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Back in February, at a ComicsPro panel held in Glendale, Calif., the editors in chief of Marvel and DC revealed they were quietly assembling something they hadn't pulled off in more than two decades: a crossover event.
From time to time, going as far back as 1976 with the arrival of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, "the Big Two" comic brands have been known to bring their superhero titans together for the kind of convergence that their cross-pollinating fan bases crave. The last time they did this was in 2003, when JLA/Avengers kicked off a comic book arc that played out into the following year, but there hasn't been a collaboration of this magnitude since.
"A lot of things have to align," Dan Buckley, the President of Marvel Entertainment, explains to Entertainment Weekly. "Mostly we plan our editorial schedule pretty far out. DC does their schedule pretty far out. You want to have the right talent involved because with this type of thing, you want to elevate it as much as you can to get people excited."
Jim Lee, the President, Chief Creative Officer, and Publisher for DC Comics, echoes similar sentiments in a separate chat over Zoom, noting how DC typically works two-to-three years in advance.
"It happens kind of once every generation of readers. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to why," he comments. "The timing has to be right in that you don't want to do these too often. You want them to feel special. It is sort of finding that right moment for both companies to come together because it is complex. There's a lot more coordination, collaboration, approvals that have to be done. And, obviously, from the business side, you're sharing revenue, but it's going to be a big deal. So you want the story, creatively, to warrant the hype of it all."
The time to reveal the next crossover is finally here...Deadpool, meet Batman.
EW can exclusively reveal that Marvel's Merc with a Mouth and DC's Dark Knight will collide this year, crossing swords and batarangs across a new publishing event. On the Marvel side, Zeb Wells, the Spider-Man comics scribe who recently worked on the big-screen spectacular Deadpool & Wolverine, pens a Deadpool/Batman one-shot with art and cover design by veteran artist Greg Capullo, who most recently worked on Wolverine: Revenge.
The story, kicking off this Sep. 17, tells how Wade Wilson is hired for a job in Gotham City that puts him in the crosshairs of the World's Greatest Detective. Accompanying the main one-shot will be a lineup of "backup adventures" that features "exciting Marvel and DC character match-ups," according to an official description. However, details on what that entails, including the creative teams, will be shared at a later date.
"After writing Amazing Spider-Man for 60 issues, I told Marvel I needed a break," Wells tells EW in a statement via email. "Marvel told me I could do that or I could write a comic starring Deadpool and Batman with the best Batman artist of our generation. I no longer needed a break. In Batman we've found someone who has even less time for Deadpool's antics than Wolverine, but a city-wide threat from the Joker makes strange bedfellows (literally, if Deadpool had his way). It's been a blast letting Deadpool loose in Gotham City and watching what happens."
Capullo feels similarly. "Am I dreaming? This crossover is likely to be the high point of my career...and, I’ve had a great career," the artist adds via email. "Some of my earliest work (many years ago) was on X-Force, so Deadpool and I go way back. More recently, I spent 10-plus years drawing Batman at DC. The idea that I get to do a crossover event with Deadpool and Batman...If I am dreaming, please don’t wake me!"
Whenever Buckley hears a Zeb Wells idea, it's usually something that's equally funny, clever, and heartfelt, the top brass says. "That's how I feel about what he is putting together now," Buckley remarks. "And I know Mr. Capullo will deliver in spades on the emotional storytelling and all the action, because that's what he does every time he does his story."
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DC brings together comparable creative heavyweights to tackle their respective one-shot. Batman/Deadpool, launching later this November, hails from writer Grant Morrison, whose comics (including All-Star Superman and Batman and Son) now serve as inspiration for the James Gunn and Peter Safran-led DC movie-verse, and artist Dan Mora, who, similar to Capullo, has an immense list of credits to his name. (Details on DC's story and the accompanying "backup adventures" will be announced at a later date.)
The dynamic duo of Morrison and Mora previously worked together on Klaus, the BOOM! Studios comic series that reimagined Santa Claus as a muscled, grizzled warrior.
“I don't do many comics these days but there was no way I could turn down the chance to work with Dan Mora again, one of my all-time favorite artistic collaborators — and definitely no way I could turn down Batman and Deadpool!” Morrison says in a statement. “Expect 4th wall-busting mayhem, owls, blood, blades, and at least one giant typewriter!”
Mora also writes over email, "This is more than I ever imagined I could do in my career, and it is a huge honor to be part of this crossover: it doesn't happen too often, and I am a huge Deadpool fan! When I first worked with Grant, I didn’t know what to expect, but it was an incredible team-up. I always hoped to work with Grant again, and working on Batman/Deadpool is like a dream come true. Grant and I working together on this once-in-a-lifetime project is going to be such a fun experience."
Deciding on the right combination of characters to cross over involved "a constant flurry of emails," Lee explains. "It's not just two people, it's groups of people. So, yeah, the conversations tend to be very robust and long."
Buckley adds, "It just felt like a fun combo. I'll be quite frank. It was nothing more complicated than that. Like, Deadpool hanging out with Batman. There's a lot of levity to be had in there, a lot of fun. And it would also be a little bit uber violent at the same time.... Our big thing is we want to do something that is a lot of fun, showcase comics, generate excitement, and bring new readers or lapsed readers back into the industry."
The other piece of news is that Deadpool/Batman — or Batman/Deadpool — is not the end of the Marvel and DC crossovers. Another set of one-shots will arrive sometime in 2026, though both sides remain quiet in terms of which characters will team up next and which creatives will be involved to create those adventures.
"Anyone that's working in comics today grew up with a Marvel, DC crossover at some moment in their reading timeline history," Lee cryptically comments. "I think once you become a creator, you want to work on the biggest characters for both companies, but then to be able to do something that only happens every 15, 20 years, it is something you don't want to pass up. So I think fans are going to see a lot of interesting projects from their favorite creators. That's all I can say." |
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