Deadpool is a very complicated character with a seemingly simple power. He’s a man who is constantly and permanently aware of his own failings and the harsh reality of being a comic book character. He knows that he’ll never have a happy ending, and that any good days he has will be overshadowed by the next run’s conflict that resets his life back to a miserable status quo. He’s a deeply haunted man who covers his suffering with quips and an endless pursuit of death, which he can never hold. Inversely, his power is simply an incredible healing factor. No matter what situation he walks into, he’ll walk out in one piece eventually. Even if he has to regrow his entire skeleton to do it.
However, Deadpool’s powers might not be as simple as they seem on the surface. Sure, his main ability is definitely healing from anything that the universe’s worst can throw at him, but that same power has also branched out in a lot of different ways. Sometimes, Deadpool has even spawned other powers that are seemingly entirely unrelated to his healing factor, and yet, Marvel never seems to remember them. Today, we’re looking at five additional powers Deadpool has that Marvel never acknowledges enough.
Deadpool definitely isn’t strong like the Hulk or anything like that, but he’s shown that he can pack way more muscle than the average man. He’s been shown to lift over eight hundred pounds, and, in Cable and Deadpool #13, snapped a man’s neck with two fingers, which obviously requires way more force than a normal person is capable of. Even if his healing factor allowed him to ignore the usual limitation on his muscles, he’s still a lot more capable in a lot more situations than someone without even mild super strength should be. This is nothing to write home about, but it’s definitely something that Deadpool has in his back pocket.
Deadpool can heal from any injury, and that includes injuries his own body would inflict on itself. See, muscles naturally release fatigue toxins when exerted and tear when pushed past their limit. Wade can instantly heal from any tears, letting him push for practically ever, but the real power is in the lague of fatigue toxins. Possibly due to his healing factor counteracting the toxins or releasing less than normal, Deadpool suffers fatigue on a way, way lower level than most people. He can keep fighting and healing for days on end without rest before he starts to feel tired, whereas physical activity like that would be exhausting within minutes. Deadpool can get hit and keep on going in every sense of the word.
Everyone knows that Deadpool is certifiably psychotic, but even that has its advantages. The Merc With the Mouth has gotten so used to hearing voices in his head that he can tell when someone is possessing him and still act mostly in control. In Deadpool Team-Up #897, the demonic Xaphan possessed Wade, but Deadpool maintained enough control of himself to let the Ghost Riders into the area and not do anything crazy. Deadpool can’t kick out spirits who take up residence in his soul, but he can definitely make it so they can’t get anything done while they’re in there, which is its own strength.
Much like his superhuman strength and stamina, Deadpool has shown that he can react much faster than a normal person. He’s able to dodge even point-blank gunfire with little notice, which people definitely cannot do. He’s no Spider-Man, but Wade can duck, dodge, and weave past bullets and shrapnel a whole lot faster and more consistently than the average or even most athletic human should be capable of doing. He usually just tanks any oncoming attacks, given that they can’t really kill him, but he’s more than capable of avoiding most attacks if he feels like it.
Deadpool’s deadliest weapon has always been his mind. His insanity is at least partially caused by his healing factor, as his brain is constantly regenerating to the point where the information overloads him. This also affects even the world’s strongest telepaths, like Emma Frost and Onslaught. Reading his mind is physically impossible, as it’s just a jumbled mess of too much information in weird bursts, which means that whatever secrets Deadpool wants to keep are impossible to pry out of him. Psychic attacks can still hurt him, but nobody can influence his mind or view it, which is definitely a great defense to have in a universe like Marvel.
So there we have some of Deadpool’s most forgotten extra abilities. Which one is your favorite? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
