Can any comic book character really die?

Deadpool & Wolverine is going to be on our doorsteps any day now, and for those who have made the remarkably curious choice of only ever following the canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Merc With the Mouth may be new ground for some.

Thanks to the trailers, such folk are at least aware that Deadpool fancies the help of swords and bullets when it comes to dispatching his opponents, and they also know that he has a humorous side that quite violently oversteps the “obnoxious” line, often to the amusement of we audience members, but to the disdain of his allies and enemies alike.

And the worst part for said enemies? Not even a guillotine can shut him up, which may be the news that first-timers to Wade Wilson haven’t yet heard.

Is Deadpool immortal?

While the exact power scale of Deadpool’s current cinematic iteration has yet to be truly tested, the character has historically boasted a universal healing factor that almost always manages to keep death at bay (comic book characters in general tend to be impervious to absolute death, but Deadpool’s resistance to it is nevertheless more independent than most).

Indeed, in addition to immunity of death by natural causes such as aging or illness, past comic iterations of Wade Wilson also saw him perform such feats as regrowing his head after getting effectively decapitated. Suffice to say, then, that Deadpool is immortal in every way that matters.

Whether or not this “immortal in every way that matters” shtick will be challenged in the MCU is another story. Unlike comic books, where continuity and canon can be considered dirty words, the MCU prefers a more fixed timeline with stakes that can’t so easily be avoided with the promise of a new issue or franchise relaunch (although they’d be wise to at least consider the latter at this point, depending on how Deadpool & Wolverine goes).

In saying that, perhaps the Feigeverse may elect to put a bit of a cap on Deadpool’s healing factor; one that results in decapitation being able to accomplish what it usually intends to. Even so, however, Deadpool would probably deflate any dramatic buildup to his death with his trademark nonchalant snark, so it’s probably in the studio’s best interest to leave the dying to those who could actually deliver that tragic gut-punch, and just let Deadpool do his own thing (and judging by that pegging joke in the first trailer, that seems to be what they’re doing anyway).

Deadpool & Wolverine slices and dices into theaters on July 26.