The Mad Titan Thanos is one of Marvel’s biggest threats. While Deadpool isn’t the joke he seems to be, he’s certainly not on Thanos’ power level on most days. Despite this glaring power disparity, Deadpool has still managed to kill Thanos on two separate occasions, with a little help from some of the most powerful forces in the Marvel Universe.
The first time Deadpool killed Thanos took place in 2015’s Deadpool #45, in a story by Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn and Scott Koblish. This tale was framed as a “lost” issue, taking place around the same time as the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline. During their first meeting, Thanos hired Deadpool to steal the Cosmic Cube for him.
Upon their escape, The Mad Titan took Deadpool on a ride in his Thanos-Copter. Although Thanos thought he held onto unlimited power with the Cosmic Cube, he was sorely mistaken. Deadpool used the cube to make the Mad Titan think he still held the Infinity Gauntlet, while the Merc With the Mouth stole the gauntlet for himself.
Immediately afterwards, Deadpool jumped out of the Thanos-Copter, using the Infinity Gauntlet to blow up the Mad Titan. At the end of the story, however, Deadpool used the gauntlet to undo this meeting, so that Thanos lived and had no memory of Deadpool. Although this death didn’t stick, Deadpool still killed Thanos, if only for a moment.
Thanos was later killed by Deadpool in 2015’s Deadpool vs. Thanos #4, by Tim Seeley and Elmo Bondoc. The duo had just arrived to rescue Mistress Death from Eternity. Death commanded them to punish Eternity, with Thanos determined to kill Eternity himself. Deadpool realized that this was exactly what Death wanted, destroying all there was and ever will be, so he tried to stop Thanos.
Naturally, Wade couldn’t stand up to Thanos on his own. At his lowest point, the Uni-Power approached Deadpool, offering to make him the next Captain Universe. Imbued with the power of the Enigma Force, Deadpool took the fight to Thanos. The Mad Titan and the Merc With The Mouth engaged in an epic battle, with the red-clad mercenary emerging as the victor.
Moreover, Deadpool used his wits to argue that, even though Thanos served Death, he simultaneously served life. This convinced Death to turn away from Thanos, discouraging The Mad Titan and resulting in his apparent death. However, it wasn’t exactly clear if Thanos had actually died. According to Eternity, Thanos could have been killed by Captain Universe’s power, or he could have been stowed away by Mistress Death until she needed him. Regardless, Deadpool vaporized Thanos out of Eternity’s sight, which is quite the feat.
Both of these occasions are quite impressive, showing both Deadpool’s wit and occasional heroism. In the first case, using the Cosmic Cube to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos was quite clever, showing Deadpool’s crafty mindset. In the second, coming between Thanos and Death was quite smart, breaking Thanos’ spirit before defeating him.
Although Deadpool did manage to kill Thanos, he still needed some major power-ups to do the job. Weapons like the Cosmic Cube, Infinity Gauntlet and the Enigma Force could enable practically anyone to defeat Thanos. Deadpool used these tools well, but he certainly couldn’t have killed the powerful villain without them. On his own, the mercenary wouldn’t stand a chance against the Mad Titan.
Additionally, some of the circumstances in which Deadpool killed Thanos were played for laughs. In Deadpool #45, for example, Thanos’ appearance, in the Thanos-Copter no less, was the opening for a largely comedic story. Immediately after killing Thanos, Deadpool used the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to throw himself a roast. In a tale of this nature, almost anything goes. The fact that Deadpool turned back time, so these events never happened, goes to show the ludicrous nature of his encounter with Thanos.
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