Why This Is Deadpool's Most Amazing Move to Date: Beating Nightmare
In the Marvel Universe, Deadpool is renowned for possessing one of the strongest healing abilities. Not even Wolverine and the rest of his "Snikt" Family are capable of being completely destroyed or beheaded and then rise again. But in one specific storyline, Deadpool surpasses even himself, demonstrating that he is impervious to Marvel's most powerful deity.
Deadpool has paired up with Hercules in Deadpool Team-Up #899 by Fred Van Lente and Dalibor Talajic, and the two are imprisoned in a labyrinth that Arcade constructed. The labyrinth is covertly being fuelled by the otherworldly magic of a being who has proven himself to be even more powerful than Marvel’s fiercest gods: Nightmare.
Deadpool's Triumph Over Nightmare Indicates That He MAY Actually End the Marvel Universe
The books Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe greatly overstate Deadpool's abilities, in particular. Although it's true that Wade would defeat the majority of the heroes and villains Deadpool eliminates in a fight to the death, it's absurd to think that Deadpool could wipe out the entire Marvel Universe, including all of its abstract entities. However, that is no longer accurate.
Nightmare can defeat the strongest beings in the universe, and Deadpool can defeat both of them. Therefore, if Deadpool truly intended to wipe out the Marvel Universe, he would need to figure out how to make Nightmare attack in the same way that he did in "Overture," wait for him to lose, and then utilize this strategy to defeat him. Deadpool would therefore genuinely succeed in destroying the Marvel Universe; meta-exaggeration would not be necessary.
How Deadpool's Healing Factor Makes Him Immune to Nightmare's Powers
After Hercules insulted Nightmare in a past meeting, Nightmare decided to exact revenge, with Deadpool just going along for the ride. While Nightmare considered Deadpool as nothing more than an additional inconvenience in his scheme to harass Hercules, he soon found that Wade was considerably more than that. When Deadpool realized Nightmare’s powers were directing the hellish maze, he severed his own Corpus Callosum, ensuring Nightmare’s dream-based powers had no effect on the Merc with a Mouth, resulting to Nightmare’s final demise.
While Deadpool’s trick against Nightmare may appear like a run-of-the-mill Deadpool gag, it’s actually one of the most God-Tier accomplishments he’s ever pulled off. Nightmare’s plot in “Overture” demonstrates it. In “Overture”, Nightmare resolves to try to take over the whole Marvel Universe. In that endeavor, Nightmare deFeats Galactus, an army of Celestials, and even Ego the Living Planet before confidently challenging the likes of Eternity and the Living Tribunal.
The Significance of Deadpool Defeating Nightmare
Nightmare successfully defeated Marvel's most formidable foes by using his strength from the Dream Dimension, where he exists as a true deity. And for that reason, it is so astonishing—possibly the most remarkable triumph Deadpool has ever had—that Deadpool vanquished Nightmare by cutting the connection between the left and right parts of his brain, rendering Nightmare's dream-based abilities useless.
While the implications of Deadpool’s victory over Nightmare are fascinating, and a lot of fun to consider, the biggest takeaway isn’t what Deadpool could do with this trick, but what he’s already done. Through the (clearly R-rated) use of his Healing Factor, Deadpool rendered himself impervious to Marvel's most potent deity.
