Deadpool In Marvel Rivals References Pokémon And GTA, Is The Best His Meta Schtick Has Been In Years

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Deadpool, Marvel’s merc with a mouth who loves to spout off meta jokes and wink at the camera, is the kind of gimmick character that can come together like a spectacular, fourth-wall-breaking fireworks show or be so grating and obnoxious that he can push you away from a project entirely.

In Marvel Rivals, Wade Wilson can’t just hijack the whole game with his antics; he has to synergize with the established dynamics of other heroes’ tool kits and banter. As such, developer NetEase has found a ton of really smart and funny ways to slot Deadpool into the game that are additive, rather than disruptive. And yes, he drops a fair amount of fun pop culture references to media both in and out of the Marvel universe.

Deadpool’s in-game abilities and behavior include numerous nods to his tendency to break the fourth wall, with comic-book-style panels and pop-ups often appearing around him, in-character ability descriptions that you can swap to the straightforward, “emotionless” descriptions written by the NetEase team for clarity’s sake if you prefer, and even the ability to have conversations with announcer Galacta.

His banter with Marvel Rivals’ other heroes is full of nods to pretty much every facet of the Marvel multimedia franchise. He makes references to the Rivals community leakers and memes as well as to the MCU’s fumbling multiverse saga, and there’s also an “It’s Morbin’ Time!” line referencing the notorious Sony flop Morbius. As pretentious and self-important as Marvel has become in the past 20 years as its movies have shifted pop culture, Deadpool does usually act as a reminder that someone in the writing room is paying attention to the criticism people have been levying at the franchise for years now. Even Deadpool & Wolverine was taking shots at the MCU from the inside.

But it’s not all Marvel references. It’s fitting that in a video game Deadpool would borrow lines from series like Pokémon, Grand Theft Auto, and Super Mario. There’s some stuff from other media as well, like Spongebob Squarepants. From the looks of it, voice actor Alejandro Saab ad-libbed several of these lines and “can’t believe” that NetEase kept them in the game. Oh, and you’ll also find some memes like “67” and “Hawk Tuah” in the mix. The “67” one is pretty clever, at least, and can’t be spammed like the one in another hero shooter.