Warning! Spoilers ahead for Deadpool #10 from Kelly Thompson and Gerardo Sandoval
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Deadpool, one of the most famous and popular Spider-Man memes was just made even better by the Merc with the Mouth. During the King in Black tie-in issue, Deadpool is King of the Monsters, reigning over Deadpoolopolis (what was once Staten Island). While the world is being covered by black goo, Deadpool's Monster Island is caught in the crossfire due to its proximity to New York, the nexus of Knull's invasion. As such, Wade Wilson forms a brand new team of monsters to defend their realm from the Symbiote God's dragon armies, and the were-pterodactyl known as Sauron signs up to help. This creates the awesome opportunity for writer Kelly Thompson to call back to an interaction Sauron once had with Spider-Man, which created the famous internet meme regarding his ultimate goal in life.
The meme in question has become iconic, originating from Spider-Man and the X-Men #2, part of a 6-issue mini-series that saw Spider-Man teaching a class of young mutants at the Jean Grey School. During the series, Spider-Man and his students crossed paths with Stegron and Sauron, both villains that had turned themselves into dinosaurs. In this particular panel, Spider-Man is shocked to learn that Sauron has the ability to rewrite DNA as he wishes, but he's only using it to turn people into dinosaurs. Spider-Man comments that with technology like that, Sauron could cure cancer. However, Sauron hilariously responds that he doesn't want to cure cancer. He wants to turn people into dinosaurs. In just one panel, Sauron's truly ridiculous and simple motives are revealed, and it's truly comical. Likewise, this specific panel has been deemed extremely meme-worthy over the years, constantly popping up on social media again and again with continued popularity.
Now, Deadpool #10 from Thompson with art by Gerardo Sandoval sees Deadpool interacting with Sauron, and it looks as though his motives haven't changed in the slightest. During Deadpool's admission process, Wade Wilson questions Sauron, and Thompson takes the opportunity to build off of the now-famous meme.
Again, Sauron's goals haven't changed at all. He still wants to turn people into dinosaurs, and that's the only reason he's willing to help save the world. He still needs people and the world to be around so he can turn them into said dinosaurs after all. Hilariously enough, that's good enough for Deadpool and Sauron is a part of the team, not to mention the super funny fact that Sauron apparently has a summer home on Deadpoolopolis (Staten Island). Even better, Staten Island was where Sauron was first trying to turn people into dinosaurs back in Spider-Man and the X-Men.
While Sauron was a somewhat frightening and formidable villain back in the day, the current era of Marvel Comics seems to have leaned more towards more comedic depictions in recent years, and that's probably for the best. It's quite hard to take him seriously, especially considering his chosen name was intentionally after the villain of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books for some odd reason, and he's a literal were-pterodactyl who just wants to turn folks into dinos. Any serious take would most likely still be laughable. In any case, it's awesome to see his most famous and hilarious moment with Spider-Man get referenced by Deadpool in this new issue.