Deadpool WAS Inspired by a Comic Icon, But Not the One You Think

It might seem obvious to Marvel fans everywhere that Deadpool has taken a bit of inspiration from another comic book character. While many believe that Wade Wilson was based off the assassin Deathstroke, an old interview with Rob Liefeld reveals that the Merc with a Mouth was influenced from a character few saw coming.

The wacky and annoying assassin who’s sliced and diced his way through the Marvel Universe may be one of the franchise’s most popular characters, but Deadpool has been accused by many readers of a serious crime: ripping off an existing character. Fans and comic creators alike have noted the eerily similarities between DC’s Deathstroke and Marvel’s Deadpool. Both are morally ambiguous hired guns with powerful healing factors who excel in the art of killing. Even Deadpool’s secret identity of Wade Wilson is just a few letters away from the given name of Deathstroke, Slade Wilson. Sadly, Deadpool’s trademark love of chimichangas hasn’t been enough to differentiate him from Deathstroke.

Despite all the accusations of Deadpool riffing off Deathstroke, Wilson’s famed co-creator Rob Liefeld pushes back against the claims. But the comic book icon did admit that Deadpool was influenced by another character, just one fans didn’t expect. In an interview with Flickering Myth, Rob Liefeld discusses Deadpool and his work on the series Snake Eyes: Deadgame. In response to a question that touches on the ninja elements that Deadpool and Snake Eyes share, Liefeld mentions how much the G.I. Joe franchise inspired his work on The New Mutants. After helping create Cable, who served as Liefeld’s idea of a “Roadblock/Duke” archetype, Liefeld admits to looking to the Snake Eyes character as a source of inspiration for a new antagonist. Liefeld enthusiastically describes Snake Eyes as “not just a ninja. He’s a soldier ninja,” which Liefeld used as a starting point to create Deadpool.

One can see the G.I. Joe influence in Deadpool when he’s placed side-by-side with Snake Eyes. Both are highly lethal combat experts who excel in swordplay. The only thing that really separates Deadpool from Snake Eyes is Wade Wilson’s usual juvenile humor and his inability to stop talking. Such a revelation may not come as a surprise to Deadpool’s most die-hard fans, but it may change how Deathstroke readers see the Merc with a Mouth.

It’s not unusual to see the killers as cut from the same cloth. Aside from their tactics, even their names seem like a complimentary joke e.g. ‘Where does one do a Deathstroke? In a Deadpool!’ But while fans continue to compare the two, Liefeld has insisted for quite some time that Slade Wilson was not his main source of inspiration for Wade. This interview helps clear up and hopefully puts to bed the rather tired notion that Deadpool is nothing more than a Deathstroke ripoff. Liefeld doesn’t deny that his character had some inspiration from a character he liked, but by bringing up his appreciation for Snake Eyes, he hopefully sets the record straight on the oldest Deadpool controversy in the books.

Source: Flickering Myth