As the Marvel Legacy era begins, the Merc with a Mouth heads back to his murderous roots in DESPICABLE DEADPOOL #287! On October 11, he’s eschewing fame, the Avengers—and even some of his old friends—as the “Deadpool Kills Cable” story arc kicks off from dynamo creative team Gerry Duggan and Scott Koblish.

To prove that he’s back to his lethal origins, Wade Wilson has chosen Nathan Summers—the guy he spent an entire series with in the mid-2000s—as his first target.

We chatted up artist Scott Koblish and Editor Jordan D. White to find out what turned these two former friends against each other.

Marvel.com: Deadpool’s not exactly known for taking big events seriously, but how does this tale tie into Marvel Legacy?

Jordan D. White: Deadpool began his existence as an X-villain in NEW MUTANTS and then X-FORCE before he became the hero of his own stories. Even then, when his series began, he wasn’t a straight-up hero—he was a long way from the Avenger we’ve seen in recent years. He was a mercenary, killing people for money.

For a while now, he’s been trying—really trying hard—to be a better person. To be a hero, like the Marvel mainstays he admires. Unfortunately, every time he strikes a heroic pose, fate takes the opportunity to kick him where it counts. So he’s giving up on good—and doubling down on his roots.

Marvel.com: Killing Cable seems a little extreme, even for Wade. What brings about this change of heart?

Jordan D. White: In addition to being disillusioned with the side of the angels, Deadpool has made some pretty dark deals to protect the ones he loves. To protect his daughter, he made a deal with Cable’s evil clone/nemesis, Stryfe. Stryfe saved his daughter’s life (along with three other people), so now Deadpool owes him four deaths. Guess whose name appears first on his pointy-armored list?

Marvel.com: Deadpool’s currently spending his time backing Steve Rogers without fully committing to Hydra. Does that lead into this at all?

Jordan D. White: It does, in that Deadpool has just pretty visibly backed the wrong horse in a hugely public way. He went along with Hydra’s takeover, was a member of their Avengers…and on a more personal note to the good guys, he killed everyone’s favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Phil Coulson. If you know Deadpool…the thing he wants more than anything else is to be accepted for who he is. Secret Empire serves as a pretty big setback to that, which sends him in a bit of a downward spiral.

Marvel.com: Scott, how do Deadpool and Cable differ when it comes to fighting one another? How do their different approaches to combat come across on the page?

Scott Koblish: I think of Cable as more of a tank and Deadpool as more of a sports-car. Even though Cable is a mutant and Deadpool is a mutate, both men lean heavily on their use of weapons, although Cable uses more fantastical choices—bigger, more bizarre, and futuristic weapons. Cable recently has been leaning on Belle, the personification of the tech in his arm, and it’s been fun exploring what Gerry has come up with for Deadpool to counter her contributions to the fight. Weapon-wise, Deadpool will use anything to get his point across and you can even see that in the first page of issue #287.

By the way, the Legacy numbering has been a lot of fun for me to think about—I’m trying to make this the best Marvel #287 ever—even if that means I have to fight against issues like FANTASTIC FOUR #287 and UNCANNY X-MEN #287. I can assure you, I am swinging to take them down! We’ll do our best to make the deaths of Malcolm and Randall a distant memory!

Marvel.com: Jordan, how does Cable respond to Wade’s lethal new point of view?

Jordan D. White: If he’s a really good friend to Wade, he will probably say, “What do you want to do? Kill me? Well, buddy—of course I’ll support you in all things and help in any way you need.” But I suspect he may not be that good of a friend.

Marvel.com: Scott, you’re no stranger to Deadpool—how is it chronicling this next phase in his evolution?

Scott Koblish: Over the last few years I’ve tried to explore a number of artistic flavors with Deadpool. For the most part, I was able to focus on the humorous and wacky aspects of the character—DEADPOOL: FLASHBACKS and DEADPOOL’S ART OF WAR come to mind—but this is the first time I’ve gotten to draw Wade in a real desperate and angry place.

It’s been enjoyable—I am trying to broaden my range and really sell Wade’s terrible situation following the events of Secret Empire. There is still some humor here and there, but selling a joke isn’t my focus on this arc; the thing I’m focused on here is selling Wade’s more despicable behavior. It’s no more Mr. NicePool.

Marvel.com: You’ve worked with Gerry on this character a number of times before. How would you say your collaborative relationship has evolved?

Scott Koblish: Gerry is fantastic, just a top-notch all-around great guy and a really exceptional writer—I love working with him. Every script he comes up with, I can easily and quickly visualize it in my mind. We’ve worked in a variety of ways at this point, from full-script to the old Marvel plot-style. I really like being challenged and Gerry can be counted on to push me in a lot of really great ways. We’re building on what came before, as well as striking out in directions Deadpool hasn’t explored in a while, so hopefully the reader will click with what we’re doing here. I love what the Deadpool team has come up with for this part of Deadpool’s life, and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of issue #287 when they have it in their hot hands!

DESPICABLE DEADPOOL #287, by writer Gerry Duggan and artist Scott Koblish, hits shelves on October 11!