WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for "Lo, There Shall Come A Hero! Maybe..." by Fabian Nicieza, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia, and VC's Joe Sabino and "The Tao of 'Pool" by Rob Liefeld, Chad Bowers, Bryan Valenza, Jay David Ramos, and Federico Blee, from Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1, on sale now.
Wade Wilson has made his way onto many different superhero teams over the years, often against the wishes of the teams' other members. But in his 30th anniversary special, the Merc With a Mouth revealed that he has no interest in joining a team that's very close to home.
In the short story, "The Tao of 'Pool" from Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1, Wade gives one of his trademark meta addresses to the reader in which he explains his own publication history. While going over his success as a fan-favorite character he says, he prides himself on having been a member of X-Force, the X-Men and the Avengers. "I've been on all the teams," he says, except for Alpha Flight. Never Alpha Flight. Yech."
Created by John Byrne and Chris Claremont, Alpha Flight first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120 in 1979. As the Canadian government's official superhero team, Alpha Flight appeared in supporting roles in various X-Men stories, as Wolverine had been a member prior to being recruited by Charles Xavier. The team has gone on to become an important Marvel Universe institution of its own and has appeared in various other titles as well as occasionally having its own, the first of which ran for 11 years. Still, it remains rather obscure and is often reduced to being portrayed simply as a Canadian equivalent to more well-known groups like the Avengers.
However, Wade's feelings about Alpha Flight contradict something he says elsewhere in the issue that highlights his unpredictable, often nonsensical personality and mental state.
In "Lo, There Shall Come A Hero! Maybe..." Wade recounts his origin story. He describes how the Department K Bioresearch Lab that gave him his powers is based in Canada. His imagination begins to run wild, and he even casts himself as "Canada's Captain America" in his mind. Wade's apparent joy at the prospect of being a Canadian equivalent to Cap casts his feelings about Alpha Flight highlights how the thoughts of his unique mind can be often wildly inconsistent with each other, with little to no logical reason behind them.
Wade's disdain for Alpha Flight also may highlight how generally ignorant he is. Although a more traditional version has recently been restored, for the last several years Alpha Flight was a space program tied to multiple countries and worlds and was charged with defending Earth and allied planets from cosmic threats, essentially acting as a replacement for S.W.O.R.D. It was led by Captain Marvel and played an important part in various major Marvel events. That's exactly the sort of high-profile team Deadpool would want to be a part of, but he may not even be aware enough to understand Alpha Flight has become.