Bunn Plots Adventure for Marvel's Misfits in "Deadpool & the Mercs for Money"

In the post-"Secret Wars" Marvel Universe, an as-yet-unrevealed act has made Deadpool the most popular hero in the world. Wade Wilson is a mercenary in demand, and in the debut issue of the latest "Deadpool" series, he did what any entrepreneur in that situation would: he expanded his business by hiring on some "like-minded" recruits. The newly formed mercenary company is comprised of some of Marvel's most offbeat unstable members; Terror Inc., Solo, Foolkiller, Madcap, Stingray and Slapstick.

Deadpool and his employees are currently juggling a number of jobs -- and one major mystery -- and in February, writer Cullen Bunn and artist Salva Espin send Wade Wilson and his cracked commando unit on a grand, global misadventure in the five issue "Deadpool & the Mercs for Money." CBR News spoke with Bunn about the team's mission, and the odd assortment of mercenaries, criminals and ne'er-do-wells they'll run afoul of.

CBR News: Obviously you're a fan of Deadpool, and I imagine you're an old school fan of a number of characters in his recently revealed mercenary outfit. So how did it feel when you learned that these characters were featured in the new "Deadpool" series? And how did it feel to be given a chance to tell a story with this team?

Cullen Bunn: They had me at "Foolkiller."

Actually, this one has been brewing for a long while. When I first heard about it, I was on the phone in an airport. As the names of the mercs were rattled off, I kept thinking, "I must not be hearing this correctly. The oxygen output on that last plane must have been laced with something." Then I remembered we were talking about Deadpool -- and [Gerry] Duggan -- and [Mike] Hawthorne. My thoughts then turned to, "What are those madmen up to?"

It was hard not to get excited about it. Some of these characters are long time favorites of mine.

When I was asked to put them all together in their own series, my mind immediately jumped to thoughts of The Dirty Dozen and the A-Team. That's nothing new. My mind often jumps to thoughts of The Dirty Dozen and the A-Team. This time, though, I was thinking about those things in relation to a Deadpool comic!

How new reader friendly is "Deadpool & the Mercs for Money?" Is your series set up in the opening arc of "Deadpool?" Or as far as the mission is concerned, is this a complete self-contained tale?

I think if readers can believe that these characters are all working together as part of a mercenary team, then they'll be fine jumping right into this book. This is a pretty self-contained adventure.

What can you tell us about the group dynamic when this series begins? This is a diverse team of characters, some of whom possess mercurial temperaments and personalities. Do they trust and like each other when you pick their story up?

When we jump into this story, the mercs have been working with each other for some time. I wouldn't say they're a well-oiled machine; they're more like a chaos bomb that gets dropped on their enemies. They trust each other, to some degree, but they definitely have differing opinions. This mission, in particular, stirs a bit of drama between certain team members. The mercs, though, are united in their lack of trust (or is it faith?) in the plans of their leader: Deadpool.

What's your general sense of what makes the mercs tick? What do you find most interesting about them?

It's money that makes these guys tick! It's right there in the title! They are mercenaries. And we all know mercenaries love cash!

But when I came onto the series, Gerry handed me a description of each of the characters, including why they are working together, why they are working with Deadpool, and what motivates them. Now, this was all written with the main Deadpool book in mind, but it definitely helped shape how these characters would interact in this title.

This is such an odd gathering of characters. It was interesting to me to see how they would play off each other in the middle of a pretty epic adventure.

The "Mercs For Money" sotry revolves around a powerful relic; what can you tell us about this item and what Deadpool and company have been tasked to do with it?

I don't want to say too much about the relic that the mercs discover. Yes, it is extremely powerful and valuable and dangerous. That leads Deadpool to one conclusion -- he needs to sell it to the highest bidder! This is a bad idea, but that's Deadpool's bread and butter. I think this relic could have a long-lasting impact on the Marvel Universe as a whole.

Where will the action of "Mercs for Money" take place? Are you exploring one setting in detail? Or is this a globe hopping adventure?

The Mercs are traveling all over the place in this series. We'll see a number of set pieces over the course of this adventure -- everything from hidden Beyond Corporation bases to auction barns to stretches of blacktop that would do a Dick Curless song proud.

So world spanning action and a powerful artifact -- sounds like a situation that could bring the Mercs into conflict with a wide variety of villainous and oddball characters.

So... Many... Villains...

I knew going into this that our titular characters would not be the only mercenaries in the series, not by a long shot. You'll be seeing dozens of mercenaries, some of them you might expect -- especially in a Deadpool book -- and some you haven't seen much of lately. I don't want to give away too many of our guest stars, but I'm particularly proud of bringing the Crazy Gang back into play.

In addition to the mercenaries, there are a number of villainous mastermind types who will be making a play for this mysterious relic. I mean, somebody has to bankroll these hired guns, right? Of the "boss level" villains, I'm most excited for another new player who will shake the foundations of the Marvel Universe -- the Ozarks Kingpin.

Let that sink in a bit: The Ozarks Kingpin.

That sounds amazing. "Mercs For Money" finds you once again collaborating on a Deadpool story with artist Salva Espin, so you know what he's capable of and what he enjoys. Which of his artistic skills did you really want to stretch and explore in this series? And what are some things that he especially enjoys drawing when working on Deadpool?

Salva never complains about drawing anything! And I punish him for that kindness.

But seriously, I think Salva is great, and if I'm challenging him or pushing him, it's because he might be drawing dozens of villains interacting with each other while monsters are brawling around them. Or he might be drawing a five-way mercenary slug fest on top of a demonic semi-truck as it rockets down the highway.

I do know there is one character in particular that Salva likes drawing. It's a character who played a pretty big role in some of our other work, so that character is once again in play in this book.