Doreen Green, better known as The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, might be the strongest superhero in the Marvel universe, but that doesn’t mean she fights with brute force all the time. In fact, she gets all of her tactical advice from the best source imaginable: Deadpool.
Or at least, she consults his trading card series during battles. Since starting her own superhero career in the first issue of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Squirrel Girl has utilized a series of “Deadpool’s Guide to Super Villains” trading cards. The complete set includes exactly 4522 sets of cards detailing each Marvel supervillain’s biography, powers, weaknesses, and miscellaneous skills. It even includes helpful commentary from Deadpool himself for added inside info. These cards have helped Doreen fight against criminals like Kraven the Hunter (Deadpool says, “Call him Kravey, he loves it”), Doctor Doom, and Hippo the Hippo.
Deadpool also apparently created a set of “Deadpool’s Guide to Super Heroes”, but the set just consists of Deadpool’s selfies.
Kraven the Hunter card
Squirrel Girl and Deadpool are probably Marvel’s two most post-modern superheroes, and to see the two of them work together indirectly like this is an absolute delight. Squirrel Girl is absolutely self-aware (but not as fourth wall breaking as Deadpool), so using these handy notes to fight against the many different villains she comes across isn’t only smart, but downright genius.
Brain Drain
The origin of Deadpool’s trading card sets haven’t been explored in the comics, but so far it appears that only Squirrel Girl owns a set of them, which begs the question, is she the only one? Considering Deadpool’s knowledge of both Squirrel Girl and the Marvel Universe, it might make sense that she’s the only one to have his trading cards, as the two are the closest to one another in terms of, overall personality. In fact, it’s kind of sweet that Deadpool is looking after her in this way.
Doctor Doom card
The mystery surrounding the cards are of course many. When did Deadpool make these cards? Did Squirrel Girl collect them herself through individual booster packs or did she just buy the whole set (if she even bought them in the first place)? Who does the art for these cards?
Star Sphere
The cards are also a unique way to honor the two character’s friendly relationship with each other without bringing Deadpool into Squirrel Girl’s comics for constant crossovers. As far mentorships go, Squirrel Girl might be too strong to train personally, but as little life-saving tips, it’s nice to see Deadpool come in handy in a way that doesn’t result in gratuitous violence. Also, the Marvel Universe would probably implode if the two ever had a serious team-up.
Howard the Duck
Squirrel Girl’s first, full-length graphic novel, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe is currently available in bookstores and from online retailers.
