Warning: Spoilers for Deadpool #6!Believe it or not,Deadpool’ssuccessor is honoring someone other than Wade Wilson. Wade himself has always been unapologetic in his affinity for the superheroes he works with. His love for Wolverine is well-documented, whilehis relationship with Spider-Man is weird, but endearing. The affinity he holds for other heroes has lent itself to compelling adventures.
That same affinity belongs to his successor, asDeadpool#6 by Cody Ziglar and Rogê Antônio reveals how Ellie Camacho is using the mantle to pay respect to another hero through her new costume. More recently, Wade’s daughter,Ellie, has adopted the Deadpool mantle, but she’s not only honoring her father with her new identity -she’s honoring the Taskmaster with a new logo on her sleeve.
Not only does paying homage to Taskmaster solidify his hero turn, but it puts a new twist on the idea of what a legacy character can be.
Ellie Camacho Unveils New Deadpool Costume While Rocking Taskmaster’s Logo
Deadpool#6 by Cody Ziglar, Rogê Antônio, GURU-eFX, and VC’s Joe Sabino
In more recent times, Deadpool has faced a man named Death Grip, a supervillain who becomes obsessed with Wade’s healing factor. Using the Muramasa Blade, Death Grip neutralizes andeliminates the healing factor from Deadpool’s body. With his healing factor gone (along with most of his limbs), Deadpool can’t really be Deadpool. As a result,someone must step up in his place to assume the mantle, and that someone is his daughter, Eleanor “Ellie” Camacho.
Taskmaster has been just as instrumental to Ellie’s hero journey as Wade has, if not more so.
After rescuing her dad with help fromher sister Princess (a symbiote/dog hybrid),Ellie is ready to assume the role of being the new Deadpoolin the next issue. She unveils her costume, revealing it comeswith weapons not even Wade has. But it also has an insignia belonging to another one of her mentors and partners in crimefighting: Taskmaster. At face value and for readers who have not been following the series, it reads a little strange, but Taskmaster has been just as instrumental to Ellie’s hero’s journey as Wade has, if not more so.
Why Does Ellie Camacho’s New Deadpool Costume Honors Taskmaster?
Taskmaster’s Long History with Deadpool
At the start of this newDeadpoolseries,Wade Wilson acquires the services of Taskmaster to help Ellie understand a new set of powersthat she is unearthing. Along with a healing factor, Ellie is learning that she has a visual learning skill not unlike Taskmaster’s, someone who can mimic any skill just by watching someone else do it. Taskmaster had already joined forces with Deadpool at this point, but upon Deadpool’s request,Taskmaster changes Deadpool lore foreverby training Ellie to be a hero. Not only does this give Taskmaster a new purpose, it solidifies his heroism.
New Deadpool Showcases Their Healing Factor with Extreme Kill Worthy of Wade Wilson
Marvel Comics' new Deadpool uses their healing factor to showcase a brutally extreme kill that the original Deadpool, Wade Wilson, would be proud of.
For several decades, Taskmaster had been a supervillain to people like Captain America, Iron Man, the whole Avengers squad, and even Deadpool himself. His alliance with Deadpool inched him closer to being an anti-hero, butthe genuine bond he has formed with Ellie has firmly established him as a full-blown hero. Even as Taskmaster tags along on Ellie’s first mission as Deadpool in this issue, he’s quick to tell Ellie he knew she had something like this in her. He’s as proud of Ellie as any teacher would be of his pupil. No wonder she wears his symbol proudly.
Deadpool’s New Logo Gives a Modern Twist on a Legacy Character
Ellie Camacho Honors Multiple Legacies in One Fell Swoop
A legacy character refers to someone who carries the mantle or namesake of a classic character in modern times, like Miles Morales becoming Spider-Man after Peter Parker. Recently, Marvel put atwist on the legacy character through Sentry, but this dual-honoring twist through Deadpool might be the most interesting of the two. What makes Ellie’s case so interesting is thatit shows how a legacy hero can pay homage to multiple heroes at once. Ellie carries the Deadpool name and costume but still subtly honors Taskmaster.
Ellie is directly inspired to be a hero by the original Deadpool, but the impact Taskmaster had on her cannot be overlooked.
It’s hard to think of another legacy character who pays homage to two heroes at once, especially in the Marvel Universe. Even if there is an example that comes to mind, it’s still rare to see a young hero incorporate two influential heroes in their looks. The legacy act has always been a singular concept and one that audiences continue to see more frequently as time goes on. It’s fascinating to see how that concept continues to evolve over time in unique ways, with this instance of Ellie becoming Deadpool being the most recent example.
Ellie’s new costume shows how molding the next generation of heroes is, more often than now, truly a team effort. Multiple characters can support a character’s growth and development, as is the case with any story. There is always going to be one hero who serves as a direct influence on a legacy hero, but there’s always another influential hero around the corner. Ellie is directly inspired to be a hero by the originalDeadpool, but the impact Taskmaster has on her cannot be overlooked, and as long as she keeps that logo on her shoulder, it won’t be.
Deadpool#6is available now from Marvel Comics.
Deadpool
The merc with the mouth first appeared in an issue ofNew Mutantsin 1990, and since then has gone on to get his own series and a massive cult following. With his incredible powers of healing and regeneration, Deadpool was initially depicted as an X-Men villain but went on to become an anti-hero. After getting his own movie series starting in 2016, the third Deadpool movie finally brings the wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
