With Deadpool 2 on the way, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the first film, which defied all odds in being one of the most successful, most well-received superhero movies of all time. Part of that success came from the self-aware, deconstructive, subversive nature of the film, but it also had a lot to do with how the film adapted the comics. Broad strokes were taken from Deadpool's origins, with some major and minor changes made along the way. These changes helped both to streamline the story of the film and give a much more interesting, much more likeable version of the character.

That said, there were a few changes made from the comics that fans were a bit disappointed by. Deadpool is an interesting character with a lot of comic book history; so much so that it would be impossible to show every beloved element/aspect of his character history without the film being oversaturated and weighed down by random bits of lore and humor. This is to say that the Deadpool film took what was important to the character and cut him down to his core elements, and as a result, there are 15 main differences between the Deadpool film and the comics it came form.

15 LITTLE YELLOW BOXES

While Gail Simone's run of the Deadpool comics was rather short, it went down as one of the best in the character's history. The run is known for frequently using Deadpool's "little yellow boxes," which represented the voices in his head along with a set of white caption boxes. Deadpool's inner voices would yammer away in his head throughout his misadventures, showing us just how crazy he was in the strangest, funniest way possible. Strangely enough, the yellow boxes turned out to be Madcap, a villain with a healing factor like Deadpool's who got fused into his body after both of the characters were vaporized by Thor.

As strange as this retcon was, it didn't take away from the fact that Deadpool had his "little yellow boxes" for quite some time, a staple of his character that was left out of the movie.

Obviously, putting caption boxes in a film wouldn't work as well as it would in comics, but we were surprised there weren't a few moments in the Deadpool movie where Wade heard voices in his head. Perhaps we'll see them in the sequel as an after-effect of having that knife he took to the skull, giving him his two signature inner voices to argue with.

14 CHIMICHANGAS

 

For quite some time, Deadpool has been obsessed with chimichangas. He loves saying the word, he loves eating them, and the thought of them basically occupied his headspace 24/7. Chimichangas have been so associated with Deadpool that there are T-shirts, memes and even a toy food truck based on the character's love of the Mexican dish. Where did this connection come from exactly? Well, it was apparently an inside joke between the character's co-creator Fabian Nicieza and longtime Marvel comics artist, Mark Gruenwald that was based on an Saturday Night Live sketch. Nicieza wanted to work it into comics for years and eventually did with Deadpool.

Wether you love Deadpool's obsession with chimichangas or you think it's overplayed, you have to admit that it's a big part of the character that deserved a bigger role in the first film. Sure, there was the "Time to make the chimi-f***ing-changas" line and that ad for the film with the giant chimichanga, but other than that? Nothing. Deadpool didn't actually eat one in the film and it was a bit disappointing. We didn't even need it to be obvious or pointed out, just a quick shot of him lifting up his mask to cram his mouth full of that deep-fried goodness would have been perfect.

13 VANESSA

In all film adaptations, not just comics, some things have to change when the source material is a bit older. Things that were glossed over have to be given a second look and updated for modern social awareness. With Deadpool, a lot of the major changes relating to this notion came from the character of Vanessa. There are actually a lot of things that carried over from the comics version of Vanessa, but her age wasn't one of them. In the original comics, Vanessa was a teenage prostitute that Wade Wilson fell in love with, but in the film she is an adult.

This was a welcome change for the character...

There is one other change that we are hesitant to mention, since we don't know what's going to happen in Deadpool 2 yet. In the comics, Vanessa was a mutant, one with shapeshifting abilities and went by the name Copycat. Perhaps there is still room for Vanessa to reveal her powers in the Deadpool films, but thus far, we have no reason to believe she is Copycat. Then again, she could turn out to be part of the X-Force that Deadpool has been seen forming in the trailers (maybe she's secretly Peter). Guess we won't know until the movie comes out, though.

12 WEAPON X

In the critically-derided X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we saw Wade Wilson as a member of the Weapon-X program, resulting in a version of Deadpool without a mouth. Why? We might never know what went wrong, but this version of Deadpool got something right, or at least sort of right: the fact that he was part of the Weapon X program in some way. Perhaps because of all the weird timelines with Fox's X-Men universe, Weapon X couldn't be used for the Deadpool movie, and thus, Wade was sent to "The Workshop" instead.

In the comics, Deadpool was part of the second installment of the Weapon-X program, and while he was considered to be "Weapon XI" in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Deadpool film left out Weapon X entirely. It's not really a big deal at the end, it just resulted in a few differences in how Deadpool got his healing factor, since it was not connected to Wolverine. In fact, that's another major difference in the film, Deadpool's connection to Wolverine is all but nonexistent, the only connection being all of his jokes poking fun at Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman. But, again, there wasn't really a fan uproar at the changed origin and the nixing of Weapon X, since those things aren't what make the character special.

11 THE WORKSHOP

Speaking of Deadpool's origins, there's another change from the comics to the movie worth mentioning. We mentioned that Deadpool didn't go to Department K in the film and instead went to a place called "The Workshop" to cure his cancer. The connection here is a bit confusing, so strap in. In the comics, Wade was recruited into Weapon X and given Wolverine's healing factor to cure his cancer. The process worked, but resulted in horrible skin disfigurement that drove Wade to suicidal insanity. Because of this, Wade was seen as a failure and sent to Department K, a place where failed experiments were sent. There, Wade was subjected to torture until he finally broke out and set all the other experiments free.

Personally, we think the movie benefited from this streamlined version of the story.

The movie took these two locations and combined them into one facility known as The Workshop. The workshop offers Wade a way to cure his cancer and become "a superhero," but this offer turns out to be a 24/7 torture fest as Ajax puts Wade into life-threatening situations to force his latent mutant genes to develop a superpower. So, the torture, the powers and cure for cancer all come from one place rather than Weapon X and Department K as it was in the comics. Personally, we think the movie benefited from this streamlined version of the story.

10 AJAX

The person who ran The Workshop, like the facility itself, was also a combination of two characters from the comics. When Deadpool was sent to Department K, he was "taken care of" by Dr. Killebrew and his assistant/experiment Ajax. Yes, in the comics, Ajax was basically just the muscle for Dr. Killebrew, who tortured Wade night and day as part of his experiments. In the film, however, there was no Dr. Killebrew, and instead, Ajax seemed to take the role of both his comics counterpart and the doctor himself.

Ajax was the one who ran The Workshop, acting both as a scientist and as one of its greatest accomplishments in mutant gene experimentation. Furthermore, Angel Dust seems to have taken the position of the muscle/attendant to Ajax, somewhat filling in his original role. There are a few similarities to Ajax's character in the film and the comics version. In both the comics and the film, Wade constantly teased Ajax, who was simply known as the Attendant, about his real name, Francis, a point of embarrassment and a nerve that Wade did not hesitate to strike at with every chance he got. Once again, these changes aren't too bad and the streamlining of the story served to make the film flow better, so we're not complaining.

9 TELEPORTATION DEVICE

This is another one that we sort have to wait and see with the upcoming release of Deadpool 2, but it's still worth mentioning. Deadpool has a ton of signature weapons and paraphernalia, best known for the two katana on his back and his dual pistols. The film version of the character got these parts right, showing the merc with a mouth slicing through enemies and brandishing is twin sidearms.

But, there is one piece of equipment from Deadpool's arsenal that we've yet to see: his infamous teleportation device.

In the comics, Deadpool received a teleportation device from friend and tech supplier, Weasel, who was also different in the movie. The teleportation device, as one might think, let Wade drop in or duck out whenever he wanted. However, this signature device is missing from the film, though who knows what might happen in the sequel. But, if we don't ever see the teleportation device, that's fine too, since Deadpool himself eventually got rid of the thing, saying it made things too easy. Then again, how great would it be if the above mishap happened in Deadpool 2?

8 NAME ORIGIN

Deadpool is an awesome name, we all know it. It's got such a great ring to it and it has a cool, vague mystery to it that makes you want to know more about the origin behind it. Well, you're in luck, since we can tell you all about how Wade came up with the name and how it differs between the comic and the movie. Both the comic and the movie origin of Deadpool's moniker have the same basic concept, it is based on an actual dead pool, a wager based around who will die in a group of people. In the comics, Wade took the name from the dead pool that Ajax and Dr. Killebrew kept on all their experiments, betting which would survive the experiments.

In the Deadpool movie, the idea is the same, the source is just different. Instead of the bets being placed on the members of the film's equivalent of Department K, the dead pool comes from the Hellhouse and all the mercenaries that hang out there. Each and every one of them have placed bets on each other to see who dies and thus gets a payout. Wade decides on the name after Weasel points out he'll never win the dead pool with Wade's new healing factor, inspiring his superhero name, though he does add "captain" to it at first.

7 VILLAINOUS NATURE

People love Deadpool. The internet loves him, comic geeks love him, fans of the movie love him, the list goes on. He's a popular character who only got more popular in recent years, but does that mean he's a good guy? Not really. It's not like people don't know this, he is a mercenary and a murderer, after all. However, in recent years, Deadpool's character has been depicted more as a chaotic weirdo who sometimes does bad things but has a heart of gold at the end of the day.

This is the version of the character's personality that the movie depicted, but it's not quite how he was in the early days of the comic.

In his early days as a mercenary, the time soon after he had became Deadpool, Wade was... well... not nice. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that he was a complete jerk, a villain by any other name. Being a mercenary means that Deadpool isn't exactly evil, but his sociopathic tendencies were anything but nice, and the movie avoided this version off the character, something that ended up working for the better, since he's now a big lovable, if not a bit destructive, goofball.

6 BLIND AL

So, you might be asking what Deadpool did in his early days that was so bad. One example is his relationship with Blind Al, which was much different in the comics than how it appears in the film adaptation. As mentioned, Deadpool was a bit psychopath in his early days, which was seen in how he treated Blind Al. In the film, they have a playfully mean relationship, jabbing insults at each other without any actual ill will behind them. In the comics, however, things are much darker.

Blind Al is not Deadpool's roommate in the comics, she was actually a prisoner that he treated like dirt. Sometimes it was jabs at her like in the movie, other times it was mean-spirited and often cruel pranks that took advantage of her blindness. Still other times, it was much, much worse. Whenever Al did something to anger Deadpool, he would put her in a box filled with sharp objects that could only be avoided if she remained perfectly still. Oh yeah, we're definitely glad all that didn't make it into the movie. But, as cruel as all this seems, Al was just as cruel back at times, serving as one of the only characters in Deadpool's life who could stand up to him and pull pranks of her own, like putting laxatives in his food.

5 INSANITY

Deadpool is crazy, it's one of his most notable character traits. But, when did that craziness begin? In the film, Wade wasn't quite as crazy as his comics counterpart, a borderline psychopath, sure, but not "voices in his head" crazy. Regardless of how crazy, there is a much bigger difference between the character's personality in the comics and the one in the movie. In the comics, Wade Wilson wasn't really a psychopath, but a bit of a troubled kid who was dishonorably discharged; but otherwise, he wasn't crazy. That is, he wasn't until the Weapon X experiments and the Department K torture turned him suicidal and psychopathic.

In the film, however, Wade was a bit nutty from the start.

He had a quick wit and sociopathic tendencies before his body was disfigured and tortured. In the film, Ajax said that Wade's sense of humor would be tested by the torture and experiments. In the comics, though, Department K (the comics equivalent of The Workshop) was somewhat responsible for his sense of humor, since it drove him over the edge of insanity, leading to his zany personality. Not really something to get riled up over, just an interesting tidbit that comes up when you compare the comics to the film.

4 HYDRA BOB

Who is Hydra Bob? Well, in a few words, he's loyal, he's a good friend, and he just wanted a good dental plan. Okay, that probably raised more questions than answers, so the long version of the story is that Bob was an agent of Hydra who joined because he needed a good health care provider, and because he wanted to get behind a good leader. Bob would go on to join Deadpool on a few of his adventures, becoming a staple of Deadpool comics for a time. Bob even made a cameo appearance in the movie Deadpool, though it was brief and a far cry from his comics counterpart.

Though the cameo was fun, the Bob we saw in the Deadpool film was just that, a quasi-cameo. There were some implications of his backstory, and his wife was mentioned, but that was about it, no implication that he would join up with Deadpool or anything like that. Furthermore, since Deadpool takes place in the Fox universe, they don't have the rights to Hydra, and try as they might've with the fallen helicarrier set piece, this Bob was no Hydra Bob, he was just Bob. But, who knows what the future holds! Maybe the Fox/Disney deal with give us a true Hydra Bob? Until then, the cameo was a nice touch.

3 X-FORCE

There sure are a lot of X-teams in Marvel comics, The X-Men, X-Factor, Generation X, Weapon X and, of course, X-Force, which is set to be featured in Deadpool 2. However, this version of the team is a bit different to what we're used to in the comic. It's not like Deadpool hasn't been on the team before; in fact, the movie puts Domino on the team, which is accurate to the comics. However, Deadpool did not start the X-Force, nor did he ever lead it.

He might have changed his costume while he worked for them, but Deadpool was never a founding member, nor a person in charge of the X-Force.

In fact, the movie version of X-force seems to be the opposite of the comics version, since Cable was the one who started and led the team. In Deadpool 2, it seems like Wade starts X-Force to combat Cable, which really flips the comics version on the head. Again, this isn't to complain that the movie is changing too much from the comics, we just found the comparisons interesting. In fact, most, if not all of the changes that Deadpool made from the comics ended up working out in its favor, so this decision doesn't worry us.

2 HOW WADE MET NATHAN

Speaking of Cable and Deadpool, there are some differences between their first meeting in the comics and how it looks like they're going to meet in Deadpool 2. Like X-Force, Deadpool 2 has flipped a comics origin on its head. In the original comics, The Cable and the New Mutants took on Deadpool instead of Deadpool and the X-Force taking on Cable, the character's first appearance actually being in the New Mutants.

Deadpool 2 really seems set on playing Cable as the bad guy, and while we still have to see how it will actually play out, the decision has us a bit wary. Of course, things could work out in the end, since Deadpool and Cable ended up being pretty good friends. Okay, "friends" might not be the right word, but they definitely had a ton of adventures together, co-starring in an ongoing series and teaming up on multiple occasions since. The fact that Deadpool first appeared in New Mutants also makes us wonder if the characters on that team will show up in the third film. Of course, Disney might acquire Fox by then, but we can dream, can't we? Wait, if that acquisition happens, how are they going to explain the whole Thanos/Cable thing?

1 (UN)RELIABLE NARRATOR

Deadpool's origins are... vague at best. We're not talking about how he got his power, we're talking about Deadpool's early life, which has been anything but consistent. Heck even his military training is sometimes called into question with how much Wade tends to lie (or forget) when it comes to telling his life story. Were his parents abusive? Did he always have mental issues? Did he actually kill his own parents without realizing it? All of these things are brought into question because of how unreliable of a narrator Deadpool is when it comes to his own past.

At least, that's how it is in the comics. In the film, Deadpool also narrates his life story, telling us how he came to wear the red superhero duds and his journey to get a cure from and revenge on Ajax. While any points in his life earlier than his military career are not touched upon, the parts of Wade's past that he does divulge seem to be accurate. This is to say that we have no reason to believe that Wade is lying -- embellishing the truth a bit here and there, perhaps -- but not flat out lying to the audience. Though, maybe if the sequel gets into his childhood, that might change.