Summary
- Deadpool & Wolverine is the most anticipated movie of 2024, bringing together two iconic Marvel characters in a climactic team-up.
- Wolverine is a deadly fighter with adamantium claws, while Deadpool’s healing factor makes him nearly immortal in combat.
- While Wolverine may be stronger in pure combat, Deadpool’s ability to outlive him adds an interesting dynamic to their showdown.
Deadpool & Wolverine is the most anticipated movie of summer 2024, according to Fandango. The film is the only Marvel Cinematic Universe film set for release in 2024, a first since 2012 with The Avengers, and notably will feature characters from the 20th Century Fox X-Men films. The third Deadpool movie is a film fans have been waiting for years, and it arrives six years after Deadpool 2. It also is the climactic team-up between Wolverine and Deadpool, which has been a long road.
The two characters first appeared together in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but that film was notorious for featuring a drastically different Deadpool, with the film sewing his mouth shut and drastically changing his appearance and powerset. Deadpool finally made it to the big screen in 2016 with his own solo movie, but one that made plenty of references to Wolverine. Then, in 2018’s Deadpool 2, the movie literally opens with Deadpool mocking Wolverine and the death of the character in Logan. Despite Hugh Jackman retiring as Wolverine with Logan, the two characters will finally face off in Deadpool & Wolverine, a showdown years in the making. Which of these mutants is stronger? Take a look and find out.
Wolverine’s Assets
Of all the X-Men, Wolverine is certainly the most famous. The character has a rich backstory that still manages to be shrouded in mystery. The key fact fans need to know about Wolverine is that he has claws lined with an indestructible metal known as adamantium that also runs through his entire body. Wolverine possesses an incredible healing factor, one that has stopped his aging but also allowed him to go toe to toe with some of the most powerful figures in the Marvel Universe and still manage to get up.
While Wolverine, on the surface, looks like a bare-knuckle boxer, he was trained as a samurai. He has almost a century’s worth of combat training and experience. When he becomes angry and goes into a berserker mode, he is incredibly deadly, as his claws can cut and slice through anyone. Wolverine is a character who never seems to stop fighting and seems almost unstoppable. While he has been subdued before, he will continue to fight.
Where Deadpool Thrives
Deadpool, also known as the Merc with the Mouth, has undergone a big transformation since he first appeared. Originally, he was more of an antagonist, but over the years, as more writers and artists took on the character, he shifted into an anti-hero and then a full-fledged hero while also developing his trademark wit and humor, as well as his ability to break the fourth wall.
Deadpool is a master assassin who is skilled in various weapons, such as swords and guns. He also possesses an incredible healing ability, one that could be said to be the best in the entire Marvel Universe. It appears he is unable to die, as he can grow any part of his body back and even recover from having his head smashed in. This ability to allude to death was important in both Deadpool 2 and in the comics, where he becomes the romantic interest of Death since she can never have him.
While in the movies, Deadpool is a mutant, in the comics, he is a normal human who was given powers through the Weapon X program, the same one that created Wolverine. In fact, Deadpool in both the comics and his creation in the comics was inspired by Wolverine, so the two characters are forever linked. Deadpool’s healing factor is derived from Wolverine’s healing factor.
Times They’ve Fought
Deadpool’s co-creator, Rob Liefeld, acknowledged that Wolverine was a major inspiration for Deadpool, and Marvel has steered into that concept many times over the years by drawing them into conflict with one another. The two characters first crossed paths in Wolverine #88 in 1994, just four years after Deadpool debuted. Then 2008’s Wolverine Origins retconned to reveal that Deadpool and Wolverine meet prior in a battle with the Winter Soldier. In 2017, to tie in with the release of Logan and build off the success of the previous years’ Deadpool, Marvel published Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan. Marvel Comics has plenty of great storylines featuring Deadpool and Wolverine that are worth checking out before the new movie.
Wolverine and Deadpool have a traditional friends/enemies dynamic. Wolverine is the more serious character, while Deadpool is a comedic hero who often annoys Wolverine. The duo makes for a great buddy story dynamic, and when they fight, it often involves a lot of them stabbing one another before ending in somewhat of a draw. Wolverine might be annoyed by Deadpool, but he clearly knows he has skills, and Deadpool has a great deal of admiration for him.
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Conor McGregor’s debut film, Road House, shows why he is a great pick to play Wolverine’s arch-enemy in the MCU.
One of the most interesting dynamics to develop between the two was in Uncanny X-Force, where Wolverine and Deadpool were on the same team. Despite his jokey nature, Deadpool does seem to have a strong moral code, and in Uncanny X-Force #5 from 2011, Deadpool walks out after Wolverine tries to rationalize their teammate Fantomex killing Apocalypse, who at that moment in the body of a child. Despite Wolverine believing he was motivated solely by money, Deadpool clearly had a line even he wouldn’t cross.
Meanwhile, Wolverine has shown many times in the past that he is willing to take one life if it will save millions, including voting to kill the Scarlet Witch in House of M or Hope Summers in Avengers vs. X-Men. Wolverine has acted as a mentor figure to many young mutants, including Shadowcat, Jubilee, and Rogue, and he himself has a moral code, but one that is a bit more flexible. Wolverine might come off as the more traditional superhero, but Deadpool actually acts more like what popular culture believes a superhero should be.
Wolverine Wins The Fight, But Deadpool Will Outlive Wolverine
When it comes to pure combat, Wolverine is clearly the winner. Not only does he have more training, but his adamantium claws are a deadly weapon and could cut through any sword or gun Deadpool has. Even if Deadpool were able to hit Wolverine with a missile, he would heal from the damage. Deadpool could slash and fire away at Wolverine, but unless he has an adamantium weapon, Wolverine’s skeleton will stop the weapon at some point.
Deadpool can’t cut Wolverine in half due to Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton, but Wolverine could easily cut Deadpool in half. In the 2012 comic Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, in an alternate timeline where Wolverine was the only hero left standing to stop Deadpool, the Merc with the Mouth needed a special sword to kill Wolverine, one specifically designed to null his healing factor.
Yet Deadpool’s ability to keep getting up is not to be underestimated. It has been established in both the comics and films that Deadpool just can’t die, so no matter how much Wolverine tries, Deadpool won’t stay down. Even though Deadpool’s healing is derived from Wolverine, ultimately, it is more powerful and essentially makes him immortal. While audiences have seen Wolverine come back from some major damage, even surviving the fallout of an atomic bomb, as seen in The Wolverine, his healing does have limits.
He cannot regrow lost limbs the way Deadpool does, and thankfully, the adamantium skeleton keeps things in place for him. It also does start to wear out, as seen in both the Old Man Logan comics and the film Logan. Logan showed that Wolverine can die, while Deadpool 2 features an entire montage of him trying to die in brutal ways but always coming back. Even in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which saw Wolverine clearly come out the winner by cutting Deadpool’s head off, the film’s end-credits scene showed he survived.
Who Is More Powerful, the X-Men or the Avengers?
The Avengers and X-Men are Marvel’s two biggest teams, but which one is the most powerful?
Wolverine is stronger in terms of pure combat and in a simple one-on-one fight, but Deadpool’s ability to escape the grip of death gives him a level of power that Wolverine can’t beat. It will be interesting to see how the MCU handles the two fighting in Deadpool & The Wolverine. Deadpool is the main character, but Wolverine is more popular. Will this be another draw, or will there be a clear-cut winner? Only time will tell.
Check out the trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine below.
