Marvel Comicsunabashedly loves anime and manga. The company has had frequent crossover partnerships withShōnen Jump+.TheSpider-Manfranchise alone has inspired numerous sentai television series, anime, and manga. However, onceDeadpooldecided to star in his own manga series,his fourth-wall-breaking powers earned him Marvel’s coolest cameoyet. After Deadpool finds himself on the opposite side of Thanos,only Japan’s Number One Hero can save the day.
Deadpool: Samurai– writtenby Sanshiro Kasama, with art by Hikaru Uesugi – is a two-volume manga series in collaboration withShōnen Jump+,starring none other than the Merc With a Mouth.
Conscripted by Iron Man and Captain America to join a Japanese branch of the Avengers called the Samurai Squad, Deadpool joins the Sakura Spider on her quest to fight Tokyo’s supervillain activity. Teaming up with a J-Pop singer and her symbiote named Kage, the three band together to stop Loki from destroying the Multiverse. After Loki summons a clone of Thanos to his side, Deadpool is suddenly saved by a timely Detroit Smash.
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In their most desperate time of need, Deadpool pulls out a communicator that can summon the Avenger’s most powerful hero. Thanos lunges to grab the device, accidentally sending the distress call to someone else. Within an instant, an explosive smash erupts, releasing a shock wave powerful enough to send Thanos flying. As the dust settles, Deadpool looks up to see All Might, gently holding the mercenary in his arms. Deadpool quips that kidnapping the creator ofMy Hero Academia,Koehei Hirokoshi, finally paid off.
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All-Might reassures Deadpool that theycan defeat the Mad Titanby working together, sending Deadpool over the moon with childlike glee. The pair match pace, preparing to launch a two-front attack, when Deadpool accidentally trips over a pebble. Soon, he finds himself landing on his face while his partner unleashes a 100% “United States of Smash,” sending Thanos flying backward. Then, as fast as All-Might came, the Eight Wielder of One For All left to defeat more villains. In the end,Deadpool didn’t just get a simple cameo, he got an entire fight sequence with the World’s Greatest Hero.
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This isn’t the first timeMarvel andMy Hero Academiahave shared a crossover. In 2023, Marvel Comics andShōnen Jump+releasedSpider-Man: Octopus Girl. The series’ creators, Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court, arethe same creative team behind theMy Hero Academia: Vigilantesseries.Additionally, Koehei Horikoshi has actually gone on record saying that Spider-Man’s characterization in Sam Rami and Tobey Maguire’sSpider-Man 2was a direct inspiration for the tone ofMy Hero Academica.Yet, as inspirational as Spidey might be, it wasDeadpoolwho broke the fourth wallto grabMarvel’sbest cameo to date.
Deadpool: SamuraiVol.1-2is available now from Marvel Comics and Viz Media.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as “Quirks” are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn’t so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan’s greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
Deadpool
The merc with the mouth first appeared in an issue ofNew Mutantsin 1990, and since then has gone on to get his own series and a massive cult following. With his incredible powers of healing and regeneration, Deadpool was initially depicted as an X-Men villain but went on to become an anti-hero. After getting his own movie series starting in 2016, the third Deadpool movie finally brings the wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
