Among the many Marvel superheroes, Deadpool is considered one of the most powerful thanks to a healing factor which makes him practically invulnerable. Cut off his head and Deadpool still can live. However, one of his lesser-known powers makes him practically invulnerable to having his mind read.
The Merc with a Mouth was created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld first debuted in New Mutants #98. Like Wolverine, Deadpool gains his powers after being experimented on as part of the Weapon X program. The mercenary eventually evolved into the funny, fourth-wall-breaking character who has been popularized largely thanks to the Deadpool movies. His power set has had minor changes over time, but one thing Wade Wilson is impervious to telepaths.
Deadpool’s mind doesn’t work like other Marvel heroes as it’s broken into fragments. For example, in Cable and Deadpool #8 by Nicieza and Patrick Zircher, Deadpool finds himself at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning as he’s working alongside the X-Men to put a stop to Cable. As Cyclops lays down his plan, Deadpool inappropriately wonders “where’s the telepathic-thong chick?” aka Emma Frost – who is currently blocking Cable from telepathically linking into the conversation. Deadpool chimes in that he can’t have his mind read by Cable, thanks to the Weapon X experiments that turned him into a superhero. Deadpool describes it as “cellular structure in perpetual flux… explains the whole Robin-Williams-On-Crack thing I got going.” Frost confirms Deadpool’s mind can’t be read.
What happens when someone tries to read Deadpool’s mind? In the non-canon story, Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe by Cullen Bunn and Dalibor Talajic, Charles Xavier tries to shut down Wade’s mind in order to stop him from killing off his X-Men team. When he finally decides to get inside Deadpool’s mind, he becomes instantly brain dead upon seeing Deadpool’s reality. Xavier was not prepared to see the true chaos in Deadpool’s mind and was immediately rendered brain dead because of it. Deadpool laments that Xavier’s instant death is “lame!” and hopes the rest of his X-Men put up a more entertaining fight – because, of course, he does.
The moral of the story is, don’t try to read Deadpool’s mind. His fragmented brain makes it seemingly impossible for it to be read without dire consequences for whoever tries to intrude on his fourth-wall-breaking thoughts. In order to get Deadpool’s secrets, telepaths will have to find another way into his psyche. Otherwise, they’ll pay the price for it.
