"Deadpool Ends Marvel's Bloodiest Trilogy with Final Universe Kill"

The 2011 comic series *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe* certainly lived up to its explosive title. It showcased what happens when Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, goes off the rails and begins annihilating the heroes and villains across the Marvel Universe. The series was such a hit that writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dalibor Talajić teamed up again for the sequel, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again* in 2017. Now, they're reuniting for what promises to be the ultimate showdown in *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time*. This time, Wade's not just targeting one universe—he's gunning for the entire Marvel multiverse.

IGN recently had the chance to delve deeper into this final chapter of the trilogy with Bunn via email. Before we dive into the details, take a peek at an exclusive preview of the first issue below, and then continue reading to discover more about the fourth wall-breaking mayhem that awaits.

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Bunn, a prolific creator in the Deadpool universe, has penned numerous tales from *Deadpool: Killustrated* to *Night of the Living Deadpool* and *Deadpool & the Mercs for Money*. We asked if he had always planned for this to evolve into a trilogy from the very beginning.

“I never knew that series would go anywhere or be anything more than me having a good time writing a comic,” Bunn shares with IGN. “But I can't help myself—I love thinking about where stories could go. I constantly ask myself... what's next? When I was working on the first *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe*, my initial pitch after finishing that series was for *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Multiverse*. That was one of three pitches, including *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Cosmic Universe*, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Zombies*, *Deadpool's Secret Wars*, and *Deadpool Killustrated*. Two of those ideas came to fruition, but the Multiverse book was the closest to what we're doing now. And honestly, now is the perfect time to tell that story!”

Escalating the stakes in a trilogy where Deadpool starts by taking out the X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four is no small feat. Bunn's solution was to expand the playing field to the multiverse, introducing Wade to battles with everything from Cap-Wolves to Worldbreaker Hulks and new, twisted versions of Marvel's heroes and villains.

“The multiverse opens up a lot of new storytelling possibilities,” Bunn explains. “We wanted this to be different from what you've seen before. We're showcasing Deadpool battling various versions of Marvel heroes—some familiar, some entirely new. I spent a lot of time researching the 'worst' (meaning 'the best') variants of Marvel heroes and villains. What I didn’t realize when I started was that we were crafting the most epic Deadpool story ever. How's that for escalation? How's that for throwing down the gauntlet?”

Bunn is eager for readers to experience the chaos in the book but is keeping the specific matchups under wraps, beyond what's already been teased in the solicitation for issue #1.

“I'm not going to spoil anything in the book. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have even mentioned Cap-Wolf and Worldbreaker Hulk,” Bunn says. “There are some incredible characters making appearances in this series. Dozens and dozens of them. Deadpool is taking on some of the most powerful beings in the multiverse. How will he manage to take them down? There are characters in this book that haven't been seen in over 30 years, which will thrill long-time comic fans. Will those be the most epic battles? You'll have to read to find out.”

In *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again*, Talajić elevated the visual storytelling by switching artistic styles, contrasting the brutal reality with the sanitized version inside the brainwashed Deadpool's mind. Bunn assures that Talajić will continue to innovate visually in this grand finale.

“With *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again*, we played with different eras and styles of comics,” Bunn notes. “In this new book, we're not changing the overall visual style for each kill. But where Dalibor really shines is in his interpretations of different worlds, different versions of our heroes, and a different version of [REDACTED] than you've ever seen before. Dalibor is always a master of his craft, but he's bringing some real insanity to the page in this!”

While we call this a trilogy, it's worth noting that the first two *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe* books aren't directly connected. They present different scenarios for why Deadpool would start killing Marvel's heroes. In the first, Deadpool becomes a nihilistic killer after learning he's a comic book character. In the second, a different Wade is brainwashed by villains to do their bidding.

The question remains: how does the third book tie back to the previous volumes? Is it another standalone story, or does it weave connections to the earlier books?

“It's a fresh start... sort of,” Bunn teases. “The story stands completely on its own. You don't need to read the other series. However, at the beginning of the story, observant readers might catch a few interesting tidbits that connect to what has come before. Most importantly, though—this is its own story.”

The previous books weren't just about mindless superhero carnage. In both, Deadpool was portrayed as a sympathetic figure despite his actions—one disillusioned by his comic book existence, the other fighting against mind control. Bunn hints that the Deadpool in this sequel is even more sympathetic.

“I think the Deadpool we see in this book is much more sympathetic than the killer Deadpool in the other series,” Bunn says. “With this, we thought, ‘What if Deadpool killed the Marvel Universe... and we were rooting for him to succeed?’ It's definitely challenging to set the stories apart. With this one, Deadpool's mission and his headspace make this book completely different. His headspace. I can't wait for readers to get that joke.”

*Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1* will hit the shelves on April 2, 2025.