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

2011's *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe* certainly lives up to its bold title. This comic showcases what happens when Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, goes completely off the rails and begins systematically eliminating the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe. The series was such a hit that writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dalibor Talajić reunited for a sequel, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again* in 2017. Now, they're joining forces one final time for *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time*, where Wade Wilson's murderous spree isn't confined to just one universe but extends across the entire Marvel multiverse.

IGN recently had the chance to delve into the mind behind this thrilling conclusion, interviewing Bunn via email. Before we get to the insights, take a look at an exclusive preview of the first issue below, and then dive into the details of the fourth wall-smashing chaos that's on the horizon.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time - Image Gallery

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Cullen Bunn, a prolific creator in the Deadpool universe, has contributed to numerous titles including *Deadpool: Killustrated*, *Night of the Living Deadpool*, and *Deadpool & the Mercs for Money*. When asked if he envisioned this growing into a full-fledged trilogy from the start, Bunn shared, "I never knew that series would go anywhere or be anything more than me having a good time writing a comic. I can't help myself, though. I love thinking about where stories could go. I ask myself constantly... what's next? When I was first working on *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe*, my first pitch after I completed that series was *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Multiverse*. At least, that was one of three initial pitches, including *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Cosmic Universe*, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Zombies*, *Deadpool's Secret Wars*, and *Deadpool Killustrated*. Two of those happened, but the Multiverse book was the closest to what we've got coming up. And, frankly, now is a much better time to do that story!”

The challenge with a trilogy like this lies in continually escalating and expanding the conflict. Starting off with Deadpool taking down the entire rosters of the X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four sets a high bar. For Bunn, the solution was to expand into the multiverse, allowing Wade to face off against everything from Cap-Wolves to Worldbreaker Hulks and entirely new, twisted versions of Marvel's heroes and villains.

“The multiverse most certainly opens up a lot of new avenues of exploration,” Bunn explains. “We wanted this to be different from what you've seen before in the series. We wanted to show Deadpool battling different versions of Marvel heroes (many readers will have seen before, many who are 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 set out is that we were creating the most epic Deadpool story of all time. How's that for an escalation? How's that for throwing the gauntlet down?”

Bunn is eager for readers to experience the carnage, though he's keeping details under wraps beyond what's been revealed in the solicitation for issue #1. “I'm not going to spoil anything in the book. If I had my druthers, I wouldn't have even mentioned Cap-Wolf and Worldbreaker Hulk,” Bunn says. “There are some cool, cool characters showing up in this series. Dozens and dozens of them. And Deadpool is battling some of the most powerful heroes and villains in the multiverse. How's he gonna manage to bring them down? There are some characters showing up in this book that from the ‘I've been reading comics a long time and love some obscure characters’ perspective that haven't been seen in over 30 years. Will those be the most epic of the battles? You'll have to see.”

Artist Dalibor Talajić upped the ante in *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again* by introducing a new level of visual flair, frequently switching styles to contrast the brutal reality with the sanitized vision inside Deadpool's brainwashed mind. Bunn promises that Talajić will continue to innovate visually in this grand finale.

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

While we refer to this as a trilogy, it's worth noting that the first two *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe* books aren't directly connected. They offer different scenarios for Deadpool's rampage: in the first, Deadpool becomes a nihilistic killer after learning he's a comic book character, and in the second, he's brainwashed by villains to slaughter heroes.

The question arises of how the third book connects to the previous volumes. Is this another standalone story, or does it tie back to the others? “It's a fresh start... sort of,” Bunn teases. “The story stands completely on its own. You need not read any of the other series. At the beginning of the story, though, observant readers might pick up on a few interesting tidbits that may connect to what has come before. Most importantly, though--this is its own story.”

The previous books weren't just about mindless carnage; Deadpool was portrayed as a sympathetic figure despite his actions. Bunn suggests that the Deadpool in this sequel will be even more relatable. “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 is 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* is set to hit the shelves on April 2, 2025.