Today's Fact
Verified against three independent sources. Issue numbers cited below.
In Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars #3 (2015) — Cullen Bunn's retcon miniseries inserting Deadpool into the 1984 Secret Wars — Wade Wilson was secretly on Battleworld all along. When Thor and Hulk pointed him toward the costume-creating machine, Deadpool stepped under the dome first. Out came the black ball. The alien symbiote bonded with him — minutes before it ever touched Peter Parker.
Wade loved it at first: the suit could become anything, and it styled itself into a black-and-white Deadpool costume. But he quickly felt something wrong — "I can feel it… like a living thing feeding on my own thoughts." He peeled it off, fretting: "I hope communicating with my brain doesn't mess this thing up! I'd hate to think my twisted psyche might have driven it nuts or something!" His fear came true: the symbiote absorbed his aggression — which is why every host after him, from Peter Parker to Eddie Brock, turned meaner.
The story didn't end there. In Deadpool: Back in Black (2016), also by Bunn, the symbiote — rejected by Spider-Man after Web of Spider-Man #1 and before it ever found Eddie Brock — slunk back to Wade on the rebound, and the two went on adventures together. Deadpool remains the only person the symbiote ever came back to.
Why It's Obscure
A 2015 retcon rewrote the origin of Marvel's most famous alien costume — and blamed thirty years of villainy on Deadpool's brain.
Gallery
Art from the actual issues — no AI imagery, nothing mislabeled.
Sources
Every claim above is verified against at least two of these independent sources.
Bullpen Bulletins
- "Venom's First Host Wasn't Spider-Man, It Was Deadpool" — ScreenRantDeadpool's Secret Secret Wars #3: Thor and Hulk direct Wade to the machine; he wears the symbiote first; his "twisted psyche" quote; psyche-copy explains later hosts' aggression.
- "Spider-Man: How Secret Wars Gave Peter Parker the Symbiote Costume" — CBRConfirms the retcon in Deadpool's Secret Wars #3 (Bunn/Lolli/Redmond/Sabino): Deadpool encountered the symbiote first; it was corrupted by sensing his evil side.
- Cullen Bunn interview — InverseBunn himself: Deadpool "made contact with the Venom Symbiote a few minutes before Spider-Man did"; Back in Black premise — the symbiote seeks Wade out after Spider-Man's rejection.