The Zany Deadpool Corps Comics History, Explained

Like other superhero teams, the Deadpool Corps works best when it works together and faces problems nobody else can handle. Unlike other teams, however, the Deadpool Corps is entirely composed of variants of one person: Deadpool. The main members of the Deadpool Corps appeared recently in Deadpool & Wolverine, giving fans a small taste of the extreme team.

One Wade Wilson is enough to drive other superheroes up a wall, but infinite armies of Deadpools pose unique problems and bloody solutions for the multiverse. Deadpool’s self-awareness and knowledge of his comic-book existence make the Corps incredibly powerful, dangerous, and important to the fabric of reality in ways the Council of Reeds and other multiversal entities don’t even realize.

Early History of the Deadpool Corps

The Deadpool Corps made their big-screen debut in 2024’s Deadpool and Wolverine, but their comic debut came in 2010, one year before Ryan Reynolds joined the Green Lantern Corps in Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern. Playing on tropes from DC’s legendary team of cosmic guardians, it all started with Headpool in Victor Gischler’s Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth.

The Deadpool Corps was formed by the Elders of the Universe 616 Wade was chosen to gather variants for a secret mission

After traveling through multiple Nexus points, crossing into other universes, and meeting other heroes and variants. Deadpool battles his zombie self alongside his other zombie self before getting drawn into extradimensional space by a universal elder called The Contemplator. Prelude to the Deadpool Corps #1-4 by Gischler and Rob Liefeld explains the origins of each Deadpool’s origin story. Issue #5 is visually jarring but hints at The Contemplator’s intentions.

When challenged by The Grand Master, an elder among the Elders of the Universe, The Contemplator stood by the Deadpool Corps as the only champions capable of thwarting a mysterious multiversal threat. Citing their creativity and the flexibility of their fractured minds, the Corps prove themselves formidable and unpredictable, setting the stage for Gischler and Liefeld’s Deadpool Corps.

The team’s solo series first pits them against another Elder, The Champion, but after making a fool of the Blue Buccaneer, they begin meddling in intergalactic politics. Hired to eliminate a civilization called the Krook for a mad space despot, the Corps spent a lot of time on their homeworld of Kagan 7 to switch teams and start working for the King of the Krook until they wore out their welcome. Deadpools are universally grating.

The Corps Has Five Founders

The Deadpool Corps eventually grew to include variants from virtually every world in the multiverse, but there are only five core members who were there when the team started. Prelude to the Deadpool Corps introduces a new variant in each of its first four issues, starting with Lady Deadpool. She and Headpool appeared previously in Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth, but their origins and characters were later explored and expanded.

Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, Dogpool, Headpool, and 616 Wade are the main members Each Deadpool fulfills a different function for the team despite being the same person

Wanda Wilson’s introduction started in a conflict with General America. Steven Rogers of Earth-3010 lost one arm to Wade Wilson of Earth-616, and his battle with Wanda carried undertones of heavy sexual tension. When Wade showed up to wreck the vibe, he helped Wanda, and she agreed to join him in his quest. She never looked back, faithfully acting as a leader of the Corps even while the team was officially disbanded.

Kidpool comes from Earth-10330, where Wade Wilson is one of many pint-sized mutant crime fighters at Xavier’s Orphanage for Troubled Boys. His fighting prowess and healing factor give him the confidence and personality of an adult Deadpool, which was a big problem back at the orphanage. He’s probably the smartest member of the Deadpool Corps, and the lightsaber-like laser swords he took from the Danger Room are especially cool.

Dogpool was a dog named Wade Wilson from Earth-103173. After an experimental mascara gave him Deadpool’s classic healing factor and made him ugly, he joined the circus until Deadpool of Earth-616 recruited him to the Corps. He’s the most faithful and loyal teammate and an especially good boy, and he eventually gives his life to protect the prime Deadpool. Dogpool’s eventual death was the first nail in the coffin of the Deadpool Corps, which shows he was always the heart and soul of the team.

Headpool was one of the first variants Deadpool ever met, but their path to friendship was rocky and unconventional to say the least. Hailing from the world of Marvel Zombies, Headpool is the decapitated head of zombie Deadpool. His healing factor keeps him alive, and he becomes more of a comic relief character after conquering the hunger that drove his world into an apocalypse. These five Deadpool variants came together at The Contemplator’s request, but they never fully understood their task.

Other Deadpool variants come in all shapes and sizes, and there are so many that eventually, there were two Deadpool Corps. Wade met a cowboy version of himself before the formation of the Corps, and several more have been official members. The team’s first big enemy, The Champion, was briefly a member, and others include WW2’s Deadpool Pulp of Earth-10310, Pandapool, the motorcycle-loving Motorpool, Beespool, and many more who never got the spotlight. Beespool, sporting a beard made of bees, was a double agent.

The Evil Deadpool Corps and The End

Not every variant of Deadpool comes from another universe. Evil Deadpool is a pastiche of Earth-616’s original Wade Wilson, sewn together out of discarded parts by a very questionable “scientist.” When Dreadpool, the super sadistic Wade of Earth-12101, started putting together his own Evil Deadpool Corps, Evil Deadpool was an obvious early-round draft pick.

The Evil Deadpool Corps proved an unexpected enemy only Deadpools could beat The war between Deadpools killed most other variants

Other evil versions of Deadpool include Bullpool – a minotaur – a wizard variant, and a few symbiote-fueled Deadpool variants. Birdpool was the little birdy who betrayed the good Corps, and Bug Monsterpool, Were-Lionpool, Street Fighterpool, and many more were sent after 616 Deadpool and his forces. Their ultimate goal, as orchestrated by Dreadpool, was to free themselves and the whole multiverse from their comic-book reality, viewing it as an existential prison.

Dreadpool was the variant who killed every other hero in his home universe to start the Deadpool Killogy. He then left to kill literary figures to eliminate the multiverse itself. Dreadpool’s multiverse-ending tendencies made him a logical endpoint for the Deadpool Corps’ ultimate mission of saving the multiverse from an unstoppable, unthinkable enemy none others could handle. It makes all too much sense that the Deadpool Corps would inevitably fight and kill each other.

In Cullen Bunn and Salva Espin’s Deadpool Kills Deadpool, the two Corps conflict, and many mercs go down on both sides. Most of them can regenerate, but their battle raged on the fringes of reality, and powerful forces like a rogue Watcher and Galactipool made some of the deaths seem more real. Dogpool, Dreadpool, and many others died saving the multiverse from themselves, and Evil Deadpool eventually made it back to Earth to cause trouble for Wade and the Mercs for Money with no Corps in sight.

The Corps Is Out Of Commission

In Deadpool Kills Deadpool #4, the final battle claimed the lives of the bulk of both teams. Too many evil Deadpools to name passed violently at the hands of Grootpool, Knightpool, Ronin Deadpool, and the rest of the good Corps. Luchadorpool, Tronpool, Gangstapool, and their other fallen comrades were simply on the wrong side of multiversal history.

The Deadpool Corps Officially Disbanded They saved the Multiverse multiple times

Lady Deadpool died in issue #3, Kidpool died before that, and Headpool and Dogpool died in Deadpool Kills Deadpool #1, leaving 616 Wade as the only main member still alive. After the Killogy, Deadpool decided he didn’t need to dabble in multiversal issues as much. Missing its five key members, Wade decided the strain of multiversal travel posed too much risk to the surrounding worlds and their heroes, so the team disbanded, and he was once again alone.

Despite the moral ambiguity and annoying personalities of the Deadpool Corps, they were the only family Wade ever had who could really understand him on a deeper, personal level without too much effort. He’s a complex character hiding behind goofs, but the Corps gave him a platform to delve into depths of interstellar and multiversal intrigue that showcased his potential as a hero.