It's been quite a couple of weeks for the Merc with a Mouth. Coming off the incredibly successful theatrical release of Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel's wise-cracking prankster has now turned his attention to trolling the manga world.
Today, Viz Media announced the release of Secret Steward, a new romantic comedy manga from Sanshiro Kasama and Hikaru Uesugi, the duo that created the popular Deadpool Samurai manga. The first chapter was published digitally for free online — which you can read right here.
With a tagline that reads "Love hits you when you least expect it" we should've expected that the duo that brought us Deadpool Samurai had something mischievous up their sleeves.
What starts off as a seemingly innocuous rom-com about a rich girl and her butler, quickly goes off the rails thanks to the surprise appearance of Deadpool. About halfway through Secret Steward's first chapter, the butler slips down a set of stairs and is smashed into bloody pieces by a truck. It's then revealed that the driver of the truck is none other than Deadpool himself.
"Ya boy's back on the Viz App! Didja miss me?" Deadpool proclaims. From that point on, it becomes clear that Secret Steward was one giant gag, serving as more of a prologue to Deadpool Samurai's return. At the end of the chapter, it's confirmed that Deadpool Samurai 2nd Season, as it's being dubbed, will return.
Unfortunately, the chapter ends just after the 2nd season is announced, so we don't have any other information such as when Deadpool Samurai will return or when we can expect more announcements.
For those unfamiliar, Deadpool Samurai marked the Merc with a Mouth's manga debut. Created by Sanshiro Kasama and Hikaru Uesugi as part of the Marvel x Shonen Jump+ Super Collaboration — which was composed of seven different one-shots — the series follows Deadpool to feudal Japan, where he fights in a samurai cinema-style action scene. Deadpool Samurai consisted of 15 chapters that were released between 2020 and 2021.
While those who were genuinely interested in Secret Steward may be disappointed to see it go off the rails like this and turn out to be something totally different, you have to admit this is one of the best ways to announce a new Deadpool Samurai manga.