Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII #2

History

The series was conceived by Marvel editor Mark Basso as a three-issue miniseries timed to coincide with the theatrical release of the 2024 Deadpool & Wolverine film, and editor Basso approached Kelly directly about returning to the character. Kelly accepted primarily because the project offered a reunion with Adam Kubert, with whom he had worked during his earlier Marvel tenure, and because he saw an opportunity to write Wolverine — whom he described as the true entry point of the story — alongside his signature character. Kubert, whose landmark runs on the Wolverine solo series and Origin II had made him the definitive visual interpreter of Logan, served as both penciller and inker, with Frank Martin on colors and VC's Joe Sabino on letters, the same core production team throughout all three issues.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written by Joe Kelly with art and cover by Adam Kubert; colors by Frank Martin; letters by VC's Joe Sabino; edited by Emily Newcomen. Released June 12, 2024.
• First appearances of Greta (Delta's German-accented teleporting underling) and Snowflake (a monstrous creature engineered by Delta) — both confirmed by the Marvel Database as new characters debuting in this issue.
• Issue #2 is the middle chapter of a three-issue limited series (issues #1–3 published May–July 2024), explicitly structured as a prelude to the 2024 Deadpool & Wolverine theatrical film.
• The plot pivots from gladiatorial action in a Russian tundra (orchestrated by Delta and 'Those Who Watch') to an extended wilderness survival sequence in which Wolverine and a badly disfigured Deadpool are stranded together — the campfire dialogue scene drew particular attention from reviewers for its emotional weight.
• Delta's name and backstory are formally revealed in this issue after remaining mysterious in issue #1; his organization gives enhanced powers to subjects who then fight for wealthy spectators.
• Wade Wilson's cancer has broken out more severely following Delta's experimentation, leaving him more physically disfigured than at the series' outset — a bodily-horror throughline Kelly cited as a deliberate creative choice enabled by both characters' regenerative abilities.
• The issue received a second printing (cover dated July 31, 2024, with an Adam Kubert variant cover), confirming sufficient retailer demand for a reprint run.
• The full miniseries was subsequently collected in a trade paperback (ISBN 9781302953478), gathering all three issues.

Cast · 3 characters

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