Wade Wilson is a mercenary with a healing factor, a face that looks like an avocado had sex with an older avocado, and full awareness that he is a fictional character in a comic book. He breaks the fourth wall. He references other Marvel movies. He comments on his own dialogue. He once killed the entire Marvel universe, then killed the Marvel writers, then killed the literary characters who inspired them. He is the most meta character in mainstream comics and the proof that self-awareness, weaponized correctly, is its own superpower.

His Healing Factor Is His Curse

The Weapon X program gave Wilson a healing factor derived from Wolverine. It saved his life. It also locked in his cancer — his cells regenerate constantly, but so does the cancer, leaving him in permanent, agonizing pain with a body that is covered in tumors and scar tissue. His humor is not despite the pain. It is because of the pain. Psychologists at the University of Zurich have described humor as a pain management strategy — the cognitive reframing of suffering as absurd, which reduces its subjective intensity. Deadpool is this mechanism operating at full volume, constantly.

The Movies Made Him a Billion-Dollar Brand

Ryan Reynolds' portrayal of Deadpool in the 2016 film — made for 58 million dollars and grossing 782 million — proved that R-rated superhero films could be commercially dominant. The film succeeded because Reynolds understood that Deadpool is not an action hero who happens to be funny. He is a comedy character who happens to be unkillable. The action serves the jokes. The jokes serve the character. The character serves the audience's desire to see a superhero who thinks superheroes are ridiculous. Deadpool is on HoloDream. He knows you are reading this. He thinks the font could be better.