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Games

Deadpool, Marvel's Snarky Weapon X Mercenary, Gets His Own Game

Emerging from the sidelines, the new game from High Noon Studios puts this anti-hero in the center of the action.

It appears that Deadpool is getting his own video game. I must say, this is pretty exciting news. Very little has been released other than a tentative 2013 release at the hands of High Moon Studios and Activision, but the trailer shows a lot of promise for how the pair might handle a fan favorite who's oh-so-ready for a leading role.

Since his introduction in the early 90s, Deadpool has hacked and blasted his way into readers' hearts, the tone of his comics standing apart in their absurdity, violence and total irreverence. His backstory has been left largely unknown. The only real consistencies are that his name might be Wade Wilson, and that he's never been quite right in the head. As an adult, we find him enrolled in the Weapon X project where he acquires, via human experiment, a spin-off of Wolverine's self-healing deal. This has the unintended consequence of freakishly accelerating his already-present cancer, so his entire body is covered in scary, scarry tumors, and his brain is chemically… whatever, it's a comic book. He breaks out, does a lot of maiming, gets a mask, and is unleashed on the Marvel Universe as a sarcastic, violent, and extremely unstable character.

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That thing he's kicking: head.

Deadpool's usually a pretty great read. His instability lends itself to wacky, unpredictable plots backed by a constant, often ridiculous, usually off-topic monologue. It can get campy, to be sure, but that's part of the comic's charm, sort of like Deadpool's habit of shouting sound effects over his own gunfire. Wade Wilson exists as the parody of an anti-hero's anti-villain—oddly human and pitiable, but so thoroughly chaotic (and volatile) that you never really know what to make of him. Compounding the chaos, Deadpool's appearances are littered with meta-jokes and fourth wall breaks, really driving home the absurd tone of the entire character.

So, this trailer… This trailer looks like the upcoming game hits the nail pretty much smack on it's big, ugly, tumor-covered head. Now, it's entirely possible that as with some past super hero games, everything could fly off the tracks, but this game's looking like its heart is in the right place, and that's exciting news. Doubly exciting is the decision to bring back Nolan North, talented-guy-who-has-voiced-everything, to speak for the loquaicious Mr. Wilson. North has voiced Deadpool before, but Deadpool's never been a leading man. Triply exciting is the way all this news shines in contrast to Deadpool's off-page life to date.

Oh, Deadpool, you so silly. Wait a minute…

Deadpool's playable appearances so far have been in a handful of action/RPGs (X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series) and the crazy-ass arcade fighter Marvel vs. Capcom 3. A fighting game doesn't leave too much room to play with the character, and while his dialog was plenty well written in X-Men Legends and the Marvel: UA games, the gameplay didn't leave much room allowing the player to explore, well, just being Deadpool. His only recent film appearance, meanwhile, was in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which, frankly, I don't want to talk about.

So here's to everyone's favorite foul-mouthed assassin getting a leading role! It might not be his own movie—yet—but this is still very good news. Stay tuned to the game's site or Wade Wilson's twitter feed for updates, and comment here with your opinions on what game Marvel should make next!