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Rob Liefeld Posts Original Designs For Deadpool – and That, He Was Weapon 9 All Along….

Published Mon, 11 Feb 2019 09:30:54 -0600

Weapon X was the title given to Wolverine by the Canadian government. As well as Wolverine, of course. X meaning mystery,m a hidden origin, something classified. This later became The Weapon X Project, seen in more detail in Barry Windsor-Smith's comic of the same name, and seen as being behind other mutants as well.

In 2002, Grant Morrison declared it was part of the Weapon Plus Project, Wolverine being the result of ten such experiments going back to Captain America as Weapon I.

But in interviews. Rob Liefeld has said that he originated that idea with Deadpool. That Weapon X stood for 10 and that there were other iterations.

I told Marvel, "Wolverine is Weapon X. Weapon X is Roman numeral X. Is that correct?" They'd say, "Yes, Rob, that's correct." "To my knowledge you've not introduced Weapon one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Have you done that? Do you have plans for that?" "No." I said, "Guys, he's the guy that went right before Wolverine, and they screwed him up because they had to break a lot of eggs before they made the omelet."

The thing is, there's not much mention of this in the comics. Instead, Deadpool is seen as part of a more general Weapon X project. Something Liefeld also says in the same interview,

Deadpool is the crap of the Weapon X program. And scarred, mutilated, disfigured — he ran away from the program and took his talents to use as a mercenary and bounty hunter.

Which is closer to what appears in print. Liefeld continued

And again, to further the Weapon X connection, "X-Force" #3 opens and you meet Kane, because I'm like, "Can I make Weapon XI?" So we made Kane the experiments after Wolverine. You've got Weapon IX battling Weapon XI and I'm digging my claws into the Wolverine legacy. Because that's my ultimate — I've achieved my goal. I've connected things to Wolverine.

And indeed that's not what's printed – and rather it's X-Force #2's opening…

Garrison Kane is Weapon X, not Weapon XI.

And Deadpool talks about being part of the Weapon X program, not the Weapon IX program.

As a result of this kind of thing, Liefeld's account has been dismissed by some. But yesterday, he posted his original designs for Deadpool. With notes that define the character as part of Weapon 9 – even if that never made it to the printed page…