After 35 Years, Marvel Finally Solves Deadpool's Big Healing Factor Problem With One Genius Move

Published Sep 5, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Mark has been a comic book journalist for over 15 years and has interviewed comic book creators like Gail Simone and Caspar Wijngaard. And when he's not writing, he's working on beating his record of 1,200 comics read in a year. One of the problems with healing factors is that they can become a crutch. For example, when Wolverine fights someone, he can take punishment that would be fatal to normal people and keep fighting. Or, as Beast put it, “Mr. I-See-Bullets-As-A-Pizza-Topping.” A good writer will use this as a fun way to see how their characters can creatively abuse someone with rapid healing. However, being able to recover from anything can become a clutch, especially when it comes to Deadpool. Wade Wilson’s healing factor could be the strongest in all of comics. Marvel fans have seen him recover from decapitation, Hulk attacks, and being blown to pieces. While Deadpool will still lose the fight, he will return more prepared and annoying than before. In Wade Wilson: Deadpool, writer Benjamin Percy made the Merc With A Mouth’s healing factor more of a curse than a gift. In issues 6 and 7 of Wade Wilson: Deadpool, Wade learns that the pieces of his body that are removed from him (normally by force) have become violent and sentient. Deadpool's animated body parts crave his blood to survive, but Wade isn’t willing to give it up to keep his monstrous castoffs alive. Instead, he’s hunting and killing them. Unfortunately, that means he has to avoid having parts of him chopped off. That last bit has made this series more interesting. Deadpool's Healing Factor Is Suddenly Much More Interesting Wade Wilson: Deadpool; Written by Benjamin Percy; Art by Geoff Shaw; Colors by Alex Sinclair Taking a hero or villain's powers away, or making them weaker, happens more times than casual fans may realize. It's a good thing because it forces classic characters to adapt to a new status. For example, in Jed MacKay’s X-Men, Magneto is a shell of his former self. So when he's able to use his powers (thanks to a serum made by Hank McCoy), it’s special. He's also become more of a teacher to the young mutants than a fighter. Because of the decades-spanning nature of comic characters, things have to change in order to keep classic heroes or villains compelling. Wade’s had his healing factor lessened and removed plenty of times. So, rather than repeat something that recently happened, Benjamin Percy turned Deadpool’s ability into a walking and sentient nightmare. It’s made Wade’s fights more fun since he can’t just walk into a fight recklessly (which is what he always does). Unfortunately for Deadpool, he’s ended up on the Punisher’s radar again. Deadpool's Going To Need His Healing Factor To Face the Punisher Punisher and Micro have found deformed Deadpools and know that Wade is the common denominator in all of the chaos they’re causing. Sadly, instead of waiting for intel before confronting the Merc With A Mouth, Frank kills it and later blows Wade up. So, instead of solving the problem, he made it worse. Now they'll both have to deal with who knows how many rabid pieces of Deadpool the Punisher created. A lot of comic book fans love Frank Castle, but he can be impulsive when he’s annoyed, and no one annoys him like Wade. If it were anyone else, Punisher would have done some recon or actually let Micro interrogate the Discarded Deadpool. He may have also learned that while Wade is the source, he isn’t the only problem. On top of all of that, it looks like a villain named Black Hole (real name Morton Kribbee) is absorbing the beings created from Wade Wilson's body, and the reason hasn't been explained. They could be feeding Kribbee or making him more powerful. If it’s the latter, that means he’s setting up something major in Wade Wilson: Deadpool or The Punisher (which are both written by Benjamin Percy). Regardless of what’s going on with Black Hole and Punisher, Deadpool’s healing factor remains a major problem for everyone. With Bullseye on his way in Deadpool/Punisher: Big Guns, readers can assume that they’ll see more of Wade’s sentient wounds thanks to Lester's involvement. Created By Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld Cast Ryan Reynolds First Appearance The New Mutants Alias Wade Wilson Alliance X-Men, Avengers, Astonishing Avengers, Deadpool Corps, Frightful Four, Great Lakes Initiative, Heroes for Hire, Mercs for Money, Secret Defenders, Six Pack, Thunderbolts, Weapon X, X-Force Race Mutant