Gwenpool (character)

Gwenpool
Gwenpool on the cover to The Unbelievable Gwenpool #1 (April 2016). Art by Gurihiru.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Cover: Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars #2 (June 2015) Full: Howard the Duck #1 (November 2015)
Created by	Chris Bachalo
In-story information
Alter ego	Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole
Team affiliations	Mercenary Organization Dedicated Only to Killing Champions (briefly)
Abilities	Brilliant tactician Vast knowledge of the Marvel Universe Use of extreme weaponry

Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, originating as an amalgam of Gwen Stacy and Deadpool on a variant cover of Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars #2, one of twenty variant covers published due to the popularity of Spider-Gwen from June 2015.

As a result of the character's popularity with fans, Marvel produced two stories featuring Gwenpool as a character, a backup story in the series Howard the Duck, and a one-shot Gwenpool Holiday Special. Despite the name "Gwenpool", the character has no relation to either Deadpool or Gwen Stacy. A retcon in the Howard the Duck #1 backup revealed her name to actually be "Gwen Poole". Following the publication of the one-shot, an ongoing series titled The Unbelievable Gwenpool by the same creative team was announced, which started in April 2016. The Unbelievable Gwenpool #0, collecting Poole's appearances from Howard the Duck & Gwenpool Holiday Special, was later released.

In June 2015, following the popularity of Spider-Gwen, all Marvel titles being published had alternate covers with Gwen Stacy reimagined as other characters, such as Doctor Strange, Groot and Wolverine. One of those was Deadpool, featured on Chris Bachalo's variant cover for Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars #2. The "Gwenpool" character turned out to be especially popular with the fans. After seeing how many fans were cosplaying as a character who was not even featured in any comic, Marvel editor Jordan White approached writer Christopher Hastings with the task of creating a story around her. Initially the plan was to do one-shot comic "Gwenpool Special #1" (December 2015), which was then followed by introducing the character prior to the special with a three-issue backup story in the ongoing volume of Howard the Duck (November 2015-January 2016). After a meeting with White and Howard the Duck editor Will Moss, Hastings came out with the idea of a fourth wall-breaking character similar to Deadpool, "but it comes from this place of knowing she is in a comic book because she is from a world where the comic books actually exist", which would also lead to a Deadpool-like cavalier attitude "because she doesn’t believe there is any consequences to her actions", something Hastings summed as "she decides to use that [comic book] knowledge like she’s in Grand Theft Auto or something". A contrast would be that Gwenpool lacked any of the training or superpowers Deadpool had.