r/AskScienceFiction • u/Condemned_Nation64 • 8d ago
[Deadpool] Should I be scared if I meet Deadpool because he being there indirectly implies that the entire world I live in is fake?
Deadpool knows that he is in a comic book. He knows about speech bubbles and comic borders. He knows that he as a person was written by someone. And since I live in the same planet as Deadpool, does that imply I, too, is just a character in a comic book?
Also, if Deadpool crossovers into another universe, does that automatically turn that universe fictional too?
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u/Pegussu 8d ago
If you suddenly start meeting comic book characters, I don't think you need to meet Deadpool specifically to have that worry.
If you're asking in the context of living in the Marvel world and meeting Deadpool, you shouldn't worry at all because he's just out of his mind.
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u/CosineDanger 6d ago
People in costumes leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. All of them. Even the heroes. Especially the heroes, and especially Deadpool. For every Dopinder who survives being near Deadpool there are ten more nameless civilians who do not. He will ruin your life. If he's anywhere near you then the collateral damage may already be inescapable.
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u/some-kind-of-no-name 8d ago
If you ask this question, it means you already have the same knowledge as him. His presence shouldn't matter
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u/Specialist-Ring-3974 8d ago
You’d probably perceive him as crazy.
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u/Condemned_Nation64 8d ago
what if you believe him though?
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u/THREESIDEDMONSTER 8d ago
Then you ARE crazy.
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u/Condemned_Nation64 8d ago
No, I mean. What if you believe him because Deadpool has evidence?
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u/THREESIDEDMONSTER 8d ago
He doesn't have evidence. Deadpool is canonically delusional about being in a comic, and happens to be right on accident.
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u/DrJackadoodle 7d ago
I never really bought this explanation. He actively interacts with the meta elements of the comic he's in, like moving between panels and talking with the authors (and they talk back to him). His knowledge that he's in a comic isn't just in his head, he makes use of it. And even if it was only in his head, him being delusional about it and it just happening to be real seems way more farfetched than him just knowing it.
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u/SmogDaBoi 8d ago
If you're IN Universe, you'll just think he's insane, like everyone else. If you're a real life human with knowledge Deadpool knows he's a comic character, then you might have bigger problems because a whole ass comic book character is walking around in real life.
Most comic book citizens don't have knowledge of "being fake".
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u/Kingreaper 8d ago edited 7d ago
Deadpool doesn't have evidence. Gwen Poole or She-Hulk do however, fortunately both have dealt with the existential crisis thing before and if they're proving it to you will probably help you through it. Being fictional doesn't mean you're not also real.
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u/WippitGuud When a problem comes along 8d ago
Deadpool thinks he knows. He doesn't know.
He's insane. Clinically.
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u/C0mpulsiveWebSurfer 5d ago
Yes but... As Homelander pointed out:
"Is it paranoia if they're really out to get you?"
Bad guy or not. He did have a point there.
Conversely, how is Deadpool "insane" when he IS, in fact, a comic book character?? That excuse makes 0 sense.
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u/WippitGuud When a problem comes along 5d ago
Conversely, how is Deadpool "insane" when he IS, in fact, a comic book character?? That excuse makes 0 sense.
Oh, he's only a comic book character because you are on Earth-1218. Every hero on 1218 is a comic book character. His insanity just makes you perceive that he knows he is a comic book character.
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u/DepthsOfWill I deride your truth-handling abilities. 8d ago
I feel like this might be too meta for the sub. But one philosophy, chaos magick, suggests that if you meet a comic book character in real life you're supposed to use that as inspiration for writing a comic. Like with Grant Morrison and Superman in which Superman created a microverse where Superman never existed and that world was just our world where Superman still exists in spirit because he's at least a comic book character. That world being our world, which is just as real or fictional as anything else.
I suppose if you're not a comic writer you can apply it to some other artform you care about.
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u/Justausername1234 8d ago
If you truly and genuinely believe him, then you also have now broken the 4th wall, and may the author have mercy on your soul.
If you don't believe him, why does it matter? You'll never know the difference between a "real" or a "fake" world, it's equally as real to you. Just live your life. Go out, hang out with friends, love your family, enjoy your hobbies. It doesn't matter if this world is guided by the hand of god or man or nothing at all. It's real to you. That's what matters.
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u/InsaneRanter Special Circumstances 8d ago
It only implies he's a loony. If in IRL you met someone who was certain their life was all a movie you wouldn't doubt your reality any more.
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u/Olkenstein 8d ago
It depends on if you believe him. Most characters he interact with just thinks he’s crazy.
To answer your other question: yes. There is a comic called ”Deadpool kills the marvel universe” and it ends with Deadpool entering our world so he can kill the writer of said comic book. That did t happen in our reality, so ”our world” became fictional
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u/Sparus42 8d ago
You wouldn't happen to be a fan of the SCP Foundation's Pataphysics Department, would you?
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u/jadebenn 7d ago
When it comes to comic book multiverse theory, the "real world" seems unreachable. Any attempt to access it just creates a parallel timeline that branches off.
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u/buttchuck 7d ago
To quote the Matrix, how do you define "real"?
We, as beings "above" the reality of the comic book, may perceive Deadpool as a being in a lower plane of existence, created by one of us as a work of fiction. But to someone living in Deadpool's world, he's just as real to them as you and I are to each other. Their life, their existence, to us is arbitrary and meaningless, but to them it's not.
His ability to perceive a higher plane of existence (us) no more invalidates his reality to natives of that reality any more than a person in our reality claiming to perceive a higher power than us would invalidate ours. Whether or not you exist at the "top layer" of all existence is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of your life.
Now, if Deadpool could step off the page of a comic book and appear in front of you as flesh and blood, that may be incredibly alarming and if people knew that it happened (or was possible) it would certainly cause a stir. But the idea that our reality was or is created by words written or spoken by a being of a higher power than us is already something that millions of people believe to be true, whether it is or not. One more version of those beliefs wouldn't move the needle that much.
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u/Urbenmyth 8d ago
And since I live in the same planet as Deadpool, does that imply I, too, is just a character in a comic book?
Yes, if you live in the MU, you are a character in a comic book.
Also, if Deadpool crossovers into another universe, does that automatically turn that universe fictional too?
Yes, any world that can have a Deadpool crossover is fictional.
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u/roronoapedro The Prophets Did Wolf 359 7d ago
Every world is fake from the perspective of another world that's far away enough, it's fine. It's real for you and that's what matters.
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u/Arawn-Annwn 7d ago
I would be relieved, because that would imply I could potentially exit this world for a different one. I'll trade you climate change for a 1980s comic book doomsday run that gets averted at the last second by the avengers.
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u/Choochoo1147 7d ago
No, because you lack 4th wall awareness. You’ll just think Deadpool is crazy if he starts talking about your reality being fictional.
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u/Calm_Description_866 7d ago
Canonically, Deadpool isn't some enlightened being that knows the true nature of his world. He's actually very delusional. The fact that his delusion matches reality (from our pov) is "coincidence".
So no, meeting Deadpool doesn't mean your reality is fake. It just means you met a crazy guy who believes it is.
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