Deadpool's Got A List Of Names And 'The Revengers' Are In Red, Underlined, In 'Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe One Last Time' #4

Disclaimer: This review contains minor spoilers for Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #4.

In the third installment of self-proclaimed “Master of Horror” Cullen Bunn’s Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time comic run (Bunn’s third mini-series of the same conceit), Deadpool lays waste to a corrupt timeline of X-Men, including “inverted mutant supremacist” Havok and Dark Beast (“Hank McCoy … who wasn’t hugged as a child”), as part of a paradoxically redemptive killing spree across the Marvel Comics multiverse. In theory, judicious mass murder on a cosmic scale will entitle Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, to a peaceful retirement (and likely afterlife), per the “mysterious dimensional traveler” Alphea who has furnished the Merc With a Mouth with a list of targets and the resources to cross them off, as well as astral guidance, in hopes that Deadpool’s Karmic score settling will stop the equally mysterious machinations of the “apocalyptically powerful Flux Paradoxica” in their tracks.

In practice, Deadpool’s alliances appear murky, at best. Surrounded by corpses and furious (if scant) survivors strewn across the bloodied, hallowed halls of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Deadpool proposes an alliance with Illyana Rasputin, whose mutant sorcery skills include access to “the forbidden knowledge of Belasco,” an Elder God whose physical essence is trapped in Limbo; hence why Deadpool acquires said knowledge by drinking it directly from Belasco’s severed skull. Emboldened by the primordial magic now coursing through his veins, the newly crowned King of Limbo ends his aforementioned proposed “truce” with Illyana by stabbing her with his trademark katanas, and then proceeds to acquire another power-up by infiltrating the territory of “bike-riding demonic force” Vengeance and permanently deposing him from his Hell-cycle. In spite of Alphea’s cautioning that “Your body might not be able to handle” so many magical additions, Deadpool rationalizes that he is simply doing “whatever it takes” to save the multiverse, and then heads off to dismantle some Avengers following a gruesome, multi-page battle with Red Hulk, prefaced by gratuitous executions of The Leader and M.O.D.O.K.

One Multiverse Under Doom?

Even though Deadpool is now imbued with Venom symbiote, Gamma radiation, and the mystic arts, the notion that he is preparing to face off against Doctor Doom - this particular variant is notably a “mad scientist turned despot” who is known to dabble in stolen cosmic technology himself - still seems like raised stakes. Chillingly, Doom casually tells Deadpool that “Life is not required for utility” as he surgically operates on a Skrull, whose shapeshifting abilities Deadpool covets. Equally chillingly, both Doom and Alphea corroborate that Deadpool’s plan to inject himself with “super-Skrull mutagen” is “a bad idea,” as “There is no way to predict” how it “will interact” with Deadpool’s already significantly altered “genetic makeup.” Like Doctor Strange’s similar folly in an early episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)’s What If? TV series (Disney+), Deadpool’s cosmic tampering threatens to decimate his very soul as each upgrade batters his humanity.

Indeed, “How much more dangerous could it possibly be?” Deadpool proposes to Alphea as he closes in on the Avengers’ New York City abode. The answer is quickly revealed: Ultron-Bots! Though unsure whether said bots constitute “Robotic Avengers,” “Demonic Avengers,” “Symbiote secret Avengers,” and/or aliens, pets, or medieval Avengers variants, Deadpool commits to his grim task, which includes facing off with the likes of Arno Stark, an Iron Man variant with alien enhancements, as well as “Giant-Man/Ultron fusion” Hank Pym; Ares, God of War (“Torn in half but stitched back together”); a Moonstone variant moonlighting as Ms. Marvel; and Thor, “undead God of Thunder.”

© Marvel Comics

“Revengers – ASSEMBLE!”

One reason that Deadpool’s violence, however gratuitous, is so entertaining is that he has little to lose. “You must surely have a death wish,” Ares remarks, to which Deadpool shrugs, “Well … yeah.” Not only does the mouthy merc fire off quips as devastating as his firepower, et al, his sincere hope to die makes him essentially impervious to his many opponents’ posturing and threats. This is exemplified by the portion of Issue #4 dedicated to Deadpool’s extensive death match against the Ultron-Bot Avengers, whom Deadpool promises will be “screaming my name before I’m done #$%&$## you up.” After taking out Moonstone-cum-Ms. Marvel with “tormented spirit binding” (aka astral tentacle chains) ‘borrowed’ from Belasco, Ultron-Bot Thor promises to “scour” Deadpool “from this realm!” Alas, Deadpool’s myriad recent power-ups not only allow him to hold his own against Thor’s infamous hammer, Mjolnir; he also learns that he is “worthy” to wield it, which he does in order to take out the last of said realm’s Revengers. 

Deadpool then returns to where Doctor Doom is currently hunkered in Latveria, where Doom has completed a “side project” per Deadpool’s request: A “regulator” that “Alphie” insists is simply “An easier way to get yourself killed,” a seeming contingency plan in case neither Alphea nor Flux Paradoxica are willing and/or able to “end it all” for him. Once Doom hands over Deadpool’s latest accessory, Deadpool shocks him with the knowledge that “your name’s not on my list” of targets, seemingly leading to an identity crisis (“Is Doom … no longer a threat?”). Then, he implies to a dismayed Alphea that his newly ‘tweaked’ transporter now has the ability to “take me straight to the monster behind all our misery.” The final comic panel then reveals the smoky, feminine, masked form of none other than Flux Paradoxica, bookended by a preview promising that Deadpool’s quest has reached the “end of the line!”

Murder Me, Mutina!

Overall, the fourth installment of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time builds tension effectively around Deadpool’s seemingly cut-and-dry quest to redeem himself enough to ‘retire’ by showcasing the slow creep of shifting stakes and loyalties. Whereas Alphea has previously been vague, yet optimistic about Deadpool’s chances of ‘redemption,’ she grows increasingly cagey as he gradually gains the resources - and loses his human malleability - to fulfill his destiny. Combined with the seeming fake-out of a Doom that apparently is not dangerous enough to kill (in the midst of Marvel Comics’ current One World Under Doom multiversal era, no less), and the yet enduring mystery surrounding Flux Paradoxica herself, Alphea’s own mysterious machinations have potentially sinister implications - perhaps her and Flux Paradoxica are two sides of the same coin, literally and/or figuratively. Whether either of them will, in fact, help “set things right” for Deadpool in the end remains to be seen - is it August yet?

Rating: ★★★★☆

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© Marvel Comics

About 'Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time' #4

Release Date: July 3, 2025

Written by: Cullen Bunn

Art by: Dalibor Talajic

Cover by: Davide Paratore

Page Count: 25

Synopsis: DEADPOOL SEEKS UNLIMITED POWER! A healing factor and a top-notch wit won't cut it when you're hunting the worst monsters in the Multiverse! What power could defeat the Earth's mightiest heroes? And can Deadpool trust DOCTOR DOOM to give it to him?!