Deadpool never stays on the shelf for long at Marvel Comics. With the recent annoucement that Hugh Jackman will be returning as Wolverine in Deadpool 3, now seems like as good a time as any for the Merc with a Mouth to get a new number one issue.

Bringing Wade Wilson to life this time around is writer Alyssa Wong, known for her runs on Doctor Aphra and Iron Fist, and artist Martin Coccolo who is currently working on the Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War crossover.

At New York Comic Con, Popverse had a chance to sit down with Wong to chat about the body horror and romance in store for Deadpool and the creative team's inspirations for the book.

Popverse: What are you excited to dig into with the Merc with a Mouth?

Alyssa Wong: Oh my God, everything. Okay. The thing I like about Deadpool is he's very much himself. He's weird, he's wacky, he's over the top, and he doesn't care what other people think about him. He has this reputation for being an annoying blabbermouth, but he embraces it, and I think that's so freeing. I tend to write characters who are a lot more pent up and contained, so exploring that kind of enthusiasm with Deadpool is something I'm really excited about. I love body horror, and Deadpool is the perfect subject.

We've gotten Headpool before. Does that mean we'll be getting Footpool and Handpool?

I mean, how do you compete with Headpool? (laughs). I guess what I can tell you without any spoilers is that rather than cutting Deadpool up, we might be putting something else in and seeing what happens and what might grow out of it... so less disparate pieces of Deadpool and more pieces of something else in Deadpool.

In terms of body horror, what kind of body horror do you draw inspiration from the most? Do you have any favorites?

I love Junji Ito. Tomie is one of my favorite stories. It's about a girl you who can't be killed who's like contantly bugging out of herself, and people murder her...

Sounds like good inspiration for a Deadpool story.

It's perfect. I love weird body growth. Your body is a fascinating machine and like a self-contained system, but it's so full of chaos. You never know what's gonna happen at any given moment, and that's what makes it so exciting.

Awesome. So Deadpool is joining up with a new crew of assassins. What can you tell us about them?

Well, Deadpool wants to join up with a new crew of assassins - we'll see how far he gets. The new crew of assassins is called the Atelier. Basically, what if a group of extremely high-powered, very secretive, very dramatic assassins dressed like the Hellfire Gala every single day? They're fashionistas. They're all divas and they're very, very good at their jobs. Expect a lot of brand new characters, but also expect maybe a familiar face or two.

Are those familiar faces from the X-Men side of things or maybe from elsewhere in the Marvel universe?

You'll have to read to see!

Fair enough! There's also been a bit of buzz about a new love interest for Deadpool in this series. So what can you tell us about that?

We are introducing a brand new mutant character who is Deadpool's love interest. I love them very much. I think there's a lot of inherent risk in following in love with someone who's associated with assassins-- but nothing new for Deadpool. I think the real risk is falling in love with someone who actually likes you for who you are and sees you for who you are. That's terrifying.

Do you find it a challenge to write those more earnest moments with an inherently silly character like Deadpool?

I do, but that's my favorite part of writing this Deadpool series. He's so over the top and violent, but I always look for the very genuine emotionally resontate underpinnings of any story. I think that's what makes up all of my favorite stories in general. So that's what I'm trying to do in this Deadpool story. If I could describe it with just two terms, it would be body horror and shoujo romance. It's a wild combination.

Do you have a favorite Deadpool story?

That's impossible to pick! But I really love everything that Gerry Duggan has done with the character.

Any last things you'd like to leave the fans with that we haven't touched on?

We are reintroducing Harrower, who was co-created by Steve Orlando and Carmen Carnero. She's gonna play a big part in this. She does very weird biofusion, science and magic stuff, and that's perfect for body horror. So having her play a huge part in this story with and against Deadpool is going to be very exciting.

Awesome. Thank you so much for your time, Alyssa!

Deadpool #1 hits comics stores on November 2nd.

---

Dark Crisis: Tom King and Chris Burnham offer a spoilerly peek into Superman’s prison