If there’s one thing Rob Liefeld will be known for after enjoying a long and illustrious career, it’ll probably be for creating Deadpool. Yes, I do realize the writer/artist has worked on other icons and helped launch Image Comics back in the day, but the Merc with a Mouth has emerged as one of the industry’s hottest characters in recent years.
At first, Wade Wilson was pretty much a Deathstroke knockoff, though he gradually diverged into becoming a much different guy over time. But when Liefeld put pen to paper a few decades back, it seems he had an ulterior motive.
While appearing at San Diego Comic-Con, Hugh Jackman revealed the following factoid about Rob:
“Rob Liefeld, who created Deadpool is here tonight. It’s weird he said I’ve never liked Ryan but I’ve always liked you, I’m kidding. But he did tell me and post this, you can post this. Rob Liefeld, who created Deadpool in the comic books said the only reason I did it was because I wanted to draw Wolverine.”
Hey, if Marvel won’t give you the keys to the kingdom that are gigs on either X-Men or Uncanny X-Men, coming up with a backdoor to drawing Wolverine is one way to do it. Still, Liefeld’s work on X-Force did light up sales charts in its heyday.
Here’s what Rob himself had to say in the caption accompanying the video from SDCC:
“Hugh Jackman Comic Con shout out! My 37th Comic-Con started with the most unexpected shout out to myself and Wolverine’s Len Wein. Thank you for this honor Hugh, the current comic-book-pop-world we live in exists as a result of your tremendous success!!”
Honestly, we do owe a debt of gratitude to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine for today’s superhero movie landscape. Though Blade did show Hollywood there’s more out there than just Superman and Batman, it was the X-Men and Spider-Man who opened the door for many properties to follow. Because of this, Deadpool and even Ant-Man now have their own films. Who would’ve thought that’d happen 25 years ago?
