Thanks to his film trilogy, most people have probably heard of Deadpool. The silly mercenary primarily relies on humor. In 2014, DC created a similar character who acts like a parody and is even sillier in some aspects.
Deadpool is a brutal mercenary, but he relies on humor and breaking the fourth wall – meaning: he often addresses the reader or viewer directly. In the film domain, the comic character has become a well-known figure, as Deadpool has already received 3 movies. However, he made his first appearance in 1991 in the comic New Mutants #98.
The character, whose real name is Wade Wilson, was initially a rather serious villain but over time transformed into the silly and immortal anti-hero, who likes to challenge Thanos.
In 2014, DC introduced the character Red Tool, who is more or less obviously meant to be a parody of Deadpool.
A Fanatical Stalker
Who is Red Tool? In Harley Quinn #3 (April 2014), the anti-heroine encounters the character Wayne Wilkins. In the comic, Harley eats a berry that makes everyone who meets her fall in love with her. In a shop, she also meets Wilkins, who falls madly in love with her. He is briefly seen as an employee of a hardware store.
There, he fights against all the other lovesick criminals. In Harley Quinn #26 (March 2016), we see him again in the hospital. After a brawl, he is injured and after a botched operation, he no longer feels physical pain. He pushes a doctor out of a window and escapes from the hospital.
In a forest, he finds a cabin full of tools, and two pages later, we see Red Tool, who is not particularly fond of Harley. He knocks Harley out, kidnaps her, and forces her on a date. At the end of Harley Quinn #27, he even tries to get her to marry him. He is obsessed with Harley and cannot decide depending on the situation whether he loves her or would prefer to kill her.
He is a comic relief character. Red Tool tells bad jokes, and his actions mostly serve for humor. Unlike Deadpool, he does not break the fourth wall.
Does he have any abilities? His only superpower
is that he does not feel pain. This helps only to a limited extent in battle, as unlike Deadpool, he cannot regenerate. Later, after losing an arm, he receives a cyber-arm that is stronger than normal humans.
Otherwise, he prefers to use hand tools rather than real weapons, which is also reflected in his costume with the saw blades.
You can take a look at Red Tool here:
Red Tool, Deadpool (and Deathstroke)
Even though it hasn’t been officially confirmed, it can be assumed that Red Tool is meant to be a parody of Deadpool. Both wear a red costume, and the names Red Tool and Deadpool as well as Wayne Wilkins and Wade Wilson sound similar. Harley herself refers to him as Dead Fool
in Harley Quinn #28.
Aside from that, Red Tool is treated as a character of his own, which does not simply copy the main features of Deadpool (even though he is just as silly, if not even sillier than the Marvel hero).
Isn’t Deadpool himself based on another character? Deadpool is often associated with the character Deathstroke from DC, who made his first appearance 11 years before Deadpool in the comic The New Titans #2 (December 1980). Here there are strong similarities in weapon choice (katanas and firearms), but also in the names: Wade Wilson is Deadpool, Slade Wilson is Deathstroke.
Officially, Marvel has never confirmed that Deadpool is based on Deathstroke; one of his creators, Robert Liefeld, clarified in 2022 on x.com: There is ZERO Deathstroke in Deadpool. This story came about ten years ago and is complete nonsense.
On the other hand, Marvel and DC themselves regularly poke fun at the comparison. During the Teen Titans Go
film, Warner Bros. Canada posted a clip where Deathstroke mocks Deadpool:
In the comic Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1, Deadpool himself says: And people have said I was just a parody of that Stroke of Death
guy (via Screen Rant). This comic was also co-written by Fabian Nicieza, who along with Liefeld wrote Deadpool’s first appearance.
Niecieza commented on this himself in an interview on YouTube. There he said:
It is hard to explain that to people because they want to see everything in black and white. There is simply a difference between doing something as a tribute and doing something as a parody. And then it makes a difference to do something as an insider joke. That was nothing more than an insider joke.
So even here a rather vague statement. You may never be able to prove it fully, but the parallels are at least visually present. As characters in their stories, however, they differ greatly.
Red Tool seems more like a short joke than a clear parody of the character. One should probably take all this with a grain of humor. Artists often like to be inspired by other artists to create their own stuff. You can read more about Deadpool here: Deadpool & Wolverine has a great joke that only exists in the German version
