X-Men Monday #288 – Benjamin Percy Talks ‘Deadpool/Wolverine’

Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT!

With a blockbuster like Deadpool & Wolverine on their hands, can you blame Marvel Comics for releasing a Deadpool/Wolverine series? Now, the House of Ideas probably could have put any creative team on this title and it’d sell. But Marvel went and reunited writer Benjamin Percy and artist Joshua Cassara of Krakoan-era X-Force fame, which instantly made Deadpool/Wolverine a must-read series.

Just two issues in, Ben and Josh haven’t disappointed. And Ben was nice enough to return to X-Men Monday to discuss Deadpool and Wolverine’s dynamic, Stryfe’s sinister plans, and more!

AIPT: Welcome back to X-Men Monday, Ben! 

Benjamin Percy: Thanks for having me back.

AIPT: Deadpool/Wolverine has been an action-packed, bloody blast so far. But I’m curious, you’ve obviously written a lot of Wolverine stories, and more than a few of them featured Deadpool. So when Marvel was looking for a creative team to tackle a Deadpool and Wolverine series, what — as a writer — made you want to sink your creative claws into this assignment?

Ben: The quick answer is, Wolverine is my favorite character in comics, and if Marvel approaches me about anything SNIKT-y, I’m going to say, “Hell yeah, bub.” 

But to keep going: I was thrilled to once again team up again with Josh Cassara, my ridiculously talented friend and collaborator on X-Force and X Lives and X Deaths of Wolverine. He not only awes me with his powerhouse art, but he’s so much fun to work with.

Then there’s this odd couple duo — the straight man, the goofball — that’s such a blast to write. And with the blockbuster movie still on everyone’s minds, Wade and Logan are kind of having a moment, which makes it a smart time to put out a comic book.

AIPT: Absolutely. X-Fan WeaponXFromTemu asked how you balance Deadpool’s humor with Wolverine’s more serious tone without making one overshadow the other.

Ben: Horror and humor make for good bedfellows. This isn’t a horror story, not exactly, but it’s full of mayhem and monsters and nightmarish prophecies of the future. Deadpool offers us — and Wolverine — some balance and levity.  

AIPT: You’ve talked a lot about writing Logan over the years, but X-Fan Phil wanted to know how you approach finding Deadpool’s voice. You’re one of Phil’s favorite Deadpool writers from the past few years.

Ben: Thanks, Phil. You’re now my favorite Phil of the past few years. 

Even though I write a lot of dark stuff, and even though I have something of a gruff persona, I can also be a goofball, and my wife claims she fell for me in part because of my sense of humor. It’s important for me to have that pressure valve in my life and in my writing. Deadpool gives me the opportunity to play in a different register.

Many comedians are deeply damaged, and humor is a survival instinct. That’s how I think of Wade. He’s armoring himself with laughs because he’s so emotionally and physically scarred.

AIPT: I want to revisit Josh Cassara for a two-part question. First, how has your creative partnership with Josh evolved since X-Force #1? And second, is he the Deadpool to your Wolverine? Or is this when we learn you were Wade all along?

Ben: Josh and I totally get each other. We have the same sense of humor, the same work ethic, the dedication to our families, the same love of a prime cut of meat, the same ’80s action movies in our creative DNA. We have a mind-meld situation going. We also communicate constantly, so our voice and vision are united.

To answer the second part of your question… I’d say we’re both a meaty, hairy, fart-smelling stew of both characters.

AIPT: A lovely image. Now, I absolutely loved the six-page Deadpool funeral sequence in Deadpool/Wolverine #1. Perfectly plotted and Josh hit all the right comedic notes. How does a scene like that come together between you two?

Ben: Glad you dug that moment. I actually apologized to Josh for the first issue because I asked him to pack SO MUCH into it. I made sure to open things up more with Deadpool/Wolverine #2 so that he could go wild with some splashes and spreads. 

In that particular sequence, I was thinking of how to orchestrate a cold open — like a Deadpool-meets-James-Bond scenario — that would surprise and charm and thrill the reader. I spend as much time as I can on the north shore of Lake Superior, and the roads that follow the cliffs and shoreline can be very dramatic. That’s where the first seed of the idea came to me, when driving too quickly along Highway 61 and imagining cars and choppers pursuing me. Josh — of course — made it all come to life beautifully. 

AIPT: Love it. Next, X-Fan Duck with a hat has always been curious about something — with Wolverine and Deadpool appearing in so many books at the same time, do you sit down with the creatives of those books and discuss what you’re each doing so none of you accidentally step on each others’ plans for the characters, or does your editor step in sometimes to make sure you don’t accidentally do something that would (for example) contradict the events or plot of another comic?

Ben: Our fearless leader — editor Mark Basso — emphasized this from the very beginning. Our story is not out of continuity, but it also isn’t weighed down with continuity. It’s supposed to have an evergreen feel. Our day one goal: build a non-stop action narrative that felt like an ’80s/’90s action thriller. Because it all happens at once — a sprint of a timeline — we don’t have to worry as much about what’s happening on the sidelines of the 616. 

AIPT: How did you settle on Stryfe as the main villain in your first arc? And while we’re talking about Cable’s evil clone, X-Fan Di Lincoln (who’s loving the run, the art, and says the story rules!) was wondering if we might see an appearance from Cable himself at some point.

Ben: Thanks, Di! I’m always trying to honor legacy while also putting a new spin on things. In this case, I wanted to revisit a ’90s storyline — “X-Cutioner’s Song” — and build upon its foundation. Stryfe and the Legacy Virus are a central part of that crossover. 

As for your question about Cable: no spoilers!

AIPT: The next issue of Deadpool/Wolverine promises to feature Wolverine beating “the absolute $@#%” out of Deadpool. What can you tease about this knockdown, drag-out brawl and what follows?

Ben: Josh worked as a bartender for many years, and nobody draws a bar better. He developed one of the most iconic locations in Krakoa: the Green Lagoon. Logan getting into a bar fight is pretty much a requirement, so I wanted to take that to 11. We have an Old West saloon — located in Deadwood, South Dakota — where Wolverine and Deadpool get into a knockdown, drag-out brawl and absolutely destroy each other’s bodies and the bar itself. But there’s more to this than merely violence for the sake of violence: Wolverine is trying to literally and figuratively hack Deadpool because he’s under the telepathic influence of Stryfe.

AIPT: While we’re looking ahead, X-Fan TASERTAG was wondering if we can expect other villains, besides Stryfe, along with supporting characters from Deadpool and Wolverine’s respective franchises in future issues.

Ben: Director Talyn — the head of O*N*E, the anti-mutant agency — is a fun one. And there are others coming — new juicy characters we’ll be introducing. 

And then there’s a MAJOR revelation about a villain that comes around the mid-point of the arc. 

AIPT: Finally, X-Fan Gregg Katzman said, “While you’re doing this awesome team-up series, you also have a versus series on the way from Marvel, too.” Gregg needs to know what you can tease about Predator vs Spider-Man — easily one of his most anticipated books this year.

Ben: I happen to know that Gregg is the ultimate Kraven fan… and let’s just say, he’s going to be very pleased. How could I not pit the world’s greatest hunter up against the Predator?

AIPT: Sounds awesome — I just hope Spider-Man survives the experience. But on that note, Ben, thanks for stopping by X-Men Monday! 

X-Fans, for this week’s X-Men Monday eXclusive, we’ve got a preview of Deadpool/Wolverine #3 — on sale March 19, 2025 — courtesy of our friends at Marvel and written by Benjamin Percy, illustrated and inked by Joshua Cassara, colored by Guru Efx, and lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino.

In the next edition of X-Men Monday: Writers Alex Paknadel and Tim Seeley return to discuss their Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic series!

Until next time, X-Fans, stay exceptional!