Andy Diggle just got started on Thunderbolts and he’s already forced to have a crossover with Deadpool. I mean, I assume he was forced to. Diggle’s early T-Bolts issues have been above average and appeared to have a solid plan for a path forward. Crossovers always derail things like that.
On the Deadpool side, Daniel Way’s Deadpool run has been fun and predictable, but is much more about jokes and scenes than about overall story or character.
Let’s see if Diggle raises Way’s game or Way brings Diggle down.
On the last page of Thunderbolts #129, we saw that the team has been assigned to capture or kill Deadpool. Why? Because Deadpool is trying to kill their boss, Norman Osborn. Wade did a mission for Nick Fury to find out how to kill the skrull queen and end the Secret Invasion, but Osborn intercepted Deadpool’s communication to Nick Fury. The information enabled Osborn to kill the queen himself and become the head of SHIELD. But that’s not why Deadpool is trying to kill him. He’s trying to kill him because as a result of Osborn intercepting the communication, Deadpool didn’t complete the job and Nick Fury won’t pay him.
Much of Deadpool #8. is just Wade working his way through Avengers Tower defenses, which include a remote-controlled suit of Iron Man armor. Deadpool defeats it and steals its breastplate.
I always love a good story about someone moving past death traps. (Although few are as good as Daredevil #208.)
Deadpool doesn’t face the Thunderbolts until the last pages of DP#8.
Diggle’s choice of Headsman to be the new version of Green Goblin, in the last arc, was a terrific piece of meat for ubernerds–but only guys like us have heard of him. Like, Deadpool has no idea who he is.
Deadpool takes all of the Thunderbolts down fairly easily, which makes sense. He’s been able to face off against the entire X-Men team and these guys are not as well trained or as inherently powerful. In fact, it’s a pretty lame team in all. Which is part of the fun.
Part of the reason Deadpool is able to fight off the T-Bolts is that he steals a teleporter.
I can’t remember why or when Wade lost his “bodyslide” tech, but now he’s got it back. (I wonder why, if Osborn has this kind of capability, he isn’t using it more?)
It turns out that Osborn planted the teleporter and Deadpool’s theft enables him to track him to his base, where we get a rematch. It’s brief, though, because Deadpool’s base is fortified and quickly takes down the entire team. Only Yelena Belova is left standing, but instead of killing her, Deadpool (predictably) crushes on her.
And the feeling is somewhat mutual(?).
This leads to some funny bits throughout the rest of the arc.
Taskmaster is allied with Deadpool and takes on his identity for the big endgame, but ends up not adding a lot of value. He’s captured and Deadpool has to rescue him.
Deadpool (for the fourth time) wipes the floor with the Thunderbolts, chases Osborn on to a plane, and shoots him. Not fatally, though. Osborn goes all Green Goblin-y. In the resulting fight, Osborn’s plane crashes and just as Deadpool is about to kill Osborn, Black Widow shoots Deadpool and incapacitates him.
He’s down long enough for Headsman to behead him.
Osborn and his team leave Deadpool, assuming he’s dead, but Belova sews his head back on later–because she loved him after all.
The big “punch line” is that after all this, Wilson stole Osborn’s credit card. So he gets paid after all.