Rob Liefeld’s Final Deadpool Issue Released Amid Marvel Strife

35 years after Deadpool’s debut in the pages of 1990’s New Mutants #98, co-creator Rob Liefeld is bidding adieu to the Merc with a Mouth. Liefeld, who shares a creator credit with writer Fabian Nicieza, told ComicBook that his five-issue Deadpool Team-Up — the series Liefeld wrote, penciled, and co-inked — would mark his final Deadpool comic, which has featured Marvel heavy hitters like Wolverine, the Hulk, and Ghost-Spider alongside lesser known characters like Ral Dorn/Dragon Lord, Crystar, Lord of Crystallium, Lady Anime (a Liefeld-Nicieza co-creation), and Major X (whom he created in a self-titled series in 2019).

“Everyone has that one comic with that obscure character that they always wanted more of,” Liefeld told ComicBook last May. “l, myself, have several of these and I pulled them from relative obscurity from the deepest corners of the Marvel Universe and placed them next to Deadpool, right at the center of an all new, cataclysmic adventure! This is some wonderfully weird stuff and I’m so excited to share it with the world.”

Deadpool Team-Up #5 artwork by Rob Liefeld

Liefeld described his last Deadpool series as “the most fun I’ve had in years,” attaching a shout-out to editor Mark Basso and Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski. But two months later, Liefeld experienced what he’s since described as poor treatment at the red carpet premiere of Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Woverine in July 2024.

Detailing his decision to “cut ties in all ways” with Marvel on a recent episode of his Robservations podcast, Liefeld said he felt snubbed after he and his family weren’t invited to the afterparty. He also expressed frustration over a lack of acknowledgement from Kevin Feige, the chief creative officer of Marvel and president of Marvel Studios. “Kevin Feige does not treat comic book creators well,” Liefeld said on his podcast. “That is my personal experience.”

“It was meant to embarrass, diminish, defeat [me],” he said. “Disney is the deciding factor here. To have them say, ‘You and your family are not welcome here. We tolerated you for the screening.’ At that point, I knew in my heart I couldn’t go forward. At some point, you go, ‘I’ve received the message, and the message is clear.’”

The fifth and final issue of Deadpool Team-Up released on Feb. 12, which happens to be the same date that 2016’s R-rated Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds as the regenerating degenerate, opened in theaters nine years ago and launched a blockbuster franchise that, at least under 20th Century Fox, involved Liefeld in test screenings and marketing. Liefeld said his experience differed under Disney’s Marvel Studios, which produced Deadpool & Wolverine but not the Fox-made Deadpool and 2018’s Deadpool 2.

“I forgive you, whoever made that decision to say, ‘Hey, you can come to the movie. [But] we’re not going to talk to you,’” Liefeld said on the podcast. “‘We’re going to treat you much worse than 20th Century Fox could ever imagine.’ Maybe you should work on doing better for the next guy.”

Besides its inclusion in Marvel’s weekly new comics list, there’s no mention of Deadpool Team-Up #5 on Marvel’s official X account for its comic books (@MarvelComicsHQ) or the more-followed Marvel Entertainment account (@Marvel), which is mostly promoting Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World ahead of its release on Friday. While not every new comic is featured on the page, Liefeld’s sendoff issue of Deadpool released quietly on Wednesday with a single variant cover by Liefeld and Juan Manuel Rodriguez.

RELATED: Deadpool Creator Cuts Ties With Marvel Citing Poor Treatment

In true meta-fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool fashion, Liefeld’s last-ever Marvel comic ends with some of Wade Wilson’s best bubs — Cable, Wolverine, Lady Deadpool, Shatterstar, Ral Dorn, and Major X and members of X-Command — fighting a tyrannical invader, Baron Skagerackrakor, and an army of Dragon Men with all of mankind at stake.

As the tide of battle turns, Commander X of X-Command removes his helmet to reveal the face of a sword-wielding hero who goes back with Wade. “Have we met?” Deadpool asks, to which Commander X responds, “Many times. Name’s Rob, we’ve had a few.” Deadpool is “pretty sure” they’ve never met, and if they have, he quips, “It wasn’t memorable.” With the battle won, the Dragon Lord Ral Dorn expresses his eternal gratitude to Deadpool.

“I love a happy ending as much as the next guy, but I really need some rest,” Wade says. “I’m kinda draggin’… if you know what I mean.” And with that, the series-ending caption reads, “We bid a fond farewell. The end.”

Speaking of bad blood, Marvel will release a new hardcover edition collecting Liefeld’s Deadpool: Bad Blood and Deadpool: Badder Blood on March 25, followed by a tradeback, Deadpool Team-Up by Rob Liefeld: Blood of the Dragon, collecting all five issues on April 22.