Deadpool Destroyed The X-Men Using Their Own Powers Against Them

Few individuals in the Marvel Universe have the ability to take on all of the X-Men, but when Deadpool went on a murderous rampage he didn’t just take them out, he absolutely slaughtered them. Though Deadpool is known for his fighting prowess, it wasn’t his skills as a fighter that let him kill all of the X-Men, it was strategic planning and the X-Men’s own powers.

In Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dalibor Talajic, Deadpool loses his last connection to reality after an encounter with a mind-meddling supervillain. While Deadpool has always known he was in a comic book, he now sees this existence as cruel and thus seeks to free every single Marvel hero. The problem is that he wants to free them by killing them. Even with his limited power-set, Deadpool is able to use his knowledge of the Marvel universe to set traps, murdering entire teams like the Avengers with ease. His greatest feat though is undoubtedly his attack on the X-Men.

To begin, Deadpool kidnaps Professor X and uses water torture to make him call the X-Men. Cyclops, Emma Frost, Cannonball, and Pixie immediately come to his aid. Before they can enter the room, Deadpool launches a ball of goo straight at Cyclop’s head. The bubble encasing his face begins to harden as the other heroes crouch to see if he’s still breathing. In a panic though, Cyclops makes a fatal mistake; he fires his eyebeams. The kinetic energy builds and builds as it bounces around the glob until it explodes, killing Cyclops and his companions. Meanwhile, Magneto is dissolved in an acidic cube, Colossus is being shocked to death, and Kitty Pride is stuck in a tesseract. Realizing how far gone Deadpool is, Professor X attempts to use his powers to subdue Deadpool. With horror, Xavier realizes that Deadpool is right. Accessing Deadpool’s psyche shatters Professor X’s mind, leaving him brain dead.

The rampage will undoubtedly leave readers with a mix of emotions. Because Deadpool isn’t exactly one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, he is forced to think strategically and use more powerful heroes’ powers against them. The whole series sees Deadpool using various gadgets and bits of technology to kill heroes who should easily crush him. Though this can be thrilling to read, it also stretches the limits of believability at times.

Larger than that though, it just comes across as mean. Deadpool’s method of killing his fellow heroes is often needlessly cruel, and his smug, jokey attitude makes it disappointing that he never receives any sort of comeuppance. The same creative team would take a second stab at the concept with Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again where Deadpool is mind-controlled into thinking that all the heroes he’s killed are actually villains. That comic takes itself far less seriously and is better for it. Still, it’s undeniable that Deadpool’s takedown of the X-Men shows that the character is far more clever than most give him credit for.

About The Author

Evan Mullicane
(362 Articles Published)

Evan D. Mullicane is an editor, critic, and author based out of California’s Bay Area. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University in 2016. In his free time, he enjoys reading graphic novels and writing fantasy.

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