Spider-Man has accomplished many considerable feats over the course of his storied, superheroic career in Marvel's fictional universe, including saving New York, the world and even the universe. But none of those tasks were as infuriating or difficult as trying to be friends with the most mouthy mercenary in the Marvel Universe, Deadpool.

The duo are currently on the outs because of Deadpool's actions in the Secret Empire event, but if they can survive the long-form story Robbie Thompson and his artistic collaborators are currently telling in Spider-Man/Deadpool they just might rediscover what inspired them to be friends in the first place.

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Thompson kicked off his run in Spider-Man/Deadpool #23 with a present-day story that found the webslinger hunting down his former friend, and over the course of the next nine issues Spidey's old foe, the Chameleon, became involved along with a whole host of supporting players. Two other prominent elements have been the legacy of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s LMD program, which was revealed to be connected to Peter Parker's parents, and a time-travel plot that found older versions of Spider-Man and Deadpool in an assisted living facility.

In issue #32, released earlier this month, all those elements began to converge as Thompson's story starts to come to a head. So CBR spoke with the writer about his plans for Spider-Man and Deadpool, artists such as Scott Hepburn and Matt Horak who are bringing those plans to life, and his inspirations for all the crazy twists and turns we've seen so far.

Spider-Man/Deadpool #33 cover by Dave Johnson

CBR: So Robbie, for the past several months you've been telling a story of Spider-Man and Deadpool in the present day and one in a possible future with Old Man Wade and Old Man Parker. We've been given clues that have shown how these two stories are connected, but it looks like with issue #32, these two stories have sort of converged, correct? Is Old Man Wade now in the present day with Spider-Man and Deadpool?

Robbie Thompson: That’s correct! The two timelines intertwine at the end of issue #32, and we see the fallout of that in issue #33. In #32, Old Man Wilson has decided the only way to change his horrible present is to change the past. So, while in the Future Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building, he uses Doom’s Time Platform to travel back to stop all the madness in his time from happening. Before he leaves, Valeria points out that the time machine is cursed... which Old Man Wilson quickly finds out is true as he does travel back in time -- but in the process, he swaps places with the current timeline’s Deadpool. So as Old Man Wilson goes back in time, our Deadpool goes to the future!

When talking with editors Nick Lowe and Kathleen Wisneski about this arc, we really wanted to exploit the two timelines as emotionally as possible, which motivated us to have them swap places. Since the future time is about Wade’s guilt, and the past has focused on Wade’s and Spider-Man’s fractured relationship, we decided to have the Deadpools’ swap place in order to shine a light on those predicaments. Wade will see the future consequences of his actions in this possible dark future first hand, and Old Man Wilson can show Spider-Man that things do, in fact, work out for their friendship. The world is probably ending, and the Spider-Man of the future is dying, but, hey, at least they’re still pals!

A large part of this story has been about Wade and Peter being at odds, but still discovering that they care about each other. At one point Wade even admits that out of all the people he disappointed during Secret Empire and its aftermath he regrets letting Peter down the most. Can you talk about why you think these guys have such a deep connection, and what they sort of represent to each other?

Drilling down on their friendship was our goal from the first issue. When we started, they were even more at odds due to the events of Secret Empire. That allowed us to have them wind up in situations where they were forced to find common ground. We wanted to contrast their current status quo by showing them in a future, where they’re living in an old folk’s home... but of course still have some issues.

As for why these two have such a deep connection, for me it goes back to the awesome work that Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness did in their launch of this series. We wanted to carry on the work they did and keep exploring why these two are friends. I think with Wade, he’s an anti-hero, but there’s a true blue hero somewhere deep down inside, under all the toilet humor and murder and lack of boundaries. And he views Spider-Man as the gold standard of being a good guy. He admires him. And who can blame him? For Spider-Man, one thing that I love about him is that he has the ability to see the potential good in anyone. Even when it costs him. So, he knows Wade is foolish and goes too far, but he also has seen Wade be heroic, as well as save Spider-Man from time to time. And yet, Wade can always snatch defeat from the claws of victory on his path to redemption.

There’s a push pull there for Spider-Man. He wants to believe Deadpool can be good, but it’s a bit of Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football situation, you know? Every time it seems like Deadpool’s on the right path... he snatches it away from himself and Spider-Man. With the events of Secret Empire, this dynamic finally came to a head, but we’re hoping to use this story to get them back together and on the same page again. If they don’t die horribly before that, of course.

Spider-Man/Deadpool #33 interior art by Matt Horak and Brian Reber

[Laughs] In addition to being about the friendship and dynamic between Peter and Wade your story also concerns LMDs and artificial intelligences. One particularly interesting twist to that aspect of the story is the mysterious “Master Matrix” and the role Richard and Mary Parker played in its development. What can you tell us about the inspiration for those elements of the story?

I have to give credit and enormous thanks to the book’s editors for that idea and for this turn in the story. I had prepared this big pitch document for the current arc, and it had a lot of plot and action, but something was missing. As we were trading emails about it, Kathleen had great notes and questions about the LMDs, as well as Chameleon’s plan. The notes started to fill in what was missing. The big note was about finding a way to tie all this to a larger part of the Marvel history. So, I pitched an idea for a possible twist, but it didn’t quite work. It did feel like the right direction, though, tying it to something bigger.

That’s when Nick fired back an email about Richard and Mary Parker, and their history with S.H.I.E.L.D. It matched really well with the history of the LMDs we wanted to explore, but more importantly, it made the story much more personal for Peter. His parents and who they were -- that’s a part of his history that has largely remained in shadows. This felt like an opportunity to shine a small light on that dark corner, and introduce a new character to the Marvel Universe that has a unique tie to Spider-Man’s history in the process. As soon as I started writing the story, as well as the Master Matrix, it felt like the perfect fit. So, I’m grateful to Nick and Kathleen for their awesome story brains.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Heading towards the climax, introducing the future Fantastic Four']

One of the things I've enjoyed about this story is the sort of extended cast of characters in the present-day story that developed around both Spider-Man and Deadpool, which includes characters like Silk, Husk, Mockingbird, Screwball, Hellcow, and super sharks Bruce and Deborah. What's it been like bouncing all these characters off your protagonists and each other? And will we continue to see more of those characters in the future?

Well, again, I owe a big thanks to Nick, who early on wanted there to be a supporting cast, and also a big thanks to the artist that launched this run, Chris Bachalo. Nick loves pushing relationship and character dynamics, and it’s been really fun to build a team around Deadpool as well as Spider-Man. He, Chris and I bounced a few ideas back and forth and quickly settled on this motley crew. My favorites to write are probably Bruce and Deborah. They weren’t originally part of the team. But Chris created a really fun cover featuring them, and that quickly led to more story for the Murder Sharks.

Chris pitched bringing Husk into the group, and it was so cool to see him return to a Generation X character. I’ve also really enjoyed bringing Silk back into Spider-Man’s world. I missed Cindy! As for seeing these characters in the future, they’ll all be in the coming issues, I just hope they survive the coming madness!

Spider-Man/Deadpool #33 interior art by Matt Horak and Brian Reber

Speaking of the future, I know you're a huge Fantastic Four fan, and in issue #32 you got to debut the FF of Old Man Wade and Parker's future. What inspired your takes on these characters?

I was at New York Comic Con and met the crazy talented artist Scott Hepburn for the first time in real life. We sat and talked about what was to come in the future storyline, and Scott asked if the Grumpy Old Spider-Man and Deadpool might meet other future heroes in this crazy future timeline. I thought that sounded like fun, and asked him to think about what characters he might like to draw. A couple days later he emailed these amazing designs. They were so much fun and so detailed. Scott’s character work is just outstanding. To be honest, the overall tone and original ideas for the future storyline were a bit broader and sillier, but when Scott sent us his designs for Old Man Parker and Old Man Wilson, the tone of the story really changed. He added so much weight and history to their faces. And that design sensibility carried through to the creation of these new characters.

We exchanged a few more emails and the Future Fantastic Four was born. But it all came from Scott’s great question and amazing designs and ideas for future characters to play with in this sandbox. I hope his designs end up as back matter in one of the trades. There were some characters that we didn’t get to that were so much fun. So, yeah, I am a huge Fantastic Four fan, but the idea for them in this book all came from Scott and I’m grateful. It’s always a pleasure to get to write, “It’s clobberin’ time!” so, thanks, Scott!

Spider-Man/Deadpool #34 art by Scott Hepburn

These last few issues have seen you collaborate with Scott and a variety of talented artists who all have a gift for the action, heart, and the humor that fuels your story. Which artists are you collaborating with on the next few issues of Spider-Man/Deadpool?

Nick and Kathleen have really outdone themselves casting this book. Chris is one of my all-time favorite artists, and to get to work with him and launch this story was a dream come true. He brings so much humor to the book, and all this incredible detail which tracks through the story in ways you don’t expect. Even when the characters are wearing their iconic masks, he makes them so expressive. Scott is outstanding, and as I said above, his design work is incredible. He brings so much heart and emotion to the story. The pages he’s been sending in for issue #34 are out of this world good. He just keeps raising the bar.

Currently, we’ve got the awesome Matt Horak penciling the book. Matt came in and did a few pages on previous issues, and it was clear right away he was perfect for this book. Matt’s got a great eye for character and humor and his design for Master Matrix just blew me away. He and Nick traded emails about it and I just sat back and watched as Matt really created something special. I can’t wait for people to see his work in issue #33. With issue #37 we'll have a soon-to-be-announced addition to our art team, who I'm very excited for, but can't talk about right now.

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Finally, what else can you tell us the tone and action of the remaining chapters of this story? It feels like you've been telling a long-form tale. Are you nearing its end game?

Yeah, it’s all been building to this arc, and comes to a head in issue #36. We set out to test Spider-Man and Deadpool’s relationship, and it builds to our Future and Current storylines crossing over, as Peter confronts his own past and his parents’ involvement in part of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s dark history. Along the way, Deadpool is confronted by his Future Self and the two have to figure out if they’re really capable of change, and redemption. The future of the Marvel Universe depends on it, so, no pressure Wade and Old Wade!

Spider-Man/Deadpool #33, by Robbie Thompson and Matt Horak, is available on May 23 from Marvel.

Spider-Man/Deadpool #34 art by Scott Hepburn