Interested in seeing Deadpool on February 12, but have no idea who any of the superheroes or villains? Our Deadpool movie character guide will set you straight.
Deadpool is already getting a ton of buzz ahead of its release prior to Valentine’s Day. First it was the spoiler-free reviews that called this movie “flawless,” and then it was the fact that Deadpool 2 is reportedly already being written. We’d say it’s ridiculous, but the merc with a mouth kind of thrives on ridiculousness. And, frankly, we’re already on board with a sequel.
Not everyone who’s interested in seeing Ryan Reynolds in spandex knows exactly what they’re getting into, however, so we’ve put together this little Deadpool character guide to help you along. It’ll break down the basics from the comics and let you know which aspects of the characters are likely to make it into the film.
We don’t know everything about Deadpool yet, so it’s possible the creators put their own twists on the characters, giving them different last names, extra powers, or even completely different origins or stories. But at least with our character guide you’ll have some basic knowledge going into the movie.
Come for the humor, stay for the heroics.
Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds)
In the comics, Wade Wilson’s backstory is generally vague and it can change depending on who’s writing that particular run. However, in the movie, Wade finds out he has cancer in his liver, lungs, prostate, and brain. The Recruiter (Jed Rees) offers him a chance to save himself and become a superhero in the process. Seems like a great deal, until everything goes horribly wrong and they try to make him into a superslave instead. On the one hand, he gets healing abilities similar to Wolverine’s, but on the other he ends up looking like a testicle with teeth. Or an avocado that had sex with an older avocado. Or the inside of other people’s assholes. Or…well, you get the idea.
In the comics, Wade’s transformation into Deadpool makes him mentally unstable, though he does describe himself as crazy prior to his big change, but that could’ve just been in jest. One of the best aspects of Deadpool, however, is his knowledge that he’s in a comic book — or, in this case, a movie. He tends to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. It certainly lends credence to that “game-changer” description the movie has been getting according to early reviewers, but it’s doubtful that anyone other than Deadpool could pull it off.
Vanessa Carlysle aka Copycat (Morena Baccarin)
Vanessa Carlysle is a comic book character that also goes by Copycat. She’s a mutant with the ability to shapeshift into other people. As seen above, she’s typically also blue, much like Mystique. She has a complicated on-again-off-again relationship with Deadpool, further fueled by the fact that she also became a mercenary, which sometimes put her at odds with Wade. She has infiltrated the X-Force team to work against them and has been manipulated into working against heroes like Cable.
Vanessa’s line, “I’ve played a lot of roles,” does suggest she’ll be a mutant like in the comics, though it’s unknown whether this will be explored in the first movie. (But the strip of white-blond hair is a nice nod to the original design of the character.) We’re unsure as to why exactly Ajax has taken her; it could be because of Wade’s escape from the clinic or it could be because they want to attain Vanessa’s mutant powers. The couple seems pretty solid in the trailers, so there’s not much worry as to whether they’ll have the same sort of back-and-forth relationship. Then again, Wade’s new status as an anti-hero may put a snag in those wedding plans.
Jack Hammer aka Weasel (T.J. Miller)
Jack Hammer is basically the failed Peter Parker, in that Peter edged him out for the job under Norman Osborn, and where Parker became Spider-Man, Hammer became a sad and lonely criminal. Weasel is probably the closest thing Deadpool has to a friend. He’s a sidekick of sorts, but he’s more of a dealer in information and weapons for the big guy in the red suit. Weasel’s name also reminds us of an important fact when it comes to this character: He’s not 100% loyal to Wade. When opportunity comes knocking, he’s not been known to ignore it. But it’s not like Deadpool is the easiest guy to be around, considering he’s kind of crazy.
The filmic version of the character has no problem telling Wade exactly what he thinks of his new face. It looks like Deadpool goes to him soon after his procedure, but before he dons the final suit. Considering we see Deadpool leading up on guns at Blind Al’s house, maybe Weasel just provides him with the spandex and a couple of on-liners.
Althea aka Blind Al (Leslie Uggams)
Also known as Blind Alfred, Althea and Wade Wilson have a strange relationship. According to the comics, Al was a part of British intelligence and Wade was sent to kill her when he was a mercenary, prior to becoming Deadpool. He let her live, and the two met up again later on after he became Deadpool. It’s unclear exactly what their dynamic is like, with him sometimes acting like she was his prisoner and other times with her acting like his mother. She has been blind for most of her life.
The loving-yet-insulting relationship between the two seems to have translated well to the screen. Al clearly has a military past of some sort, as her house (and her person) is stocked with a variety of weapons. Wade goes to her when he needs to get ready for battle, and she complies, though that doesn’t stop the two of them from trading quips. According to Deadpool, she’s the Robin to his Batman. We’d say wrong comics universe, but Wade doesn’t really care about that sort of thing.
Francis aka Ajax (Ed Skrein)
Francis was also known as The Attending, the brawn for the program that took in Deadpool after the failed attempt to turn him into a superhero and in turn experimented on him and many other patients. Francis was also subject to some tweaking, having had his nerves removed and later given super strength, speed, and agility, as well as intuitive capabilities.
In the film, Ajax certainly seems like he has a larger role, with Angel Dust possibly stepping in to be the enforcer instead. Ajax wears the lab coat in that relationship. Either way, it’s Ajax who steals Deadpool’s best girl, and it’s who Wade Wilson goes after to get her back. We see a lot of what the other mutants can do in the trailers, and not much from Ajax, but there are some excellent shots of him and Deadpool in an epic sword/axe fight.
Christine aka Angel Dust (Gina Carano)
Angel Dust ran away from home and ventured to Chicago to join the Morlocks, a group of mutants who wished to surface despite the mutant-hunting sentinels sent after them by humans. In general, the Morlocks aren’t bad guys. They’re hiding out from the humans who wish to kill them, at first attacking them in return and then halting their attacks when Storm becomes their leader. Many of the Morlocks were either killed or lost their powers, Angel Dust included. Prior to this, her parents had actually accepted her as a mutant.
Deadpool seems to be putting a twist on her character, as she seems to be Ajax’s lackey. Her powers seem to be about the same, which is to say that she can increase her adrenaline in order to become super strong, agile, and fast. However, this only lasts a short period of time before she exhausts herself. In the trailer, we see that Colossus gives her no trouble, but Negasonic Teenage Warhead gives her a run for her money.
Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin aka Colossus (Andre Tricoteux/Stefan Kapičić)
Colussus was born in Soviet Russia where his incredible powers manifested while saving his sister. Professor X immediately contacted him and brought him into his school in order to teach and train the mutant. Colossus can transform himself into steel, which not only makes him incredible strong and nearly impenetrable, but taller, too! Despite his size and presence, Colossus is a gentle giant unless he’s protecting an innocent or one of his fellow X-Men.
The film has two actors portraying Piotr, with Kapičić providing the voice and Tricoteux being the stand-in for the CGI character. Considering their vastly opposing personalities, it’s quite possible Colossus and and Deadpool aren’t going to get along very well, but it appears that, for now at least, they’re fighting the same battle. Previous live-action incarnations of Colossus weren’t well-received, but Deadpool’s version looks strikingly similar to his depiction in the comics.
Ellie Phimister aka Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand)
A student of Emma Frost’s, Negasonic Teenage Warhead seems to have both telepathy and premonitions in the X-Men comics. She’s seen working with Emma Frost and her compatriots against the X-Men on multiple occasions, though sometimes it’s as a vision created by Frost. She named herself after the song by Monster Magnet.
Deadpool seems to be taking some liberties with Ellie’s character, in that she appears to be more closely related to the mutant Cannonball, who can form a force field around his body and project himself like a rocket. In the movie, she’s clearly a member of the X-Men and is working with Colossus to fight against Angel Dust and Ajax.
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