Marvel's Deadpool is known around the globe for being a remorseless killer. But when his mentality suddenly changes in creators Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan's Deadpool: The Complete Collection Vol. 4, he becomes something else entirely... a pacifist.
It's difficult to imagine Deadpool a.k.a. Wade Wilson being anything other than the Merc With A Mouth. Especially, when one considers his lengthy list of kills. Not only has Deadpool killed numerous superheroes and villains in the Marvel Comics, he is also responsible for the death of a beloved Christmas icon. Because of Deadpool's healing factor-which makes him nearly invincible, he has a way of killing his enemies in the most gruesome manners. But everything the fans think they know about Deadpool changes in Posehn and Duggan's Deadpool: The Complete Collection Vol. 4 when Deadpool gives up killing for non-violence.
In Posehn and Duggan's collection, things get out of hand at the Jean Grey School for mutants when telepath Quentin Quire broadcasts a distress signal from an island known as Genosha-where the sinister Red Skull is waging war. Although a young boy named Evan is being broadcasted from Genosha and warns Deadpool that he is trapped and he needs him to join the war, Deadpool turns him down and leaves the school. After discussing the situation with his newly wedded wife Shiklah, he realizes that he needs to go the safe house where his daughter Ellie Camacho is living and make sure she is safe. Soon after arriving at the safe house, he scopes the place out from a nearby apartment building. Soon, Magneto arrives and begs Deadpool to join the fight. Because Deadpool still has a beating heart, he decides he should aid Magneto and save the mutants trapped on Genosha. Amidst raging fires and a demolished island, the war appears to be over. But with the help of Doctor Doom and a few others, Red Skull changes the mentality of the X-Men and Avengers-filling them with anger and malicious intentions. As a result of the change in mentality, Deadpool loses his bloodthirsty attitude and begins to long for peace and tranquility. In his mind, the bloodthirsty Deadpool decides to let his peaceful side take the wheel and steer for a while-changing Deadpool into... Zenpool.
Unlike the ravenous and humorous Deadpool fans known and love, Zenpool takes a different approach to life and fighting. Right away, everyone he knows begins to see a change in Deadpool. Especially, his wife Shiklah and needless to say, she is anything but impressed. During a Thanksgiving dinner, Zenpool's pacifism becomes so strong he can't even cut into the Thanksgiving turkey without becoming emotional. Next, when Zenpool and Shiklah ride the train back to her lair, they come across the mercenaries Batroc and Trapster-two mercs that are on Deadpool's bad side. But rather than killing Batroc and Trapster-even though consciously Deadpool is telling Zenpool to kill them, he decides to talk with the mercs, peacefully. Which even takes Batroc and Trapster by surprise. Because Zenpool realizes something is off about himself, he goes to the Jean Grey School and realizes he's not the only one acting strange. Turns out, the X-Men are imprisoning some of the mutants in the Danger Room-a place where the X-Men train and fight simulations.
To make matters more interesting, while Zenpool is saving the trapped mutants, he runs by Iceman. Consciously, Deadpool is telling Zenpool to use a bomb he has in one of his pouches. But Zenpool tells Deadpool that he no longer carries harmful devices. Rather than obliterating Iceman-the way Deadpool would, Zenpool kisses Iceman on the cheek and tells him, "I love you." But after saving the mutants, bringing them to Shiklah's lair, and stopping one of the most powerful super villains Apocalypse, Red Skull changes everyone's mentality back to normal-including Zenpool. Turning him back into the unforgettable Deadpool.
It's interesting seeing Deadpool's peaceful side, but the character is nothing without his dark humor and his disturbing kills. It's a good thing Posehn and Duggan's return the character to his rightful place.