GSCENE 51
GEEK SCENE COMICS & GAMES BY CRAIG STORRIE
COMICS ) After an awful and downright embarrassing appearance in 2009’s XMen Origins: Wolverine, this month sees the highly anticipated release of the Deadpool movie, actually starring a faithful representation of the character. Deadpool, real name Wade Wilson, will once again be played by huge comic fan Ryan Reynolds but this time around he is getting to play the character he always wanted to. Ironically, whilst it is starring the same actor in the same role as X-Men Origins, this version of Deadpool is completely separate from the X-Men spin-off but does take place in the same continuity… yeah try and get your head around that one! After the reboot / retelling of the X-Men universe that Days of Future Past caused it seems that this new version of Deadpool fits into the new universe as X-men Origins along with The Last Stand now is suggested to have never happened. For those in the dark about the character, Wade Wilson is an anti-hero who first appeared in issue #98 of The New Mutants way back in 1991. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, Deadpool was originally depicted as a supervillain in his first few appearances in both The New Mutants and X-Force but over time has evolved from his original villainy into an antihero and occasional member of the X-Men and later versions of XForce whilst also becoming insanely popular in the process, even though he is most often associated with the mutant world he himself is not a mutant but a human mutate like Spider-Man, meaning he gained his powers through exposure to some kind of mutagenic compound. In his case he gained his powers after being experimented on by the Weapon X programme in an effort to cure his terminal cancer. The treatment worked but left him mentally deranged as well as gaining superhuman powers. Deadpool’s powers are basically the same as Wolverine and Sabertooth’s, meaning he has an extremely accelerated healing factor. Unlike the feral mutants, Deadpool’s healing factor far exceeds theirs meaning he can heal from literally any injury, including complete incineration and decapitation - he even managed to regrow his head after it was decimated by the Hulk no less. Another side effect of his powers, apart from the mental instability, is that the treatment has left him heavily scarred all over his face and body. This is because his normal cells, as well as the cancerous ones, are unable to die due to his healing factor leaving his outward appearance a bit of a mess and something his powers can never seem to fix. Not unlike She Hulk before him Deadpool is fully aware he is a comic book character and regularly breaks the fourth wall, which is often used to humorous effect. In fact he has used this knowledge to gain an advantage on various opponents over the years, even going so far as reading past issues of his or other comics to learn their abilities and weaknesses.
GAMES ) As Wade Wilson is a character that routinely breaks the fourth wall you would think he would be an ideal character to translate into video games and you would be correct. Deadpool has appeared in numerous video games and is usually voiced by one of two actors: John Kassir and the infinitely more well-known Nolan North, he of Nathan Drake / Uncharted fame. As it would take a long time to list every single one of his videogame appearances let’s instead focus on some of the best games where he is both playable and definitely mental! First up is the X-Men Legends / Ultimate Alliance series of games. I am going to bunch these two series’ together as they were both developed by Raven Software and use the same voice actor for Wade in all of his appearances, the aforementioned John Kassir. Deadpool is playable in X-Men Legends 2 after completing the game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance from the get go and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 in some versions after defeating him in combat or from the get go in others. As you would expect, Deadpool is fully aware that he is in a videogame and uses this knowledge in many of his quips, one-liners and various stories. For instance, in Ultimate Alliance 2 after you choose one of two sides, he remarks that maybe you should choose the other option for your next playthrough to experience all of the story. The best instance of this is during the first Ultimate Alliance where he uses the origins of various characters such as Blade, Thor and Daredevil to create his own barmy backstory before relenting and telling his actual one. Next we have the third instalment of the popular fighting series, Marvel vs Capcom, which sees Deadpool as a playable combatant alongside other Marvel characters such as Phoenix, Doctor Doom and X-23. He uses his most famous weapons and tech such as swords, guns and a teleporter to battle his opponents as well as breaking the fourth wall constantly before, during and after fights where he usually berates or congratulates the player depending on how they did during the match. He takes fourth wall breaking to the next level when he rips both the health and hyper combo bars off of the screen to beat his opponents to death with for his ultimate supermove. Finally we have the videogame that gets the character of Deadpool spot on and what else could it be but his own self-titled game: Deadpool. Featuring cameos from most of his back catalogue and more besides, Deadpool sees you take control of the Merc with a mouth as he teams up with real-life developers, High Moon Studios, to create the most awesome game ever. What follows is a game that parodies comics and videogames alike as well as being a tour de force for Nolan North who completely gets into character and makes the game worth playing.