Review by Frank Plowright

How much more mileage is there in the idea of Deadpool killing the Marvel Universe? Well, seeing as Cullen Bunn and Dalibor Talajić’s second attempt bettered the first, which was no failure, by the way, perhaps it’s worth another go.

Bunn picks up from the end of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, with not much left of humanity, so few people left to kill. Instead Deadpool acquires a device enabling him to access the multiverse, and a kill list of people who, he’s told, threaten their reality, whether they know it or not. It’s a simple and effective set-up, and Bunn spends most of the opening chapter providing Talajić with an opportunity to shine as assorted variations of beloved heroes fall panel by panel. Then the device malfunctions and Deadpool arrives on Earth 616, home to Marvel’s mainstream heroes. Suddenly we begin to worry, even though his mission is now to save heroes. Except he doesn’t, which is puzzling.

It’s because Bunn neglects a crucial piece of information. Deadpool has obviously moved on between the revelation ending the opening chapter and the start of the second. From this point it’s more mayhem and murder, but in sequences longer than a panel. As this is an alternate Deadpool he has an alternate personality, less merc with a mouth, more merc with a death wish, and that informs his personality.

Talajić’s art has again improved since the last outing, stunning all the way through, panels packed with energy and detail, yet the storytelling always clear. Alternate versions of Marvel mainstays are creatively re-imagined and his constantly morphing Deadpool also hits the mark.

The idea of a universal enemy is introduced early, and Deadpool collects enhancements to be able to deal with her in the final chapter. There’s a revelation with its origins in an obscure Marvel series from the 1980s, which is clever, but will swing over the heads of most readers, who’ll have to take the character at their word, and that will seem a little too convenient. The ending is also of the dashed-off variety, but before then the fun has been well and truly had.