Dracula’s Gauntlet is a seven-issue comic book storyline by Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn, and Reilly Brown from 2014. Originally released as a Marvel Infinite Comic before getting a print run, Dracula hires Deadpool to escort a mysterious package, which turns out to be the succubus queen Shiklah, Wade’s future bride. This story was important because it is what started the unlikely romance between Deadpool and Shiklah, a key relationship in the Duggan era. This all culminated in “Til Death Do Us…”

7) Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe is a four-issue What If…? miniseries released in 2012 by Cullen Bunn and Dalibor Talajic. On an alternate Earth, the disguised Psycho-Man is at Ravencroft when the X-Men bring in Deadpool to get help. Psycho-Man manipulates him, but it ends up destroying the entire world. This is because Psycho-Man erases the “serious” and “Screwball” voices in his head and replaces them with a voice that only wants destruction. This makes him set out to kill everyone in his universe, from Captain America and Spider-Man to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. It all ends with an actual trilogy, including Deadpool Killustrated, Deadpool Kills Deadpool, and the later sequel Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again. This popularized the “Killogy” brand.

6) Deadpool Vol. 3

Deadpool Vol. 3 is a series by Daniel Way, and it started with Paco Medina as the artist. In all, the series ran for 63 issues from 2008 until 2012. It launched as a Secret Invasion tie-in, and the first three issues, “One of Us,” see Deadpool fighting Skrulls who are engineered with his healing factor. Through the series, Deadpool was involved in a lot of crossover storylines, including Dark Reign, where he fought Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts. This was also the series that saw Deadpool cross paths with Hit-Monkey. This was the series that turned Deadpool from a cult favorite into an A-list, top-tier Marvel sales character.

5) Cable & Deadpool

Released in 2004, Cable & Deadpool was a duo series that paired up one of the best bromance combinations in Marvel history. Deadpool first debuted as a villain to the New Mutants, who at the time were being led by Cable. The two antiheroes have been linked ever since. Fabian Nicieza and Mark Brooks launched the series, and it ran for 50 issues before ending in 2008. The stories were all built around Deadpool and Cable’s buddy-comedy, and this helped define the modern Deadpool and Cable friendship. It is the best Deadpool story outside of his solo titles.

4) Deadpool #11 (“With Great Power Comes Great Coincidence”)

The single-best Deadpool comic book issue ever written is the 1997 story, “With Great Power Comes Great Coincidence.” The cover of Deadpool Vol. 2 #11 pays homage to Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man. In this issue, Wade and his blind roommate Blind Al are accidentally hurled back in time into the events of Amazing Spider-Man #47 (1967) by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. The book digitally inserts Deadpool into panels from the original comic, and this is a genuine love letter to Marvel Comics’ Silver Age.

3) Deadpool Vol. 2

Deadpool Vol. 2 was a 33-issue series released from 1997 to 1999, launched by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. This established Wade’s modern personality and set up his character, including introducing his apartment with hostage-turned-friend Blind Al, butler/weapons dealer Weasel, and rival T-Ray. This was the series that gradually evolved to Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking persona, and it was the foundational run that turned Deadpool from a Liefeld novelty into a true Marvel A-lister.

2) Deadpool: Sins of the Past

Deadpool: Sins of the Past was the storyline from the second Deadpool miniseries by Mark Waid and Ian Churchill. This series featured some guest stars to give Wade some familiar faces as he still attempted to become a star in his own right. Banshee and Siryn showed up while Black Tom Cassidy and the Juggernaut were the villains. This introduces geneticist Dr. Emrys Killebrew, the architect of Weapon X programs that shaped Wade’s origin, and this helped add some pathos and self-awareness to the cartoony violence of his earlier appearances. This miniseries directly led to the first ongoing series, making this an important bridge in Wade’s history.

1) Deadpool: The Circle Chase

The first Deadpool miniseries was Deadpool: The Circle Chase, which ran for four issues in 1993. This was the first time that Marvel Comics decided to give Deadpool a chance to succeed on his own outside of X-Force, with the creative team of Fabian Nicieza and Joe Madureira. After the death of arms dealer Tolliver, Wade hunts for his will while fighting Juggernaut, Black Tom Cassidy, Garrison Kane (Weapon X), Nyko, and the new villain Slayback. This also reintroduces Copycat. This title’s success proved that Deadpool could carry his own title, which led to Sins of the Past and his first ongoing series.

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