Deadpool vs. Carnage #1-4 is a four-issue comic book limited series published by
Marvel Comics from April to July 2014. Written by
Cullen Bunn with energetic interior pencil art by
Salvador Espín and chaotic covers by
Glenn Fabry, the miniseries pits two of Marvel's most famous red-suited madmen against one another in a blood-soaked, dark-comedy brawl.
-
The Rampage: Cletus Kasady (Carnage) escapes from prison and goes on a brutal, seemingly random cross-country murder spree. Normal authorities are completely powerless to stop the symbiote-fueled chaos.
-
The Connection: Watching the news from New York, Deadpool realizes that the authorities cannot track Carnage because they are trying to apply logic to his movements. Being a fellow completely unhinged individual, Deadpool decides that he is the only one crazy enough to tune into Carnage's unique wavelength of insanity.
-
The Symbiote Upgrade: Their initial clashes are devastatingly bloody. Realizing he needs a massive power boost to match Carnage's raw strength, Deadpool temporarily bonds himself with four classic government-quarantined symbiotes from the Life Foundation (Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony).
-
The Climax: Enhanced by the symbiotes, Deadpool wages a final psychological and physical war on Carnage at a psychiatric hospital, tricking Carnage into confronting his own concept of chaotic free-will.
Key Features & Legacy
-
"Good Crazy vs. Bad Crazy": The series is heavily praised for its tone, perfectly balancing the fourth-wall-breaking, looney-tunes humor of Deadpool with the genuinely terrifying, slasher-movie horror of Carnage.
-
Hybrid Lore: Deadpool wielding multiple symbiotes at once became a highly memorable visual arc for the character, building out the deeper cosmic symbiote mythos that later paid off in modern events like Absolute Carnage.
- Supporting Cast: The miniseries heavily features Carnage’s villainous love interest, Shriek, who becomes a crucial pawn in Deadpool's final, mind-bending trap
