Deadpool Called Out Stephen Hawking Over His Real-Life Views on Aliens
In Marvel Comics, Deadpool is known for being an incredibly meta character. As one of the few characters in comic book history to know that he's a comic book character, Deadpool has made it his mission to reference and call out the real world as much as he can in his fourth wall-breaking shenanigans, and even Stephen Hawking and his views on extraterrestrial life have made it onto this list.
Stephen Hawking was a world-renowned English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who passed away in 2018. According to a report from The Guardian, Hawking believed that making contact with alien life would be a very bad idea, as they would likely exploit humanity for Earth's resources. This sentiment has been the subject of worldwide debate and has even made it into Deadpool and Marvel Comics.
Hawking's beliefs were addressed by Deadpool in 2015's Guardians Team-Up #10 by Tim Seeley, Mike Norton, and Jessica Kholinne. Deadpool and Rocket Raccoon faced off against a trio of wacky villains, one of them, cleverly named Space Hawk, was clearly Stephen Hawking controlling an Arnim Zola-esque robot, exclaiming, "All aliens represent a great danger to Earth! They will exploit us for our resources!" This isn't the first time Hawking has appeared in Marvel Comics either. He had a very brief part in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man #683 by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli, where he agrees with Otto Octavius' plan to send satellites into space to act as a shield around Earth. The purpose of the shield was to end global warming, but perhaps Hawking also saw it as a way to prevent aliens from invading the planet.
Deadpool calling this out falls within the character's wheelhouse, but exaggerating Stephen Hawking's sentiment into literal supervillain behavior is something else entirely. It's not often that a real-world figure makes it into comics beyond a funny or clever reference, so to see Stephen Hawking actually take on the mantle of the villainous Space Hawk is intriguing. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to do much more than attack Deadpool and spout some anti-E.T. wisdom before getting taken out by a stray punch from one of his allies. It would have been great if Space Hawk actually got to debate with some of Marvel's own heroic aliens or genius scientists.
But overall, it is a story with Deadpool, and breaking the fourth wall is what Deadpool does best. Not even cultural icons and genius scientists like Stephen Hawking and his antagonistic view of alien lifeforms are safe from the Merc with a Mouth.
Source: The Guardian