Arrrghhh!!

[hippie_hunter]

F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K

I AM SO F**KING PISSED RIGHT NOW!

Daniel Way on new Deadpool ongoing

DANIEL WAY ON ‘DEADPOOL’
Preparing to launch a new ongoing for Marvel’s ‘Merc With A Mouth’ with Steve Dillon, the ‘Wolverine: Origins’ writer reevaluates his work, addresses criticism and gets ready to blow stuff up with black humor

By Kiel Phegley

Posted January 11, 2008 5:00 PM​

Deadpool, Marvel Comics’ merry mercenary, has never been one to mince his words.

Then again, neither has writer Daniel Way.

Perhaps that’s why the publisher is letting the scribe behind the controversial series Wolverine: Origins spin a brand-new Deadpool ongoing series out of the upcoming Origins arc featuring both characters. Shipping to comic shops next week, “The Deep End” is a five-part story pulling Deadpool and Wolverine into a head-on brawl, and after that story wraps, Way and artist Steve Dillon will continue the adventures of Wade Wilson in a Deadpool ongoing series debuting later this summer. [EDITOR’S NOTE: While Dillon will be leaving Origins for the new assignment, Way will NOT leave Origins as previously reported by Wizard. A new artist TBA will join him with Wolverine: Origins #26.]

Below, the always open and outspoken Way explains why now’s the time for Deadpool to jump back into the solo series camp, discusses what the character does and doesn’t have in common with the man called Logan and confronts the criticisms and issues of his Wolverine epic to date with an eye on how he’ll fix things in 2008.

WIZARD: So later this year, you’re going to be writing Deadpool, which threw me off for a minute when I first heard it. Have you been a fan of the character?

WAY: Looking back through the stuff that I’ve worked on at Marvel – well, I guess it would be hard for someone else to look back. When I look back at the stuff I’ve done at Marvel, the stuff I’m really proud of and books I think I’ve done really well at, it’s characters like Bullseye and Nighthawk who are “off.” They’re off center, and they’re a little more chatty than Wolverine, who I write as a little more stoic and silent. And to be completely honest, these fun characters are fun to write. It seems obvious, but it’s something you can have a lot of fun with.

With Wolverine, I’ve set myself upon this kind of thankless task of slogging through all the continuity, and it makes for a very — you think that writing for a living makes for a cool job, but doing all that homework and research and going back and fact-checking…it’s not all that fun. Bringing the Deadpool character into the Wolverine title I’m doing gave me a chance to break out of that somber, grim tone and make it more rambunctious without it being too jarring. It’s rambunctious because Deadpool’s there. It’s a way for me to transform the tone of that book while at the same time showing Deadpool fans that I “get it.” This isn’t Wolverine. This is a character whose stories should bounce. It should have a lot of manic energy to it.
Is there something from Wolverine’s past that is tying to Deadpool’s appearance and launching him into this new series, or will he be an outside operator?

WAY: Well, that was a consideration. Because he obviously has connections to the Weapon X program, but he was cast out of the program. He’s like the toxic bi-product of the Weapon X program. They threw him away. They don’t want him. At first, it was like, “Do we use that?” He’s the one and only escapee. All of them are out not, but the other Weapon X characters still seemed to be tied to it. Do we play on that? My vote was to not play on it because I already have a book like that. Deadpool works better when he’s on his own terms. Wolverine is the character that’s always dealing with his past. Deadpool’s problem is that he can’t deal with the future, so that’s where I wanted to focus.

So how is Deadpool reintroduced in Origins, and how does he get from there to his own series?

WAY: It’s pretty simple. Deadpool is approached by a government agency who — I don’t want to give away too much at this point, but they basically give him a contract to take out Wolverine. He’s a mercenary for hire, and this is a job that very few people have the qualifications to pull off, and this is one of them. Obviously — and we showed this in the very first issue of Origins — there are people who would prefer to have Wolverine off the table. So our boy Wade gets tapped, and they offer to pay him an awful lot of money. But the question is, is it just about the money, or does he have something to prove? Why take this job that seems impossible? Is it to prove he can do it, or is it to prove that he’s better than this thing that he was supposed to be an exact replica of — that he was classified as being a failed attempt at recreating? That would go a long way towards his self-esteem if he could prove to no one else but himself that he’s better than Wolverine.

As you are getting ready to go into the Deadpool title, Steve Dillon is coming with, right?

WAY: That’s the plan right now. It’s still firming up, but I’m stoked about it. [Laughs] Obviously I love working with Steve. That’s why I do it so often. But look at those 12 issues of Punisher he did with Garth [Ennis]. It went very light and dark. It was funny until you got punched in the gut, and I think Steve just shined like a star during that whole thing. I think that’s going to come back out in this Deadpool stuff. You talk to Steve, and obviously the man has a wicked sense of humor, so it’s one of those situations where not only do I want to bring out the character in Wade Wilson/Deadpool…I want to bring out the character in Steve Dillon! [Laughs] And myself, while I’m at it. I want to get back to writing these madcap caper kinds of things. That’s what I dig reading, and when I went into this, the plan was always, “I want to write books that I want to read.” And we’re going to get back to that. Both with the Deadpool stuff and with Origins as a whole.

And you’re sticking with Origins for the long haul?

WAY: That’s the plan. I don’t know if they could continue Origins without me. I hoard away the outlines and keep them as poorly informed as possible. I just give them enough so they can try to market it. Maybe that’s not the best approach. [Laughs] But it’s like I said before. Origins is such a homework assignment that it takes so much work just to get to a certain point. And then when you turn it in and offer it up for review, you risk a lot of things. Then they’ll say, “What if we change this to market it a little better.” Then I’m the one standing up, and it’s such an ironic situation because I really don’t have a love for past continuity in comics. I’ve seen behind the curtain, and I know that continuity is essentially established by the market. Why did such and such character do action “X” during this time period? Because it was deemed marketable. It’s a false history. But I wanted to give it some credence. I wanted to back it up.

So now here I am. I’m the continuity guy. I get calls and e-mails asking, “What was Wolverine doing during World War I?” And I say, “How in the hell did I end up in this position?” [Laughs] Because I never really considered it to be a thing. I thought comic books by their serial nature — they come out every month, and they should be a creation of the moment. I never used to think that continuity really mattered all that much, but apparently you can never tell where you’re going to land.

For your own personal outline on Wolverine, do you feel as though you’ve accomplished many of your goals, or do you feel like there’s still so much to get to?

WAY: I always said that the first act for this 60-issue story was going to be an exercise because I had to get so many things out onto the playing field. And some of them are relatively obscure, so you have to reestablish them and bring them back into the forefront of the readers’ minds so that when you use them later in the story, possibly in the third act, they’re not going, “What the hell is he talking about?” And it’s tough! I think at this point that I was being more than a bit unrealistic at the outset.

If you look at the miniseries work that I’ve done — books like Greatest Hits and Punisher Vs. Bullseye and the Nighthawk book — Punisher Vs. Bullseye is probably the best example because you introduce things in the first issue that seem to be disparate elements, but what I’m really doing behind the curtain is giving you everything that’s going to be revealed in the last issue. And you’re going to be surprised. And what backs that up is you’re ability to say “Oh, that’s why that was there! That’s why that happened!” When I went into Origins, I thought “I’ll do it like a miniseries, but I’ll blow it out to maxiseries proportions.” In theory, in my mind it sounded like a great idea, but there are things I didn’t take into account. One is, how many titles do you figure the average comic book reader reads in a week? Is it five? Is it more?

I don’t know. The hard core reader might be getting five to seven, but I think there’s a bigger, less vocal group that only buys two or three a week.

WAY: Let’s say it’s two. That’s two a week, eight a month…about how many a year? I’m not a mathematician, but that’s a lot. And you’re asking people to pay attention to things that happen issue to issue, even though they only come out once a month — 30 days apart. TV shows come out every week, and then they take a break. In comics, we’re four weeks apart, and it’s a lot to ask of someone, especially if they’re following whatever…seven other storylines a month. You can’t really keep your focus on it as much as I’d like to, especially when it’s strung out over five f---ing years. [Laughs]

I definitely went back here in the last couple of months while I was doing all the Captain America stuff, and I said, “We need to recalibrate the engine on this thing. We need to start delivering a more timely package here.” You really see that come to the forefront in “The Deep End” — the Deadpool arc. I’m constantly trying to cram more into each issue and make each arc more of its own thing. I’ll get around to the grand…what’s the high brow term for it? The dénouement? [Laughs] I’ll deliver the goods when it’s time, but I’m not just going to keep sending out feelers to it every month because that’s not been an effective approach. I think that’s just Daniel Way on the learning curve. I’m in, what, my sixth year doing this? And doing it on kind of a big stage, so I’m still learning.
Thinking about moving into 2008, what’s your biggest goal on Origins and Deadpool? Is it just to continue figuring out what works for you?

WAY: Yeah. Obviously, I want to do this well. At the end of the day, the only thing I ever want is for people to say, “Daniel Way? That guy is a good writer.” I don’t need it to be qualified. I don’t need to be “a good comic book writer” or to be a good huckster in magazines or on the internet. I just want my body of work to be solid. And what I’m doing is going back to what really lit me up when I first decided to give this whole writing thing a shot and go back to writing things I would enjoy reading as opposed to me trying to stand in the shoes of the 35 or 40-year-old fanman — because it’s just not genuine. I’ve always been better at appealing to new readers or being in the now and telling these kind of rollicking, off center stories. Not being this unofficial historian.

I’m obviously not going to dump all of that out of Origins, but I’m just going to temper it. I’m going to get leaner and meaner with the stories — more immediate with everything. It’ll make me happier, and hopefully that’ll translate into something. I finally had to sit down with [editor] Axel [Alonso] and say, “I don’t think I’m feeling it, and I don’t know if anybody else is either. We had this idea, and then the idea became real, and it doesn’t seem to be doing as well out in the real. Maybe we should change things.” We talked about what that would be, and to his credit he said, “Absolutely. I think that’s what you should do.” Maybe that’s my role in this whole industry — stories like Greatest Hits or the Nighthawk book which are just these twisty, mean stories with more than a little bit of black humor to them as opposed to these epic marches.

But trying things out is what makes you grow as a writer…

WAY: Yeah! I guess at this point I’ve written quite a few books, but it’s still very much a learning process. You’re going to be the last person to figure out where you belong in everything. But whereas a lot of guys figure that out on the Indie circuit or doing a lot of anthology work, I do that with Wolverine. [Laughs] With thousands of Internet message board posters sniping from the wings.

Do those interactions and responding to criticism lead to these ideas of reformatting occasionally?

WAY: That’s just the thing. I never want to become staid. That stuff turns me off. I don’t want to become the purveyor of something that I don’t like. [Pause] This has kind of gone off the rails, hasn’t it? [Laughs] But I think a lot of this lines up with the Deadpool character. Deadpool is the character that constantly has to move. He is that AD/HD guy. As long as he’s moving, he doesn’t have to focus on anything. He can’t stand looking at himself — literally. Looking at himself in the mirror, he looks like a f---ing monster, and this is what he has to deal with. And the worst part of it all is that it’s not going to change. It’s not going anywhere. He’s not going anywhere. He’s here to stay. So he’s just reeling headlong into the future with his eyes closed and his mouth moving 100 miles an hour. It’s almost like he can’t acknowledge anything — can’t slow himself down, which is why Wolverine is such a great forge to bang him against. Wolverine has come through the other side. And here’s this guy who’s a f---ing mess, completely off the rails. How’s Wolverine going to handle this? Is he going to take this threat seriously? He probably should. The guy’s a serious threat, but doesn’t he owe it to this guy to help him out a bit. This guy is standing right where he was. So what role will he take? In some weird way does Deadpool have something to teach him? These guys are so different. In some ways, Wolverine can’t stop looking back, and Deadpool consciously doesn’t ever. That guy wouldn’t self examine with 50 guns to his head. But at the same time, who’s the one who’s laughing at the end of the day. It sure as hell ain’t Wolverine.

So I think it’s all kind of serendipitously come together with the Deadpool character becoming available and at this point in Origins how the two have some commonalities in their continuities. But more so, it’s their differences that make them such a great pairing. Out in the meta, how great is it that this is happening for these two books? For a Deadpool book to launch out of Wolverine is not a bad thing. And in my opinion, Origins is a book that needs a shot of the here and now, which Deadpool will deliver with a bang.

It sounds like your take on the Deadpool series will be way less of a broad comedy than some past efforts.

WAY: I went back and read the Deadpool books, and some of them are really, really good. Some of the themes that are explored through that raw comedy is really cool in concept. He’s a real cipher of a character while at the same time he’s a bad ass visual who does all this cool sh--. I had to spend a lot of time thinking, “How am I going to characterize this guy?” He is crazy. He’s got a lot of psychoses going on here. How do you get that across without that being totally slapstick? And one of the things that is always been featured in his books is this signature narration where it’s like he’s keeping a mental journal. I wanted to explore that and have those two things almost splinter his personality. There’s the narrator, the biographer of this whole thing, and then there’s the player on the stage. And the two aren’t always going to match up. It’s very difficult to see how the character views his world.

In Origins what I attempted to do was to always stay with the main character, which is not easy. You’ve got to get kind of inventive instead of saying “Let’s cut to this character.” It’s always through his eyes, and it’s always very f---ing grim, which is cool, but no one wants to live like that! [Laughs] That feeling of doom that you get, on one level I’m glad it’s coming across. As ill-conceived of an idea as that might be, that was my intention. I wanted the reader to get a feeling of what it was like, but once it’s established you’re kind of screwed because it’s going to seem uneven if I switch it up now.

Seriously. They cancel Cable & Deadpool one of my favorite books and they give my second favorite comic book character to their worst f**king writer. Seriously, way to kick me in the f**king balls Marvel. F**k you Joe Quesada.

 

[Sugarculted]

Well, C&D was getting pretty crappy...
...but, to give DP to Way?

It pains me.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Hahahaha, Deadpool's gonna be worse than ever. Damn, sucks to be a DP fan at this point. If only Marvel could woo Joe Kelly back.

 

[PhotoJones]

Deadpool fans are pissed off. What a nice to wake up in the morning.

 

[Doc Destruction]

Asides from his horrid treatment of Spider-Man, Quesada is a damn good EIC.

Ahhh, blessed irony.

 

[Tron Bonne]

F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K

I AM SO F**KING PISSED RIGHT NOW!

Daniel Way on new Deadpool ongoing

[/size]

Seriously. They cancel Cable & Deadpool one of my favorite books and they give my second favorite comic book character to their worst f**king writer. Seriously, way to kick me in the f**king balls Marvel. F**k you Joe Quesada.

 

[SuGarRush]

Lo and Behold, what a way to start my day!

Deadpool is finally getting his own series again!!! (There was much rejoicing!)

The guy from Origins is writing it... BOOOH (Sobbing in a public place)




This is a set of mixed emotions I don't have the depth to handle. I'm happy and sad. This is terrible and fantastic.

An emotional roller-coaster and it's not even Noon yet...

 

[Darthphere]

Actually, Daniel Way might be the perfect fit for Deadpool. Bullseye Greatest Hits and Supreme Power: Nighthawk are any indication, this might be the book that Daniel Way was born to write.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If he's funny. Neither Bullseye nor Nighthawk are funny, whereas humor is entirely necessary for DP's character.

 

[SuGarRush]

Actually, Daniel Way might be the perfect fit for Deadpool. Bullseye Greatest Hits and Supreme Power: Nighthawk are any indication, this might be the book that Daniel Way was born to write.

I've never read them. All I've seen is his Origins stuff, which frankly, I don't like.
BUt if he can handle Bullseye with style, maybe he can pull it off.

Thank you for providing a glimmer of hope.

 

[Darthphere]

If he's funny. Neither Bullseye nor Nighthawk are funny, whereas humor is entirely necessary for DP's character.

I'm guessing you didn't read any of the two series I mentioned right? Because there's a lot of black humor there. Pun was not intended for Nighthawk.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If they were written by Way, I didn't touch them. Such is my Way (lolz!).

 

[Darthphere]

If they were written by Way, I didn't touch them. Such is my Way (lolz!).

Puns, everywhere!

 

[Dread]

Daniel Way sometimes had some amusing dark humor in his GHOST RIDER run.

Not good news for DP fans, though. Especially if he is still on his "Garth Ennis Lite" approach to writing. I'm not a DP fan, though, so it doesn't matter much to me personally.

 

[deemar325]

So *****e boy is writing Deadpool, not reading that either.

 

[Darthphere]

Daniel Way sometimes had some amusing dark humor in his GHOST RIDER run.

Not good news for DP fans, though. Especially if he is still on his "Garth Ennis Lite" approach to writing. I'm not a DP fan, though, so it doesn't matter much to me personally.

I personally hate the **** out of Deadpool, nonetheless there's really no reason to think this is the end of the world when it comes to this character.

 

[deemar325]

I just never like anything Way has done, except Nighthawk even then it was just a passing amusement.

 

[GNR]

Dillon's art looks so stale on superheroes.

 

[Dread]

Dillon's art looks so stale on superheroes.

It is. He's been horribly wasted on ORIGINS and he may go double here. Of course, knowing this, Marvel keeps him on mainstream hero books, because their editorial board is wise and wonderful.

Spot the sarcasm?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Except Marvel doesn't have much other than superhero comics to put him on. What do you think this is, DC?

 

[Dread]

Except Marvel doesn't have much other than superhero comics to put him on. What do you think this is, DC?

Was he that tired of MAX Punisher?

But, you have a point; he a good Vertigo artist with a company that has no Vertigo.

He could maybe have some fun on a zombie book...

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Way retconned Ghost Rider and had one of the lamest runs in GR history (and thats a feat in itself considering he's had a few of those). Its hard to ***** up Ghost Rider's origins anymore, and yet he managed somehow. Thank God we got Jason Aaaron on board now.

 

[Roughneck]

I like Way's Sabertooth Mini from a few years back...even though it was about Sasquatch....it was good.

I am not a fan of Dillon though.....too....too...blah. jus don't like it....but I'll try it out cause it's Deadpool.


But I woud much rather Nicieza stay on Cable and Deadpool and they change the title to either A) Marvel Team Up Vol 4 or B) Deadpool Team Up.

And of course keep it going where Wade (and Bob of course) keep teaming up with other Heroes (and villains) of course in some awesome tales of the Marvel U.

Imagine Doom paying Deadpool to distract the F4 while he does some Doomy thing.....scratch that from your memories...I want to write that while I'm at Marvel.....

But this recent string of Deadpool (and Bob) Team Ups has kicked seven kinds of ass....and I love it

 

[Anubis]

Hmm, I think he might be able to pull it off if it's anything like Bullseye's Greatest hits. I'll give it a shot.

 

[hippie_hunter]

From the way Way sounds he's going to completely ignore Deadpool's more recent characterization in Cable & Deadpool