What Actually Happened To Deadpool's Face?

Whether it's the iconic katanas, his love of violence, or a dark sense of humor that would make Bill Hicks blush, Deadpool is famous for many things, yet his most recognizable physical feature might be his deformed face. Covered in scars that make him look like a zombie from "The Walking Dead" or worse, the Merc with a Mouth's face has been compared to hamburger meat, Freddy Kreuger, and "an avocado that had sex with an older, more disgusting avocado."

The question many fans have asked for years, however, is why Wade Wilson's kisser looks the underside of a burned pancake when he's supposed to have one of the fastest, most powerful healing factors in all of comics. If it could save his life from a terminal disease and heal the bloodiest of wounds — even regrowing arms and legs — surely it could get rid of the scars on his face, couldn't it? Well, it isn't quite as simple as that, because healing the scars on Deadpool's face is a bit more complicated than putting a Band-Aid on a cut.

If you've ever wondered why Deadpool's face won't heal, you've probably come to the conclusion that it's some kind of glaring, overlooked plot hole. But far from being some kind of mistake on the part of the writers, the nature of his scars and why they won't heal sits at the heart of the character's nihilistic attitude. Because no matter how invincible he may seem, Wade Wilson will always be hideous under the mask.

No, Deadpool wasn't scarred in a battle with a deadly villain, nor was his face burned off in a fire or charred when he sacrificed his body to save an innocent bystander. That would be far too noble for the Merc with the Mouth, after all — he's simply not that kind of hero. If you've ever wondered why his face looks like the world's worst case of acne, though, wonder no longer. The reality is that Deadpool's off-putting visage is paradoxically the result of both a deadly disease and the incredible effects of his superhuman healing ability.

To get the full story, we have to rewind back to the days before Deadpool was a killing machine with a penchant for vulgar snark and fourth-wall-breaking. Back then, he was merely Wade Wilson, a down-on-his-luck, small-time criminal who developed a rapidly spreading cancer, including more than 30 inoperable tumors. With few options and a terminal diagnosis, Wilson volunteered for a government experiment that granted him a super-healing factor stolen from the genetic code of one-time Alpha Flight agent, Wolverine.

At first, this newfound healing factor stalled the cancer's progress and even put it into full remission for a time. Unfortunately, after a mission where he killed the villain known as Slayback, Deadpool's cancer returned, creating widespread tumors all over his body — including his face. Had something gone wrong with his healing factor, or was there some other funky trick going on? Well, it's not quite as simple as it may seem.

You might expect that Wade Wilson's superhero healing factor would make short work of a body full of cancerous tumors. That's not the case, however, as Deadpool's scarred face still bears the lumps and tumors that continually get him mocked (as insensitive as it may seem, but hey — that's Deadpool-style humor for you). So why hasn't the healing factor eliminated them?

According to Marvel continuity, the cancer's return was so aggressive that even Wolverine's imported healing factor is unable to eliminate it entirely, mutant superpower or not. As a result, the tumors and Wade's healing ability wage a never-ending battle within him: While he'll never die from them, he'll never be rid of his tumors either, cursed to live with a bubbling mass of flesh for a face for the rest of his days. Of course, this is mitigated by the fact that he can practically never die — the majority of wounds he suffers will heal almost instantly, and any disease known to man will be beaten even more quickly. It may seem like a fair trade-off to some, and Wade would probably agree, as only the most vain of us would rather have a pretty face than a healthy, long life.

A fan-favorite character as soon as he debuted in the pages of 1991's "X-Force" #98, it took nearly twenty years until Deadpool's live-action timeline began in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." But the version of the character in the film bore little resemblance to the one fans loved in the comics. Most egregiously, the character's mouth is physically sealed shut after he becomes a super-powered mercenary — a change that completely ditches the "Merc with a Mouth" concept that's central to his character's enduring popularity.

One of many actors who has been forced to take a role they hated, Ryan Reynolds — a self-professed fan of the comics — almost refused to fulfill his contract because he wasn't happy with the changes made to the character. "Deadpool sewing up his mouth was one of the all-time foolish studio notes," Reynolds told Variety in an interview in 2024, a decision that — at least in-story — was intended to be a rebuke to Deadpool's non-stop sarcastic quips.

It's a change that fans and critics lambasted, and were it not for a well-timed "leak," it's possible 2016's Fox's "Deadpool" movie would have never happened, as the studio didn't seem to understand the character. In the end, though, Reynolds' role in "Origins" wasn't for nothing. "I'm so grateful for [the experience]," Reynolds said. "It was the first time I saw how a movie star operates on set, and it defied all the preconceived notions for a movie star."

Want to learn more about Ryan Reynolds' time as Wade Wilson? Check out these details you might've missed in the latest movie, "Deadpool & Wolverine."