Can Deadpool Die?

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Marjorie is a complete comic buff that not only knows Marvel and DC's line-ups inside out, but digs deep to find new and exciting properties on the horizon. Her favorites within the space are Invincible, Black Panther and Batman to name a few. However, she tries to split her time equally between comics and manga, and will often set down the reading material to watch some anime too.

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Can Deadpool Die? Despite what he might want you to think, the merc with a mouth is not immortal. Deadpool can die.

You just have to be creative to kill him.

Fortunately, I am creative, and I’ve read so many Deadpool comics I’ve become the perfect assassin.

But just in comics … of course.

Writers have tried killing Deadpool in myriad ways, but the mercenary’s regenerative powers, 99% of the time, allow him to quickly regrow any part of his body with no scarring whatsoever. The merc with a mouth has been blown to pieces, decapitated, and hulk-smashed. Still, he remains alive.

But there’s a trick to kill him.

How Deadpool’s Powers Work

You can’t kill Deadpool if you don’t know how his powers work and how he acquired them.

It goes something like this.

Typical mercenary Wade Wilson had cancer. But this wasn’t the end of the line for him. Wilson found hope in the Weapon X program, an initiative to create super soldiers. During the trial, scientists injected Wolverine’s DNA into Wade, which gave him regenerative abilities.

The healing factor helped keep the mercenary’s cancer at bay; Wade wasn’t going to die. But there was a caveat.

Everyone knows what cancer is, but not all understand how it works. Cancer is the unstoppable division, or multiplication, of cells that spread to unfit places.

Deadpool’s healing factor stops cancer from killing him, but it also triggers cancer cells to regenerate like normal ones. This creates a battle between cancer growth and healing ability that makes Wade’s skin scarred like a tumorous growth.

In a nutshell, his healing powers work like cancer: the cells multiply until he regrows entire limbs.

So to kill him, you would have to destroy every cell of his body.

If even one cell remained, Deadpool would grow back.

A Deadly Sidenote

Before we go on, I have to explain a critical piece of Deadpool lore. If you are a super fan and already know everything, I bet you thought I had forgotten, right?

But, no way! I’m thorough with my comic knowledge.

However, if you’re a beginner comic reader and have no clue what I’m talking about, here it is. During part of Deadpool’s history, he was cursed with life by Thanos – which meant he could never die. This happened back in 1998, during Deadpool, issue 61.

But why would the guy who killed half of the Universe curse someone with life?

Well, it was all because of love.

Thanos was madly in love with Death, but she loved Deadpool. Wilson loved her too – he had finally died and was eager to fall into Death’s cold embrace. Lady Death appears, and they look into each other’s eyes; they’re about to kiss, but Thanos arrives and curses him.

Death vanishes, and the mercenary’s body regrows out of the single hand left in his casket – to the funeral attendees’ dismay.

Now, Deadpool was immortal – he could never see his love. The merc with a mouth could still die for a few seconds, but not enough to spend meaningful time with Lady Death. Thanos successfully kept them apart.

But years later, the titan lifted the immortality curse in Deadpool Vs. Thanos #1.

So, when I talk about ways to kill Deadpool, I’m referring to the period after Thanos lifted the curse.

Find out more about this rivalry: Deadpool vs Thanos Guide: Mercenary vs Titan

How to Kill Deadpool

Let’s start with natural causes. Considering that the healing factor keeps Deadpool from dying of cancer, it’s unlikely any disease would get the best out of him.

But what about old age?

In X-Force/Cable: Messiah War #1, the team travels a thousand years into the future. To everyone’s surprise, Deadpool is still alive and doesn’t look like he’s aged much. However, the mercenary states his healing factor has slowed a little; it takes him more time to recover from injuries.

Judging by that, dying of old age might be possible, but it would probably take tens of thousands of years.

So the best way to kill Deadpool is to destroy every single cell in his body.

But how?

Marvel has hinted at some possibilities, and five stand out.

Carbonadium

Carbonadium is a fictitious substance used to kill people with healing factors.

The U.S.S.R. developed a metal to recreate adamantium, and though they couldn’t make a replica, they created something with its merits. Carbonadium is highly radioactive, and characters with healing factors have trouble coming back from a wound made with the metal.

It all makes sense when we remember cancers are vulnerable to certain forms of radiation; radiotherapy treatment is based on that premise. Radiation destroys cells, so depending on the exposure, enough of it could kill all cells in a body.

Cytotoxins

This is another premise based on real-life. Cytotoxins are chemicals deadly to cells, and scientists are constantly developing more to fight cancer. So, in theory, cytotoxins could kill Deadpool if they could destroy every cell in his body.

Burn Out

No, I’m not talking about when you exhaust yourself by working 60 hours per week, you workaholic. But the idea is similar. In the same way you can collapse after working a lot, a healing factor can burn out if you use it too much.

There’s precedent for that in Marvel lore, but it’s always temporary, and it takes enormous effort to trigger it. Still, once you burn a healing factor out, you can kill the exhausted mutant. Granted, you are better than them in a fair fight. Or if you trapped them, like Deadpool once did.

In Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, the mercenary kidnaps Daken and X-23 – mutants with healing factors. Wilson then forced their bodies to endure electroshock repeatedly to keep their healing powers on repeat, effectively wearing them out.

Muramasa Blade

After a few scientific and pseudo-scientific answers, here’s a magical alternative.

The Muramasa blade is a legendary item in Marvel lore. Grief-stricken by the death of his family, Wolverine asked master swordsman Muramasa to craft him a mighty sword. The craftsman exceeded expectations and embedded the sword with Wolverine’s essence, making it stronger.

In theory, this sword can kill anyone, and Marvel hints the sword negates healing factors. So like with burning out the healing factor, once you hit Deadpool with the Muramasa blade, you could kill him, and he would be gone for good.

Before going to our last and most emotional way to kill Deadpool, I have an honorable mention. For more ways to kill Deadpool, check out Deadpool kills Deadpool. But don’t take it too seriously; it isn’t canon. It’s just for the fun of seeing hundreds of Deadpools die.

Wait, do I sound like a psychopath?

Who Could Kill Deadpool?

Anyone smart enough to use the proper tools could kill Deadpool. But you know who did it for real?

Ellie Camacho – Deadpool’s daughter.

In Deadpool: The End, Ellie is 97 years old, and both decide to end Deadpool’s suffering. How? Here’s death method number five!

Ellie is a genius. She develops a neutrino bomb that incinerates them both in a nanosecond and then opens a black hole that swallows even the tiniest molecule of their bodies before collapsing on itself.

Yeah, no cell can survive that.

FAQs

Question: Is Death Deadpool’s Girlfriend?

Answer: Death and Deadpool have had feelings for each other during the 90s, but they could never be together because Thanos’s cursed the mercenary with immortality. Still, sometimes Deadpool would kill himself to spend a few seconds with her.

Question: Has Deadpool Ever Died?

Answer: Yes, he has died a few times. Most notably during the Death of Deadpool comic as a result of the incursions – events on which planets collided, killing everyone in the process.

Question: Can Deadpool Kill Himself?

Answer: Deadpool has tried to kill himself several times without success. However, it would work if he negated his healing factors by burning them out or using the Muramasa blade and then tried to kill himself. I guess that Deadpool never wanted to die for real.

You’re Still Here? It’s Over. Go Home!

Now you know that Deadpool can die, but could his biggest inspiration – Deathstroke – kill him? The answer lies in this article: Deathstroke vs. Deadpool: The Greatest Mercenaries Collide. Be sure to check it out and find out what would happen.