Thunderbolts #131: Review

Jun 2009

Andy Diggle, bong dazo

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Thunderbolts #131 Review by Rob Johnson (August 1, 2017)

This is the 4th and final part of Magnum Opus continued from Deadpool #9.

There's another reason why Black Widow saved DP's life at the end. We don't know it yet but she's not really the baddie BW Yelena Belova but the goodie BW Natasha Romanova in disguise.

As often in Dark Reign the easiest way to see where the characters appear next is to follow Norman Osborn around.
He and Taskmaster are in a flashback in Avengers: Initiative #26 where Osborn sets up more replacement Initiative teams.
Then Norman attends the final issue of Skrull Kill Krew, and appears in a couple of flashbacks and DR: Lethal Legion #1 before he's in Deadpool's next app. In DP#10-12 he sends his Dark Hawkeye Bullseye after DP - cue lots of humorous violence.
After that there's another flashback and DR:LL#2 and most of #3 before an issue of the DR: Hood mini-series starring 1 of the members of NO's Cabal.
And then there's the final part of DR:LL#3. Wonder Man had led a Legion of supervillains including his brother Grim Reaper against the Dark Avengers. But at the end it is revealed that Osborn had paid GR to organise it to make his DAv look good.
Then Wolverine: Mister X ends with NO recruiting MrX for the Thunderbolts, and in #132 he joins them.

From Our Blog:

Gwen Stacy, beauty queen of Standard High School, was Peter Parker's (alias Spider-Man) first great love.

Gwen Stacy: Classic Beauty

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Thunderbolts #131 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Deadpool is trying to get Norman Osborn to pay for the data he stole from him in Secret Invasion which allowed NO to kill the Skrull Queen and use his hero status to ascend to his current position of power. For his part Osborn wants his Thunderbolts to kill Wade Wilson so he can't tell anyone about it.

Last issue 'Pool defeated the 'Bolts but couldn't bring himself to kill their leader Black Widow because he fell in love with her.

In DP#9 BW flirted with Wade until Paladin joined her. But Wilson teleported to the base of his ally Taskmaster where they continued with a plan that involved both of them dressed as Deadpool (though there seemed to be some confusion in DP's head about whether the aim was to get Osborn's money or make it with the Widow). Wade lost at rock, paper, scissors so he had to go tangle with the rest of the Tbolts while TM met BW. But she tricked him into captivity.

So it's Taskmaster in DP's costume who's strung up in front of Norman and the Thunderbolts (minus Paladin who's apparently injured) on top of the OsCorp building. Widow drugged him but she calculates Wade's healing factor should revive him about now. But of course TM has no such ability. And he doesn't have the teleport device which they let 'Pool steal from them last issue.

In the meantime Ghost has hacked into Deadpool's computer system that they 'liberated' from his place in DP#9. He's confirmed that Wilson is working for Nick Fury (but that was only for the 1 job during SI), but the files don't say where Fury is hiding. Angry Osborn takes it out on Headsman, who responds by preparing to chop DPool's head off with his axe ...

... but then another (the real) Deadpool 'ports in. Confusion abounds.

DP attacks. TM-DP is actually awake and breaks the chains that bind him. He has a hand-to-and duel with Black Widow. The he tips Headsman off his flying disc (as DP did last issue). Meanwhile the real DP tackles Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady), whose response is to shrink and invade his costume. *DP*'s response to that is to keep shooting himself where he thinks AM is - taking *himself* out of the fight temporarily. Ghost keeps out of it because fighting isn't his thing.

Osborn tries to escape in the Thunderstrike plane. The real DP has recovered (healing factor remember) and grabs on to it. BW follows later with a leap into space and a hook and line. Norman gets righteously angry and abandons the controls to attack his foe in a frenzy. So the plane crashes.

Widow chooses this moment to enter and shoot Wade Wilson through the heart, which 'Pool finds poetic. She seems about to finish the job by slicing his head off with a knife when Headsman flies in and does it for her with his axe. BW keeps the head as a trophy.

But then we see live Deadpool getting money to pay Taskmaster out of an ATM. Apparently Wade filched Norman's Gold Card while he was letting him beat him up. (It's going to take a lot of ATMs to provide the amount DP was asking NO for.) DP thanks TM for sewing his head back on (that healing factor again). But TM says it wasn't him, so DP realises it must have been Black Widow. She *must* love him!

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