Deadpool Just Officially Lost His Healing Factor in Marvel Lore

Summary Deadpool's healing factor is negated by Death Grip, a new villain who has fused the Muramasa Blade into his body.

Ellie, Deadpool's daughter, may replace her father as the new "Deadpool" if he is killed.

That's made more likely by the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie, with Marvel having a habit of killing heroes around their movies.

Warning: contains spoilers for Deadpool #4!In a momentous change to Marvel lore, the Regeneratin' Degenerate Wade Wilson - aka Deadpool - was just stripped of his ultra-powerful healing factor. Deadpool's healing makes him essentially immortal, with many of Marvel's greatest weapons having failed to do any permanent damage to his unique body. Now, all of that is in the past, as Deadpool is not only rendered vulnerable to normal weapons, but finds himself brutalized and targeted for death by the new villain who took his greatest power.

In Deadpool #4, Wade faces off with Death Grip - a failed mystic who has become obsessed with mortality. Since Deadpool beat Death Grip, the villain has become obsessed with killing Wade. This issue, he gets closer than pretty much any villain ever has, stripping the healing factor from Deadpool's body, then using his new powers to slice the Merc with a Mouth to pieces, leaving him bleeding and afraid.

Death Grip's powers come from the Muramasa Blade - an anti-healing factor weapon with a long history in Marvel Comics. Rather than wielding the blade, Death Grip broke it and fused it with his body using his mystic powers. Now, it's revealed that not only can he slash Deadpool and cause wounds that won't heal, but he has seemingly removed the power entirely from Wade's body. All signs suggest that Marvel is targeting Deadpool for death, with the loss of his healing factor being the first step in the unkillable hero's final battle.

Deadpool #4 (2024) Writer: Cody Ziglar

Artist: Eric Gapstur, Rogê Antônio and Jonas Trindade

Colorist: Guru-eFX

Letterer: Joe Sabino

Cover Artists: Taurin Clarke

Related Sorry Deadpool - Marvel's New Mutant Healer Has the Grossest Healing Factor I've Ever Seen Marvel just introduced a new mutant with a healing factor that is even more disgusting than Deadpool's, but it's not just grosser, it's more powerful.

There's reason to believe that even if Deadpool beats Death Grip, he won't regain his healing factor.

Deadpool's Healing Factor Was Just Negated by Death Grip

Death Grip Has Infused a Muramasa Blade into His Body, Making Him Healing Factor-Kryptonite

Close

Muramasa was a legendary blacksmith and swordsman who helped train Wolverine. At Logan's darkest moment, Muramasa used his blood and rage to forge his ultimate sword - one which cuts at the molecular level and causes healing factor-resistant wounds. The sword has extensive history in Marvel lore, and was recently used by Wolverine to behead and kill Sabretooth. Now, it's in the hands (and body) of Death Grip, whose obsession with death has awoken an intense hatred for the unkillable Deadpool.

During their fight, Death Grip strikes Deadpool, infusing him with mystic energy that runs up and down his spine and brain stem. As Deadpool begins to bleed, Death Grip truly attacks, slashing Wade to pieces with mystic sword blows. While Deadpool isn't quite down yet, it seems he'll have to defeat Death Grip without his vaunted healing - and there's no guarantee that he'll regain the power even if he defeats the villain who took it. In fact, that's looking particularly unlikely...

Warning: the next section contains spoilers for upcoming issues of Deadpool. Skip to the section after to continue reading without spoilers.

Related Deadpool's Healing Factor is The Opposite of Wolverine's, Not The Same Deadpool and Wolverine seem as though they have the same exact healing factors, but the two abilities are opposites and perfectly suited for each!

Marvel Is Gearing Up to Kill Deadpool... But for How Long?

And Is His Daughter Ellie Going to Replace Him?

The fight with Death Grip is Wade's biggest concern right now, however fans who are looking ahead at upcoming issues know it's only the beginning. The summary for Deadpool #6 reads:

Wade Wilson triumphed against Death Grip! This is the first issue of a new arc and killing Deadpool NOW would be an INSANE thing to do. Which is exactly why we’re doing it.

There are many different ways for characters to die in comics, with the most common being a 'death' that lasts a few years and a 'death' that's resolved within the same story arc it happens in. Fans don't know which of these Wade Wilson will suffer, however it's hard to ignore that Marvel has a habit of killing its characters when they have a movie coming up, from Death of Doctor Strange and its proximity to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to Ms. Marvel's controversial death near The Marvels.

Related 10 Most Powerful Children of Deadpool in Official Marvel Lore From a squirrel-human hybrid to the living embodiment of Death, these offspring of Deadpool give their unkillable father a run for his money.

With Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool & Wolverine on its way, it makes sense that Marvel is planning to kill off Deadpool in a way that will last at least beyond the story arc in which it happens. It seems Marvel has an established tactic for converting movie interest to comic readership by offering up a major event like Wade's death alongside a new film, complemented by projects like Wolverine and Deadpool: WWIII and Weapon X-Traction running in current comics, giving fans a helping of the characters together in other books. One of the major things Marvel does when it kills a character is introduce a replacement for their role, and Wade's daughter seems like a definite contender.

Turning Ellie into the comic's titular 'Deadpool' while her father struggles with his power loss would explain why Marvel chose this most recent series to make such a big move.

Will Deadpool Be Replaced by His Daughter?

Without His Healing Factor, Wade May Take a Back Seat to Ellie

Close

While Deadpool has been battling Death Grip, he's also been dealing with the emerging powers of his mutant daughter Eleanor Camacho. Ellie came to Wade's aid when he was targeted by Crossbones, leading to the revelation that her mutant X-gene had finally activated, giving her a powerful healing factor. Taskmaster, who has been helping Deadpool recently, studied Ellie and concluded that her healing factor includes a 'hyper-receptive' ability where she can learn new skills and even develop muscles way faster than a regular human.

In the alternate timeline known as Marvel 2099, fans know that Ellie eventually becomes Deadpool 2099, taking on her father's codename as a futuristic hero. It makes sense that if Deadpool is without his healing factor for a while - or even killed - she would take on his codename, working with the found family Wade has gathered around him in Taskmaster and Princess, his symbiote daughter/pet wolf.

Related Deadpool's New Daughter/Pet Is the Funniest Character Since... Deadpool Deadpool's new daughter Princess may look like a literal monster, but she's turning out to be just as funny as her 'Papa' - and perhaps even better.

Mutant characters tend not to lose their powers once they've developed, so activating Ellie's X-gene is a big choice (up until now, she was a vulnerable human Deadpool was terrified would come to harm.) Turning Ellie into the comic's titular 'Deadpool' while her father struggles with his power loss would explain why Marvel chose this most recent series to make such a big move.

Specific energy weapons, specialized viruses and black hole bombs are capable of killing Deadpool, but the Muramasa Blade reigns supreme.

Death Grip Isn't the Only Person Who Can Beat Wade's Healing

...But the List Is VERY Short

Close

While it's shocking to meet a villain who can beat Wade's healing factor, he's not alone. Most famously, Ellie's Deadpool 2099 created a black hole bomb to kill Deadpool so they could die together once she was tired of immortality (since Wade was threatening to kill Death itself to keep Ellie alive.) Weapon X also placed a kill switch in Wade's healing factor that almost finished him off for good, and various zombie contagions and the Transmode Virus proved capable of undermining his healing enough to come close to killing him.

Some energy weapons have also been capable of killing Deadpool - when he fought an army of his variants from across the multiverse, Deadpool killed them with their own anti-regeneration rays, and his former friend and armorer Weasel created a gun he claimed was capable of killing Wade for good.

Related 15 Marvel Weapons Powerful Enough to Beat Deadpool's Healing Factor Deadpool is infamously hard to kill, having perhaps the strongest healing factor in Marvel Comics, but there are multiple weapons to get the job done.

However, when it comes to beating healing factors in Marvel lore, the Muramasa Blade has always been supreme. Now, its power has been focused into a mystic martial artist who has dedicated his life to killing Deadpool - creating a threat that has already taken Wade to the edge of death, and may be about to tip him all the way over.

Deadpool #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.