Warning: SPOILERS for Deadpool #10
Deadpool may be impossible to kill, but he’s just been given the nastiest beating of his life by the Batman of Marvel’s comic universe - a vigilante even more brutal than DC’s version.
That headline is exactly the kind of crazy that Deadpool fans have come to expect, but even for Wade Wilson, his newest comic battle shatters the fourth wall like never before: facing off against a vigilante made in Batman’s mold, with Bruce Wayne’s origin story, and apparently an even stronger taste for violence. The un-caped crusader’s brilliant plan for torturing Deadpool is bad enough, but what makes this darker knight even more twisted is that Deadpool actually created him. Strap in Bat-fans, because this is going to be a mind-blower.
- This Page: How Deadpool Created His Very Own Batman Page 2: Meet Marvel’s Take on Batman, GOOD NIGHT
Deadpool Killed Bruce Wayne’s Parents (Sort Of)
It may sound hard to believe, but when Skottie Young and Nic Klein started their run with Deadpool #1, the first step for Wade’s fresh start was, obviously, selecting a more incredible and heroic origin story. And after Hulk’s, Spider-Man’s, and Superman’s origin all seemed a poor fit for Deadpool, he landed on one far more tragic: the birthday that his wealthy parents took him for a night at the theater, before a masked man slaughtered them in a dark alley.
It’s only after describing the story in great detail that he recognizes it’s more familiar than fiction. Not because it’s the same origin story for Batman, but because Deadpool really did live through it… as the murderer, not the boy.
If the wealthy parents, the movie theater, the fur coat, and the broken pearls falling into the gutter don’t get the Batman jokes across, then the words of wisdom Deadpool passes on to the boy definitely will. The Merc With a Mouth has always been a meta jokester, with as much knowledge of the DC Universe as Marvel’s. But even for Wade, his creation of the most iconic and lethal vigilante is brushed off without a second’s thought.
Just Like DC, The Boy Becomes The Bat
Deadpool isn’t treated to the same glimpse into that boy’s life as the reader, setting up the entire premise of the larger “Good Night” story crafted by Young and artists Scott Hepburn and Ian Herring. As Deadpool, in typical fashion, idly wonders whatever happened to that traumatized kid, the truth is revealed. Wade may have recommended he steer clear of caves, capes, and any other Batman-esque hobbies, the boy is all grown up, having become the monster that now stalks those same alleys. Smashing the faces, bones, and spirits of criminals and leaving them a bloody mess, the vigilante leaves his mark on the brick walls: “GOOD NIGHT,” seemingly scrawled in the blood of his victims.
That’s where Deadpool #1 left this story, seeming to many as if it would be left behind, a throwaway joke among many others. But with Deadpool #10, the Good Night has finally come calling for Deadpool. And if you ever wondered how Batman would outsmart Deadpool or Wolverine’s healing factor… this is so much more disturbing.
Page 2 of 2: Meet Marvel’s New Batman, GOOD NIGHT
Deadpool Gets Beaten By The ‘Good Night’
A good nemesis knows that showing up to defeat a hero (or in the case of Deadpool, a murderous protagonist) is only half of the fun. The true masters of suspense, foreboding, and stalking know that the prey should know they’re being hunted. Unfortunately, this is Wade Wilson we’re talking about. So as Good Night intercepts one contract killing after another, murdering gangsters and ninjas before Deadpool can even arrive, the mercenary is gleefully oblivious to the message being sent. (‘Good Night’ was the movie being shown the night Deadpool murdered the wealthy couple and turned their son into a psychopath.)
Still, a mystery killer wiping out every job Deadpool lands is a problem in need of solving, so solve it he must. Naturally, that means hiring himself for a job to kill his old friend Hydra Bob, and wait for Good Night to crash the party. Which he eventually does… making his entrance by smashing through a warehouse skylight (duh) in epic fashion. Good Night might actually put Batman to shame, as a truly massive, hulking brute, mace in hand.
The black suit of body armor, cowl, and the three-point superhero landing suggest a Batman built in the image of Captain America as opposed to Superman (we suppose a flowing black cape would be too obvious). And to drive home the joke, Good Night delivers a beating that crescendos in the same iconic back-break that Batman was dealt courtesy of Bane. Healing factor or no, and even knowing how many times Deadpool has been beaten to the edge of death, it’s clear that being pummeled by Good Night is a special kind of pain. Unfortunately for Deadpool, it’s about to get a lot worse.
Good Night is Even More Twisted Than Batman
Even for Batman, it would be a difficult riddle: how do you torture a man who can heal from any wound, and most likely has? Revenge or cruelty in the name of hatred isn’t really Bruce Wayne’s style, but that’s over in the DC Universe. In Marvel’s, the boy who watched Deadpool slay his parents has spent his life preparing to settle the score. And in a million years, we doubt any other villain would have thought to remove Deadpool’s entire skeleton.
That’s where the story is left hanging, along with Wade Wilson: pinned to the wall, bones removed and laid before him. It makes sense, in a way, so we have to give Young credit. After all, the fact that Deadpool’s bones would take the longest to regrow is the kind of detail that Batman would note and possibly even use to gain an advantage. But with Good Night promising to simply “hurt” Deadpool, this de-boning is likely just the beginning.
Maybe Good Night has been waiting for Deadpool to complete his outfit with a flowing, fracture-less, and feeling cape? Even for a character inspired by Batman, that is seriously dark.
Deadpool #10 is available now from your local comic shop, and directly from Marvel Comics.
