Deadpool: Samurai, a manga series by Sanshirou Kasama and Hikaru Uesugi from Shonen Jump+, is officially the most widely read Marvel comic of 2021 so far.
The first two chapters of Deadpool: Samurai have surpassed 1 million views each. Chapter #7, the most recent chapter as of this writing, has been read over 658,000 times.
For comparison, the bestselling American Marvel comic of 2020, Wolverine #1, shipped an estimated 196,441 copies to comic shops in North America, less than a third of Deadpool: Samurai's readership. The last Marvel comic to ship over 1 million copies in North America was Star Wars #1 in 2015, which was the bestselling direct market release in nearly two decades.
Deadpool: Samurai does have one major advantage over other Marvel comics in terms of widening its readership: it's free to read. Shonen Jump+ is a free online spinoff of Weekly Shonen Jump. Other hit series in the online magazine include Spy X Family and Kaiju No. 8.
Kasama and Uesugi's series transports the Merc with a Mouth back in time to feudal Japan. It began as a one-shot in 2019 before being expanded to a full series beginning in December 2020. It is part of the standard Marvel Universe continuity and one of many collaborations between Marvel Comics and Shonen Jump's publisher Shueisha.
No American release of Deadpool: Samurai has been announced yet.
Source: Bleeding Cool