Relaunching Deadpool: What's Next for the Merc with a Mouth?

So far, Marvel has revealed the books that will be comprising the Marvel NOW! relaunch in the months of October and November. One thing we've noticed is that most of these relaunched series feature a familiar group of writers -- big names like Matt Fraction, Rick Remender, and Jonathan Hickman. With the new Deadpool series however, Marvel has shown a willingness to look outside the usual talent pool. The newest book to star the Merc With a Mouth will be penned by comedians/writers Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan, with Tony Moore providing pencils.

The new creative team are clearly focusing on comedy. The first arc sees Deadpool take on a mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. and do battle with zombie versions of America's Presidents. We knew this mercenary was always fond of dead presidents, but not quite so literally.

We sat down with all three creators to learn more about how they landed the assignment, what they have planned for Deadpool, and the challenges of transitioning from comedy writing to superhero comics.

IGN Comics: Gerry and Brian, can you talk a little about your history with comics in general and Deadpool in particular?

Gerry Duggan: We met at a comic shop, actually. Around ten years ago now, around the back issue bin. Obviously we were both lifelong Marvel fans up to that point. Deadpool has always occupied that space of action and comedy that doesn't exist elsewhere in comics. I think that's why he resonated with us.

Brian Posehn: Yeah, he was kind of the obvious choice for us. We both can be serious too, and we've talked about writing a more serious book down the line, but it felt like the way to get the foot in the door was to do the thing that we're both good at. And Deadpool is really the only game in town where you can do both things that we enjoy doing – tell an action story but also have the main character be a smart-ass.

IGN: You guys did the mini-series The Last Christmas together. Did Marvel approach the two of you together from the beginning, or was it one and then the other came into the picture later?

Posehn: Well, this whole thing would never have happened if it weren't for Comic-Con, probably. In any situation where you get something going, it's all about who you know, and this really came from that. Hanging out with Axel [Alonso]. Meeting Axel through Rick Remender. And Remender, who's our biggest cheerleader, going, “These guys are funny. These guys love comics. These guys should be writing.” It originally started with the idea that we were just going to do a special. But with Marvel kind of reevaluating their books, they realized they don't really want to do specials anymore. Then we were on the back-burner for a while. But we've been talking about doing something with them for a couple of years now. But the seed was at Comic-Con, right, Gerry?

Duggan: Yeah. Once Rick made that introduction, it was easy to grab drinks outside of Comic-Con and talk about fun stuff. Deadpool had always sort of bubbled to the surface. We've had a couple of ideas that have been “no's,” and they've been right to say no in editorial. But there have been a lot more “yes's.” I think we're doing a really fun Marvel book. I've seen some of the reaction to the teaser has been wary of comedy. Yes, Brian is obviously a very visible comedian. But we're really approaching this as a Marvel book. This is a big action story that hopefully has some laughs as you're turning the page and is something that you're going to look at extra long. There's stuff in there, too, that Tony is doing that's really special. He's really making the story shine with his pages.

Tony Moore: I think where Brian and Gerry really knocked it out of the park is that they built the whole story on this premise that's so bizarre that I honestly don't know how it ever got approved. [laughs] It's funnier than it really should be. But it's so good. I'm so excited that Marvel is rolling with it. It just seems like one of those ideas where, on any other planet, it would have been turned down, almost before they got to the end of the sentence.

Duggan: [laughs] “What else have you got?”

Posehn: Gerry's a great writer, if you've read Infinite Horizon. If you've read that, you know that he comes more from a story world. I love that too, and for us, that was way more important to come up with good stories and cool things that we can do for five issues and draw people in. And when we're putting words in bubbles, I can make Deadpool say some silly stuff. But that sort of takes a back seat to telling a good story, really.

Moore: Besides the absurd premise that they've got, they also have some really great character moments in there that get inside everybody's heads pretty quickly so you can have some emotional stakes with these guys. They're really telling some good stuff.

Posehn: Even with our first comic, The Last Christmas, it was really the idea that was the most important thing – telling this story and then the silly stuff is gravy.

Duggan: And the thing, too, that I think was a balancing act – and Jordan [White] had a lot to do with this and Tony, obviously – was the tone of the story. It's an action/comedy, but I would say the DNA is in Big Trouble in Little China and Ghostbusters and those sorts of things where the stakes are high and these are real threats. If Deadpool can't get the job done, this country is done. There are big threats. And by the way, the way these Presidents are drawn – they're very menacing. Being able to draw something really interesting with some menace is sort of Tony's fastball. But he's also got the ability to render a joke and make that work. And not everyone can do that. At least looking at the first couple issues of art, I think we're making a comic that we would buy ourselves and put it at the top of our pull lists.

Posehn: Yeah, absolutely. We feel very lucky to do it. There's a reason we worked with Tony again. He did a cover for us on The Last Christmas. We're obviously big fans, and we're actually friends too, but he was an easy first call. Of course he's what we want.

Duggan: And hopefully America is good and sick of politics. Hopefully you won't mind seeing some of the former pillars of society and government come back with some very bad intentions.

IGN: Staying on the subject of the art for a minute, Tony, a lot of your recent work has been on books like Venom and Frankencastle -- the darker, more sinister types of books. Is your art style changing much as you shift into this series?

Moore: Not incredibly so. The basics are all still the same. I do feel a lot more relaxed with this book since it's not quite so morose as some of the other stuff, especially the work I did on Venom. That got pretty dark. This is a little more freewheeling, and I feel like my cartooning has loosened up a bit. It's made for some fresher art. I'm really happy with the way things have gone. It's a more relaxing kind of cartooning than I've been able to enjoy in a long time, so I'm pleased with the way everything has gone.

Duggan: Now might be a good time to point out that when this runs, you'll see some art that shows the tweaks he did to the costume. [Editor's Note: See the cover to Deadpool #1 above.] It's really costume. And they're subtle. You'll look at it and know that it's Deadpool, but it's a new Deadpool that really looks great.

Posehn: Less pouches.

Duggan: Less pouches and less weird, tech-y gear, but more versatile sort of, “Hey, you know what? Those are magazines. Those are clips.” You get the sense that he can reach behind his back and pull out either a frying pan or a shotgun. It looks great.

Moore: The idea was to take what was there and kind of streamline it a little bit and tweak it enough that it felt like a new beginning. And then keep the icon intact as much as I could, but try to have it make a little more sense so that I can really wrap my head around it when I have to draw it.

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