10 Best Fakeout Endings In Comics

2. The Death Of Deadpool Is Far More Than We Thought

Batgirl James Gordon Jr
Marvel Comics

The 250th of Deadpool's collective solo titles - also known as Deadpool Vol. 5 #45 - was heavily billed as the death of the famed Merc with a Mouth.

From Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne, this issue involved an all-out war that pitted Wade Wilson against Flag Smasher and the U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. group. Promoted as Deadpool's final stand, reading through this issue really did have you leaning towards Marvel being serious about killing off the Regenerating Degenerate. And while Wilson's death would eventually happen, the fakeout element was that this demise was a whole lot more than we were led to believe.

Wade actually overcame the odds to topple Flag Smasher and U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M., and readers got somewhat of a fakeout when Wade Wilson discarded his Deadpool costume and weapons before declaring Deadpool was dead. This was part of Wilson leaving behind his superhero/antihero/supervillain alter-ego, as he and his nearest and dearest stole a yacht to start a new life.

Was this really what was meant by the 'death' of Chiyonosake? It seemed so... well, until not only was Wade killed off, but the entire population of Earth died as the incursion between the main 616 Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Universe happened in order to setup the Secret Wars crossover event.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.