The worlds of Deadpool and Demon Slayer don’t have much in common on the surface, yet it’s still not surprising that the Merc with a Mouth would take time to make fun of the mega-popular manga/anime series. Deadpool commonly skewers pop culture, and with his new manga Deadpool: Samurai, it only makes sense that he would take aim at a series as popular as Demon Slayer and parody its most iconic cover.

In the original Demon Slayer cover image, from the manga’s first volume, series protagonist Tanjiro Kamado is depicted holding his sister Nezuko, a not-fully turned demon. The series focuses on Tanjiro’s quest to cure his sister of her demonic infliction, and this cover perfectly captures that. It’s a touching image that immediately conveys the special bond that Tanjiro and Nezuko share. It is for this reason that the images resonate so deeply with fans and readers of the manga. Though the image might be touching with Tanjiro and Nezuko, it turns hilarious when Deadpool takes both their places.

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In a Tweet from Twitter user Kimetsu News, the cover to Deadpool: Samurai #3 and Demon Slayer’s first volume are put side-by-side. The Deadpool image depicts Deadpool with a wig, clothing, and earring similar to Tanjiro’s, hugging another Deadpool also in a wig and clothing similar to Nezuko in the original. To make its parody even more obvious, in addition to the similarities between characters, the Deadpool image also imitates the design, background, and lettering of the original Demon Slayer cover.

The Deadpool image plays on the emotions that the original expresses, but then turns it with Deadpool’s signature irreverent humor. First, there is the contrast between Tanjiro, the righteous, caring hero who can be trusted to always do the right thing; and Deadpool, the morally ambiguous, at times creepy, ex-villain who will do anything necessary to get the win. Tanjiro is focused on doing everything possible to his sister from oblivion while ridding the world of the demons that possess. Deadpool is focused on getting what he wants and couldn’t care less about the demons in the world as long as they don’t get in his way.

Second, there is the difference between Nezuko and Deadpool. In the manga, Nezuko must wear a bamboo muzzle which stops her from biting someone, because as a near demon, if she ever were to taste human blood, she would most likely be unable to control thirst for it thereby accelerating her full transformation to a demon. In the image, Nezuko is without the muzzle, and while it appears she wants to bite her brother, fans of the manga know she will not because the one person she has always been able to control her desires with, is Tanjiro. On the other hand, in the Deadpool image of Nezuko, she is also without a muzzle but clearly has given into her thirst for chimichanga, Deadpool’s favorite food.

These are just a few of the humorous pokes that the Deadpool images takes at the original cover that are not likely to be lost on any Demon Slayer fan who comes across it. Deadpool: Samurai is a limited series collaboration between Marvel Comics and Shonen Jump, one to the leading publishers of Japanese manga. Originally, the series was released exclusively in Japan between December 2010 and June 2021. However, Viz is set to release an English version in April 2022. Though Deadpool fans will undoubtedly want to check it out, fans of manga like Demon Slayer may want to give it a read just to see what will be parodied next.

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Marcel Green
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Marcel Green is a comics news writer for Screen Rant. A lifelong comic fan who originally was a “Marvel Only” collector, he has matured into an “independent” fan of all things comics, manga, cartoon, and anime. Happy to finally be able to put all those hours reading comics over the years to good use.

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