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What's the deal with Deadpool? 6 things you may not know about the Merc With a Mouth

Deadpool is finally in theaters and it's making a bloody splash at the box office.

The film is an explicit love letter to the comic books and fans that made the character what he is today. But not everyone is as familiar with Deadpool as the film might think they are. That's where we come in. 

While not all of these things are represented in the R-rated romp, we put together a list of nine things to know about Deadpool before you see the film, and a few that are just cool tidbits to talk to other theater-goers about. Ready to be a Deadpool expert?

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He likes to break the fourth wall, a lot

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Deadpool is like a Looney Tunes character when it comes to fourth wall-breaking, and it can and can't be the corniest thing ever. Sometimes he talks about an advertisement inside the comics or something that happened in real life and sometimes he just likes addressing the reader directly. It adds a level of snarky not seen in any other character.

His best friend is Cable, Cyclops' son from the future

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Sure, Cable doesn't show up in the new film, but there's a chance he might in the future. Nathan Summers, son of Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Madelyne Pryor (A clone of Jean Grey), doesn't always reciprocate the aforementioned friendship, but that's just because Deadpool is a bit crazy. Summers' mission is usually to return to the present to stop a terrible evil from happening, and Deadpool makes things complicated, but fun. The two have starred in plenty of series together over the years. Oh, and the first time they met, Deadpool tried to kill him.

He's been around since the early '90s

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Despite Deadpool's current, goofy persona, he was actually introduced as a pretty serious mercenary in an issue of 1991's The New Mutants. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld (who gets a hilarious shoutout in the film), Deadpool represented everything about early '90s cartoon culture. He was badass with his two swords and plenty of guns and had a sweet suit that reminded us of a trigger happy Spider-Man. Sure, things are different now, but we must always look back at humble beginnings.

This isn't the first time we've seen him on film

Unfortunately. Deadpool made his feature film debut in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And though Deadpool has a historic disdain for Logan, (They are both products of Weapon X, after all) we didn't catch much of it in the film other than the indoctrinated final fight. Ryan Reynolds played Wade Wilson pre-mutation and was actually pretty damn great at it, until they decided to shove some swords in his arms and sew his mouth shut. Seriously? He's the Merc with a Mouth, not without. But Reynolds was perfect, and we're glad to have him back in true form.

Side note: There was also a Deadpool video game, but that wasn't so good. Oddly enough, the X-Men Origins: Wolverine game was pretty good.

He's married and has a daughter

Again, you won't get this Deadpool in the film, but in his latest run in the comics, Deadpool is actually married and (sort of) raising his long lost child. His wife, Shiklah, queen of the underworld, was previously married to Dracula until Deadpool swept her off her demonic feet.

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And Deadpool's daughter, Ellie, actually has a pretty tragic story, after her mother is killed by Butler, a supervillain who kidnaps her and Ellie to get back at Deadpool. This leads to a crazy good arc where Deadpool, Captain America and Wolverine team-up to rescue Ellie and serve some justice, but it's also the same arc where a crazy mystic resurrects dead U.S. presidents. No, it's not just you who thinks that's pretty messed up.

He's currently an Avenger and no longer kills anyone

Finally, the biggest shock of them all: the current Deadpool has sworn off killing, but only because he finally gets to fulfill his lifelong dream of being an official, card carrying member of The Avengers. Sure, you won't catch wind of this anytime soon on the big screen (Deadpool's rights are with Fox, while The Avengers reside with Disney/Marvel Studios) but it's a pretty big change in dynamic for a character known not only for killing, but killing for money. And Spider-Man is right there with you, he's not too happy about it either.

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