Deadpool: Who Is Death Grip?

With a new volume of Deadpool comes a new adversary to make Wade Wilson's life a living hell. Deadpool's healing factor has saved him on numerous occasions, and makes for some hilarious-yet-gruesome disfiguration over the years. He's been dismembered more times than Wolverine at this point (who he is coincidentally teaming up with in Deadpool & Wolverine), always returning with a wisecrack or fourth-wall-breaking comeback. So far, a villain hasn't been able to topple the Merc With a Mouth, but there is a new contender named Death Grip looking to make a name for himself at Deadpool's expense, and as his name indicates, he has a fascination with death.

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Deadpool #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

Deadpool #1 is from the creative team of Cody Ziglar, Rogê Antônio, Guru-eFX, and VC's Joe Sabino. The plot of the introductory issue focuses on Deadpool and his pet symbiote dog Princess taking a mercenary job. Their bounty is a mutant teleporter named Henry LaPonte, who sends them on a chase that leads to an evil badguy lair. This is where Death Grip makes his debut, seemingly killing Henry LaPonte with his mystical magic powers.

Death's Grip repels bullets from Deadpool's gun and even makes the gun disappear, leaving Deadpool to get up close and personal with his swords. Unfortunately, he leaves himself open and takes a killing blow to the stomach from Death Grip. The villain begins to monologue and leave, thinking Deadpool is deceased, but we all know better. Deadpool surprises Death Grip and stabs him in the chest from behind, with Death Grip escaping in a grenade explosion.

Deadpool writer comments on new villain Death Grip

ComicBook.com spoke to Cody Ziglar ahead of Deadpool #1, where we find out more details surrounding Death Grip. 

"Nothing to me is more fun than seeing a Wikipedia entry for a new character or villain," Ziglar said. "Without spoiling anything, Wade's unkillable, he has a pretty laissez-faire attitude towards anything, and Death Grip is a character that has a unique approach to that stuff. He's a guy that, we get into it later in this series, but he has studied the Mystic Arts, like a Doctor Strange-type academy. Only he failed out. He's a mix of mystic with someone like Shang-Chi or some of Iron Fist's abilities.

"Someone who has a touch of mystic abilities, but also martial arts prowess who has built a cult-like religion around the concept of chasing death and finding an avatar for death and what is more enticing to him than someone who is "unkillable." A lot of the conflict is based around Death Grip trying to find this unkillable person and seeing what he can learn from someone who's unkillable. If your pursuit in life is learning deadly martial arts, what better than practicing on someone who seemingly can't be killed?"

Death Grip certainly seems poised to be a thorn in Deadpool's side. It remains to be seen how their feud escalates next, but Death Grip's fascination with death and Deadpool could lead to some unwanted outcomes. 

Let us know your thoughts on Deadpool #1 and Death Grip in the comments!