Do Wolverine and Deadpool have the same powers in Marvel Comics & MCU?

❘ Published: 2023-12-20T20:35:28

Wolverine and Deadpool are a seemingly indestructible duo, but do their powers in the comics stack up to their film counterparts?

Wolverine and Deadpool are an odd pairing. The two have different backgrounds, and their current lives and methods routinely clash. Still, there is a common bond that keeps them permanently linked.

Both have their ties to the Weapon X program. Wolverine was a test subject there for years, where his body was studied, torn apart, and put back together, with his memories being erased in the process. Deadpool would become a test subject later under the guise of an experimental cancer treatment, where he was injected with a compound based on Wolverine’s DNA.

Their film counterparts take an approach that is mostly the same. However, the end result is the same: both have a healing factor that allows them to survive wounds, regrow body parts, and perhaps even cheat death.

How Wolverine and Deadpool’s healing factors work

Realistically, Wolverine and Deadpool only have one power in common: their healing factor. Both are able to heal from wounds at an increased rate.

At their max, the healing factor enables them to regrow limbs. It’s generally believed that Deadpool has the stronger healing factor of the two, but both have mitigating circumstances that limit their strength.

For Wolverine, his healing factor is constantly working to combat metal poisoning in his system, a result of the adamantium grafted to his skeleton. After Magneto ripped the adamantium off his skeleton, Wolverine’s healing factor was operating in overdrive, to the point that he devolved into a more bestial form.

Deadpool’s healing factor is similarly always running to combat his cancer. It’s constantly attacking the cancer cells as they regrow, which has resulted in his scarred appearance. This has also affected his mind, as his healing factor repairs damage to his brain. This has resulted in increased awareness, allowing Deadpool to see beyond the fourth wall.

Wolverine and Deadpool have similar powers but different MCU origins

In the MCU, Wolverine’s origin is notably similar to his comic origin. He’s still a seemingly immortal mutant who joined up with Weapon X only to be experimented on and tortured.

Deadpool’s origin is a little different, though. He’s still experimented on, but the mentions of Weapon X are removed. This can be attributed to his place in the grand scheme of things being a little wonky and his direct ties to Fox’s X-Men largely being jokes.

Wolverine and Deadpool’s powers are the same in the comics and movies, though Wolverine’s healing factor seems more in line with its original depictions from the comics. He’ll still survive anything you throw at him, but he doesn’t shrug things off with the ease of his comic counterpart.

Deadpool, on the other hand, has been showing off his healing factor from the very first film, going so far as to regrow limbs or even his entire lower body. If this continues into the MCU will be a question for Deadpool 3 to answer.

Despite both being the result of Weapon X experiments, Wolverine and Deadpool only share their healing factor. Wolverine’s powers are his latent mutant abilities: the healing factor, enhanced senses, and his claws.

Deadpool’s healing factor isn’t a natural mutant ability, though. It’s the result of an experiment using Wolverine’s DNA and accounts for why his ability to heal is so different. While his healing factor is derived from Wolverine, he received no other powers in the process.

Ultimately, Deadpool wound up with Wolverine’s most impressive power but kicked up to 100. It did wind up giving Wade a few unique abilities, though, as his constantly healing brain is immune to being psychically controlled.

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