Over the years, Deadpool has become one of Marvel's most unpredictable characters, often throwing down surprisingly with plenty of figures from around the universe. But one of his most unlikely foes is someone who normally seems sp far beyond the Merc with a Mouth that it initially appears to be a ridiculous concept until it's clear just how personal their hatred is.
Now, we're taking a closer look at how Thanos became Wade Wilson's most unlikely rival, thanks to their mutual pursuit for the hand of Marvel's Mistress Death in romance.
DEATH & THANOS
The earliest meetings between Death and Thanos were revealed in Thanos Rising by Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi. Focusing on a young Thanos as he grew to maturity on Titan, the story reveals just how long Death has had her eye on Thanos. Appearing to him as a fellow child, Death became his closest friend and confidant. Although he developed romantic feelings for her, she never fully returned the favor -- only giving him comfort and guidance as he increasingly embraced murder as a tool.
As Thanos grew to enjoy his dark work, Death pushed him further and further into truly becoming the universe's greatest killer. Eventually accepting his true nature and reducing his homeworld to ash, Thanos was finally driven mad by his long-time love revealing her true nature to him. The two traveled creation for a time, Thanos always trying to impress his mistress with scores of slaughters in her name -- only for Death to grow distant towards him. Even his most infamous act -- using the Infinity Gauntlet to slaughter half of the universe in one fell swoop -- seemingly wasn't enough for her, and she remained cold to him.
DEATH & DEADPOOL
Thanos was not the only being to encounter Death in this form. Deadpool met Death in Deadpool/Death '98, by Joe Kelly, Steve Harris, Reggie Jones, & Chris Sotomayor. Death came to the man known as Wade Wilson while he was a test subject for Department K. Left to rot with the cruel Killebrew and Ajax, Wilson was forced into various horrible tortures in the name of science. Longing for death, Wade was visited by Mistress Death -- who was taken aback by Wade's intimate desire for her. While she was cold with Thanos, she became flirty with Wade while tempting him to find a way to die.
At one point, Mistress Death came close to claiming him, only for Wade's healing factor to finally activate due to his desire for vengeance against those who had wronged him, potentially keeping him away from her forever. Wade escaped Department K and became the mercenary Deadpool, slowly morphing from a violent killer into a trigger-happy but ultimately heroic figure. During brushes with death, Deadpool would be briefly reunited with Mistress Death, only for his healing factor to rip him away from her in the process.
DEADPOOL VS. THANOS
Deadpool and Thanos have come to blows multiple times over the years, with the Mad Titan even cursing Deadpool with immortality in the Deadpool "Funeral For A Freak" storyline by Frank Tieri, Buddy Scalera, and Jim Calafiore. But the two were forced to come together in Deadpool vs. Thanos by Tim Seeley, Elmo Bondoc, Ruth Redmond, and Joe Sabino. After discovering that Death was being contained by Eternity in a bid to finally halt the constant loss of life she has caused over the centuries, Deadpool and Thanos worked together to find her and rescue her -- thereby bringing death back to reality.
Finally confronting Eternity, Mistress Death briefly empowered both of her champions with her power -- only for Deadpool to realize this is what she wanted all along. Thanos attempted to destroy Eternity and thusly all life that would ever exist -- only for a desperate Uni-Power to fuse with Deadpool and briefly turn him into Captain Universe. This gave Deadpool the power to beat back Thanos and argue that as much as he may claim to love Death, his refusal to die has inadvertently made him a champion of life more than Death, causing Mistress Death to once again turn away from the Mad Titan.
Since then, Thanos has tried to move past his obsession with Death, even briefly romancing Hela. However, it remains one of the most unexpected elements of both Deadpool and Thanos' lives that their greatest romantic rivals have ended up being one another.