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Interview: Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn Talk DEADPOOL, Voices in Wade's Head & Archie

The comedians discuss everything from why the voices in Wade's mind are gone to the age old question of VS Batman?

The Merc with a Mouth has entered Marvel NOW! with an all new title. The recipe for a perfect Wade Wilson should combine relentless jokes with equally untiring action and a hefty dose of character development. It's by no means an easy feat and comedic writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn have stepped up to the plate. With Tony Moore's art to compliment their solid writing, Deadpool's future looks quite bright.

We had the chance to chat with the two writers and just a heads up, we didn't censor them.

Comic Vine: What's it like diving into Deadpool's head and writing him for the long haul?

Brian Posehn: We’re not actually in his head. He’s not a real person. Gerry does most of the writing shit, I just tell him when to add farts. As far as the long haul, we could be fired any day.

Gerry Duggan: He’s a fun character to write for us. He’s like a heatseeking missile, once he’s locked on - look out. He’s horribly scarred, and uses humor as a shield and I think Brian and I understand that. Off-topic but we wanted to write a book that we would be excited to buy, one that we would drop other books we liked if we had to in order to purchase it. We wanted the book to have some humor, but not make Deadpool a clown. If we could do that and find an audience than I knew we would have a hit because it would be a book that was not like all the other superhero books on the shelf. Reading the reviews and seeing the reaction on Twitter has been extremely gratifying. I had my fingers crossed that this book would connect with readers because I think tonally it’s something that you’ve not seen in comics in a while. All hail Tony Moore for delivering his sweet science. He’s the star.

CV: The first issue proved that this new Deadpool run will thankfully be filled with solid laughs on nearly every page. Comedy and good one-liners are obviously key for Deadpool, but are there plans to focus on developing the character as well?

BP: I liked the part about laughs but the end of your question made me fall asleep. Where am I?

GD: Yes, issue 7 is a stand-alone adventure that we can’t discuss just yet, but the second arc will haves some more character elements to it.

CV: I was happy to see the double inner voices gone, but a fair amount of Comic Viners miss them. Any chance we'll see them return or will this be a more sane (yet still hilarious) take on the character?

BP: Ask Gerry. Gerry, what do you think?

GD: This has caused a fair of amount of confusion, so let me try to clear the matter up: We won’t be using the dual dialogue system. We enjoyed when Dan did it, but we want to blaze a new path. We’ve also been coy saying publicly that there might be a good reason why it would LOOK LIKE Deadpool’s talking to himself for a little while. You’ll just have to keep reading. Fans have just scratched the surface of the fun we have planned. 20 pages isn’t much in the grand scheme of things...

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CV: The first issue already had cameos from Captain America and Thor. Can we expect to see more A-list cameos? And by A-list, I totally mean Squirrel Girl...

BP: No.

GD: (whispers) First page of issue 2...

BP: First page of issue 2.

CV: Deadpool managed to build a solid supporting cast over the years -- Bob, Agent X, Outlaw, etc -- do you have anything in the works for them?

BP: I’ve never read Deadpool. I read a lot of Archie though. Were any of these guys in that?

GD: Not at present, but long-term you can expect to see many happy/unhappy/wtf reunions.

CV: In my opinion, Deadpool has never really had a standout rogues gallery. Do you guys plan on creating new villains for the Merc with a Mouth or possibly revamping older ones?

BP: Yes, we do. Gerry, what’s a rogues gallery?

GD: We’re trying to build up some bad guys for him. We’ll probably be revisiting some older bad guys later in our run. Or bigger bad guys that you’ve not seen him fight. Or good guys that are bad guys because they’re in a Deadpool book. The possibilities are endless.

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CV: And speaking of Wade's conflicts, he has a long history with Taskmaster and Wolverine. Any chance we'll see him at odds with either down the road?

BP: I don’t know… Yes, eventually.

GD: Yes. Eventually.

BP: Finally. I got one.

CV: Cable is now back and they were clearly close. Will we see his return addressed in Deadpool's book?

BP: Um, probably. But not for a little while.

GD: Probably, but not for a little while.

BP: Holy shit! I’m on fire.

CV: A pet peeve of mine with Deadpool is how a lot of people treat him as more of a clown and less of a highly skilled mercenary. Laughs are critical for a Deadpool title, but will we also get some solid displays of his skill too?

BP: I can answer this one. Yes, being a badass is one of the things we love about Wayne Winston. He will destroy a lot of people.

GD: I think so, and right in the first arc. He’s obviously good at what he does, but he’s a piece that doesn’t fit. The closest he came was X-Force.

CV: Wade's also appearing in THUNDERBOLTS... but will we see that team pop up in DEADPOOL?

BP: Wade? I don’t think that’s right.

GD: I could tell you, but General Ross would kill me.

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CV: If you could only use one word to describe Deadpool, what would it be and why?

BP: Chimichangas. Ask us a hard question.

GD: Damaged. There’s the obvious skin-deep damage of course, and then there’s the mess under his scalp.

CV: I imagine you guys read a lot of Deadpool's history before taking over the character. Do you have a favorite issue in Wade's library?

BP: As I said earlier… But I will tell you my favorite thing about Archie, I loved how he wanted to bang the one girl who didn’t want to bang him. But the other girl wanted to bang him. I also like the guy with the hat and the face.

GD: There are many standouts over the years. With one of Deadpool’s guns to my head I guess I would say I was always partial to the Joe Kelly Deadpool/Daredevil annual - 97?

CV: Are there any other Marvel characters you'd love to write?

BP: Duh. Archie.

GD: Yes, but nobody will give me Axel Alonso’s email or phone. But here’s some real talk: Both Brian are absolutely devoted to Deadpool, and we’re fairly busy on our own. My gig on Attack of the Show is wrapping up soon, and that will open up time that I’d like to devote to comics. I’ve been working quietly on a new Image Comics book with a talented artist named Mark Torres. You’ll see it debut later in 2013.

CV: Now for the most important question: Deadpool vs Batman?

BP: Deadwho? Batwhat?

GD: Deadpool, because Batman would eventually give up when he realized what he was dealing with and deposit him in Arkham which would make the match a push, technically.

Deadpool #1 is out now.