Warning: contains possible spoilers for Deadpool: Badder Blood #5!Deadpool has assembled the ultimate version of an extreme team from the 1990s. In a preview for Deadpool: Badder Blood #5, Deadpool helps Wolverine free Cable from the clutches of a group of mercenaries. The odds are not in their favor, so Deadpool brings together a group of heroes to help, and long-time fans will recognize this new team as a riff on an iconic group from the 1990s.
Deadpool: Badder Blood #5 is written by Chad Bowers from a plot by Rob Liefeld, who also draws it. Deadpool, along with Wolverine, Spider-Man and Venompool, is heading for the final battle, and Wade could not be more excited. Wolverine chides him to stick to the plan, which is for Spider-Man to rescue Cable, Wolverine to “size up the Thumper situation” while Deadpool and Venompool take on the Core. Deadpool introduces himself to Slay, who informs Wade he knows exactly who he is, because Doctor Van Strutten told them he was coming.The preview ends there, leaving readers hanging whether this new team will be successful.
Long Time Marvel Fans Will Recognize Deadpool's New Team
The combination of Deadpool, Spider-Man, Venompool and Wolverine is a riff on the “new Fantastic Four.” Coming together for the first time in 1990’s Fantastic Four #34, the team consisted of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and the Hulk. While these are four of Marvel’s biggest icons in any era, all four of them enjoyed unprecedented levels of success in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Wolverine was the star of Uncanny X-Men as well as his own solo title and Ghost Rider has just returned to the Marvel Universe. Both Spider-Man and the Hulk were also enjoying new heights of popularity thanks to creators like Todd McFarlane and Peter David.
The New Fantastic Four Still Have Fans Over 30 Years Later
As these were four of Marvel’s biggest characters at the time, it made sense to fashion a team out of them, even if it only lasted for a few issues. While also ostensibly a publicity stunt, the new Fantastic Four still hold a place in the hearts of fans. Last year, the new Fantastic Four starred in their own miniseries, set shortly after their first adventure, proving that the concept still had life in it.
And now, Deadpool has brought together a new version for the 2020s. Both Spider-Man and Wolverine return, with Deadpool taking Ghost Rider’s place and Venompool filling in for the Hulk. This modern incarnation of the new Fantastic Four, much like its predecessor, will be short-lived but powerful enough to get the job done and liberate Cable from the grip of the Core. The new Fantastic Four were the epitome of the “extreme 1990s” and there is no one better than Deadpool, another character associated with that decade, to bring them into the modern era.
Deadpool: Badder Blood #5 is on sale October 18 from Marvel Comics!