The Regenerating Degenerate is regenerating no more. Marvel has been teasing that the unkillable Wade Wilson would die at the hands of new villain Death Grip in September's Deadpool #6, and that Wade's 14-year-old daughter Ellie will take over as the new Deadpool in issue #7 in October. (The current Deadpool comic run by writer Cody Ziglar revealed that Death Grip disabled Wade's superhuman healing factor with the mystical power of the Muramasa Blade, a sword with the ability to kill immortals like Wolverine and Sabretooth.) And Deadpool.
"Wade's unkillable, he has a pretty laissez-faire attitude towards anything, and Death Grip is a character that has a unique approach to that stuff," Ziglar told ComicBook about his first Deadpool arc, which introduced Death Grip and his death cult. "He's a guy that, we get into it later in this series, but he has studied the Mystic Arts, like a Doctor Strange-type academy. Only he failed out. He's a mix of mystic with someone like Shang-Chi or some of Iron Fist's abilities."
"Someone who has a touch of mystic abilities, but also martial arts prowess who has built a cult-like religion around the concept of chasing death and finding an avatar for death and what is more enticing to him than someone who is 'unkillable,'" Ziglar continued. "A lot of the conflict is based around Death Grip trying to find this unkillable person and seeing what he can learn from someone who's unkillable. If your pursuit in life is learning deadly martial arts, what better than practicing on someone who seemingly can't be killed?"
The Taskmaster-trained Elliepool will make her debut in Deadpool #7, where Ziglar will be joined by guest artist Andrea Di Vito (The Invincible Iron Man) and co-writer Alexis Quasarano in her Marvel Comics debut. Marvel has released the covers and synopses, below, for the conclusion of Ziglar's first arc and his upcoming second Deadpool arc that kicks off with Wade's death in issue #6.
Deadpool #5: August 21, 2024
Deadpool is in Death Grip's clutches and not in a fun way. This mad mystic martial artist will stop at nothing to find the limits of Deadpool's healing factor. At what point will the Merc's mouth stop growing back? And has Deadpool been a good enough father that his daughters will try to save him?
Wade Wilson triumphed against Death Grip! This is the first issue of a new arc and killing Deadpool NOW would be an INSANE thing to do. Which is exactly why we're doing it.
Deadpool #7: October 2, 2024
Deadpool is dead, long live Deadpool! Wade has fallen, and his daughter Ellie has taken up the mantle. Taskmaster continues her mercenary training, but what she really wants is vengeance. And to get that, she'll need Princess' help.