Marvel Pits Deadpool Against Black Panther in New Miniseries

CBR

By Brian Cronin

Published Jul 6, 2018

Marvel pits two of the biggest superhero movie stars of 2018 against each other in a new limited series this October

Two of 2018's biggest superhero movie stars are set to face off in a brand-new limited series from Marvel that pits Deadpool against Black Panther.

This is nothing new for Deadpool, as he has faced off against almost everyone in the Marvel Universe in earlier limited series, including literally the entire Marvel Universe in Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. Black Panther, though, has had less experience in the "hero vs. hero" game, so this is big news for Marvel. The series will be written by writer Daniel Kibblesmith (Lockjaw and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert) and drawn by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz (Hitgirl and Civil War II: Kingpin). Ryan Benjamin did the cover for the first issue.

The basic setup for the series is that Deadpool needs to acquire some vibranium and obviously, the place to go for vibranium is Wakanda and Black Panther is uninterested in handing some over to someone as unstable as the Merc with the Mouth. A conflict ensues.

Deadpool and Black Panther have surprisingly little history with each other for two such famous characters. Even back when Christopher Priest was writing both titles and had them cross over, it was during a period where Erik Killmonger had temporarily taken over as Black Panther (in a story that was partially adapted for the Black Panther film), so while Deadpool fought against a Black Panther, it was not T'Challa. They recently did have a confrontation during the Civil War II crossover event, when Deadpool infiltrated the Ultimates' headquarters in an attempt to kill the prognosticating Inhuman Ulysses. He had changed his mind by the time Black Panther discovered him and then soundly defeated him and threw him out of their headquarters...literally. This will be their first fight since.

Series editor Wil Moss described the series, "Featuring a brawl you can only get in comics (for now anyway), BLACK PANTHER VS. DEADPOOL is the best of both worlds, equal parts Black Panther/Wakanda and Deadpool/Crazytown. In bouncing these two characters off each other (and sometimes through each other), Daniel and Ricardo have found some really fascinating insights into what makes them tick as individuals.”

That has long been the hallmark of Deadpool "Vs." limited series, as they really have a knack for bringing out the unique aspects of the various other heroes when they are contrasted against the absurdity of Deadpool. It speaks to Black Panther's newfound fame, though, that he gets top billing in this class of the movie superstars.

Black Panther vs. Deadpool will be on sale from Marvel Comics on October 3, 2018.