Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time Caps Off Marvel's Bloodiest Trilogy

2011's *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe* certainly lives up to its name, showcasing Wade Wilson's descent into chaos as he slaughters the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe. The popularity of the series led to a sequel in 2017, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again*, by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dalibor Talajić. Now, the duo reunites for the final installment, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time*, where Wade's rampage extends beyond a single universe to the entire Marvel multiverse.

IGN recently had the chance to delve deeper into this trilogy's conclusion through an email interview with Cullen Bunn. Before diving into the details, take a look at an exclusive preview of the first issue below.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time - Image Gallery

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Cullen Bunn has been a prolific writer for Deadpool, contributing to various titles from *Deadpool: Killustrated* to *Night of the Living Deadpool* and *Deadpool & the Mercs for Money*. When asked if he always envisioned a trilogy, Bunn shared, “I never knew that series would go anywhere or be anything more than me having a good time writing a comic. I can't help myself, though. I love thinking about where stories could go. I ask myself constantly... what's next? When I was first working on *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe*, my first pitch after I completed that series was *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Multiverse*. At least, that was one of three initial pitches, including *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Cosmic Universe*, *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Zombies*, *Deadpool's Secret Wars*, and *Deadpool Killustrated*. Two of those happened, but the Multiverse book was the closest to what we've got coming up. And, frankly, now is a much better time to do that story!”

Escalating the conflict from the first two volumes, where Deadpool took down the X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four, was a significant challenge. Bunn's solution was to expand the narrative to the multiverse, allowing Wade to face off against a range of foes from Cap-Wolves to Worldbreaker Hulks and new, distorted versions of Marvel characters. “The multiverse most certainly opens up a lot of new avenues of exploration,” Bunn explains. “We wanted this to be different from what you've seen before in the series. We wanted to show Deadpool battling different versions of Marvel heroes (many readers will have seen before, many who are new). I spent a lot of time researching the 'worst' (meaning 'the best') variants of Marvel heroes and villains. What I didn’t realize when I set out is that we were creating the most epic Deadpool story of all time. How's that for an escalation? How's that for throwing the gauntlet down?”

Bunn is excited about the upcoming carnage but remains tight-lipped about specific matchups beyond those already disclosed. “I'm not going to spoil anything in the book. If I had my druthers, I wouldn't have even mentioned Cap-Wolf and Worldbreaker Hulk,” he says. “There are some cool, cool characters showing up in this series. Dozens and dozens of them. And Deadpool is battling some of the most powerful heroes and villains in the multiverse. How's he gonna manage to bring them down? There are some characters showing up in this book that from the ‘I've been reading comics a long time and love some obscure characters’ perspective that haven't been seen in over 30 years. Will those be the most epic of the battles? You'll have to see.”

In *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again*, artist Dalibor Talajić brought a new level of visual flair to the series by switching between different artistic styles. Bunn assures that Talajić will continue to innovate visually in this final chapter. “With *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again*, we wanted to play with different eras and styles of comics,” Bunn notes. “With this new book, we're not changing the overall visual style for each kill. Where Dalibor really gets to shine, though, is in his interpretations of different worlds... different versions of our heroes... and a different version of [REDACTED] than you have ever seen before. Dalibor is a master of his craft always, but he's bringing some real insanity to the page in this!”

While part of a trilogy, the first two *Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe* books are not directly connected, each offering a different scenario for Deadpool's killing spree. The first dealt with Deadpool's nihilistic realization of his comic book existence, while the second saw a brainwashed Wade manipulated by villains. When asked about the connection to the previous volumes, Bunn teases, “It's a fresh start... sort of. The story stands completely on its own. You need not read any of the other series. At the beginning of the story, though, observant readers might pick up on a few interesting tidbits that may connect to what has come before. Most importantly, though--this is its own story.”

Art by Davide Paratore. (Image Credit: Marvel)

The previous books portrayed Deadpool as a sympathetic figure despite his actions. Bunn hints that the protagonist in this sequel will be even more relatable. “I think the Deadpool we see in this book is much more sympathetic than the killer Deadpool in the other series,” he says. “With this, we thought ‘What if Deadpool killed the Marvel Universe... and we were rooting for him to succeed?’ It is definitely challenging to set the stories apart. With this one, Deadpool's mission... and his headspace... make this book completely different. His headspace. I can't wait for readers to get that joke.”

*Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1* is set to be released on April 2, 2025.

For more on what's coming up from Marvel, check out what to expect from Marvel in 2025 and see IGN's most anticipated comics of 2025.