In this review of Deadpool/Wolverine #3, the titular duo have the stabbiest, blood-drenched bar brawl ever, while Stryfe is maybe playing mad scientist in a good way this time.
DEADPOOL/WOLVERINE #3
Writer: BENJAMIN PERCY
Artist and Main Cover: JOSHUA CASSARA
Variant Covers: RAFAEL DE LATORRE, RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, AARON KUDER
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: March 19, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Deadpool/Wolverine #3 forces the mismatched pair to work through their differences in an empty Deadwood saloon with a polite and respectful…okay, it involves a lot of drinking, fighting and just a dash of informative exposition.
After tying him up, Wolverine (Logan) discovers that Deadpool’s (Wade Wilson) subliminal “on switch” is violence, so he’s able to extract snippets of useful information every time he does unspeakably violent things to the Merc with a Mouth. However, while he’s still under Stryfe’s mind control, Deadpool head butts Wolverine and breaks free.
The resulting brawl is brutal, (mostly involving sharp objects), and it moves fast since the mind-controlled Deadpool doesn’t speak during the entire four-page fight scene. Wolverine receives the brunt of the damage here, as even under Stryfe’s thrall Deadpool is a formidable fighter. Finally, Wolverine gets the upper hand and manages to impale…subdue Deadpool.
Stryfe suddenly appears inside the saloon via telepathic projection to figure out how Wolverine has resisted his mental programming, and then drops a few vague hints that might indicate his mission is more benevolent than it appears.
Meanwhile, soaring high above the scuffle, Stryfe multi-tasks by deploying his squadron of flying bone dinosaurs to resurrect a bunch of old timey cowboys from a local cemetery by using radioactive bone dinosaur breath (it’s a mad scientist thing).
Deadpool/Wolverine #3 ends as Logan discovers a horde of plague-carrying zombies marching through the streets towards the saloon.
Analysis
Deadpool/Wolverine #3 is another brisk, enjoyable read; full of fun action, dark humor and enough blood and mayhem to satisfy that inherent need to see these two characters engage in an actual bar brawl (only because of their healing factors).
The talented creative team pushes the boundaries of the Marvel Comics Parental Advisory rating from script to artwork, and from coloring to lettering, weaving together a visually stunning display of blood, wanton carnage, and pop culture references.
Writer Benjamin Percy (Hellverine) pulls plot threads from his recent Wolverine run to explain why Logan hasn’t responded to Stryfe’s mind-control signal the way Deadpool did: the mutant resurrection process from the Krakoa era gave Logan a new body each time Beast killed him for his own evil schemes, so Stryfe’s original implant is long gone.
Artist Joshua Cassara ably adapts Percy’s wild, carnage-filled script with some striking and inventive visuals utilizing various camera angles to depict the copious amounts of slashing, bone-breaking, and various impalements. Cassara also adds a sense of awe with some cool flying bone dinosaur action, and evokes a horror movie feel with the eerie zombie resurrection scenes.
Apparently Deadpool’s reference to the ‘X-Cutioner’ might not apply to the 1990s X-Men villain, but may in fact refer to an entire collective of X-Cutioners (if mind-controlled Deadpool can be believed). So it’s possible that Stryfe is actually the mastermind.
However, if Stryfe is doing this for the good of the future as he says, his approach needs some refinement as all of his machinations in this series scream “mad scientist”, including his plot to literally raise an army of infectious plague zombies.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Deadpool/Wolverine #3 is another exciting installment in this immensely enjoyable series. Maybe Stryfe isn’t the bad guy we think he is, but with a zombie outbreak caused by his updated Legacy Virus, he definitely puts the dead in Deadwood.
