deadpool

Created by artist/writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza,[11][12][13] Deadpool made his first appearance in the pages of The New Mutants#98 cover dated February 1991.[14] According to Nicieza, Liefeld came up with the character's visual design and name, and Nicieza himself came up with the character's speech mannerisms.[15]

Liefeld's favorite comic title before X-Men was Avengers, which featured weapons like Captain America's shield, Thor's hammer and Hawkeye's bow and arrow, he decided to give weapons to his new characters as well.[16] Liefeld, also a fan of the Teen Titans comics, showed his new character to then-writer Fabian Nicieza. Upon seeing the costume and noting his characteristics (killer with super agility), Nicieza contacted Liefeld, saying "this is Deathstroke from Teen Titans". Nicieza gave Deadpool the real name of "Wade Wilson" as an inside-joke to being "related" to "Slade Wilson", Deathstroke.[17]

Other inspirations were Spider-Man and Wolverine. Liefeld states: "Wolverine and Spider-Man were the two properties I was competing with at all times. I didn't have those, I didn't have access to those. I had to make my own Spider-Man and Wolverine. That's what Cable and Deadpool were meant to be, my own Spider-Man and my own Wolverine."[18]

Both Deadpool and Cable were also meant to be tied into Wolverine's history already from the start, as Liefeld describes: "Wolverine was my guy. If I could tie anything into Wolverine, I was winning." Like Wolverine, Deadpool is (or is thought to be) Canadian.[19] The original story had him joining the Weapon X program after being kicked out of the U.S. Army Special Forces and given an artificial healing factor based on Wolverine's thanks to Dr. Emrys Killebrew, one of the head scientists.[20]