Deadpool Kicked Off an Epic Crossover By Using This Legendary 36-Year-Old DC Quote

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This feature highlights memorable quotes from comic books. Today, we’re looking at how a recent Deadpool crossover uses a famous quote from DC Comics.

Deadpool is famous for directly talking to the audience, acknowledging he’s in a comic book or movie. Surprisingly, this wasn’t a feature of the character from the beginning; it took nearly a decade after his first appearance before Deadpool started breaking the fourth wall.

Deadpool started occasionally breaking the fourth wall in his comic books, and it became even more prominent when the Deadpool movie was released in 2016. Like Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick) who directly addresses the audience at the end of his film, asking them to leave, Deadpool also talks directly to viewers throughout his movie.

How does Deadpool use a classic DC quote?

So, the story starts with Batman finding out someone stole a really powerful, otherworldly object from a villain who used to be part of the Suicide Squad. Naturally, Batman jumps into action to get it back! And wouldn’t you know it, he runs into Deadpool during the chase – that’s gonna be interesting!

Deadpool immediately signals that this story will be self-aware and play with the idea of fiction itself. He does this by repeatedly breaking through walls – first one, then two, three, and finally the fourth – until he directly addresses the audience, exclaiming, “I Can See You!”

That’s one of the most notable DC quotes of the 1990s, but where did it come from?

Where was the original quote from that Deadpool referenced?

In 1988, Grant Morrison, Chas Truog, and Doug Hazelwood (with Brian Bolland providing the cover art) began working on a limited series featuring Animal Man, a little-known DC superhero—so obscure he was once part of a group called The Forgotten Heroes. The series was so popular with DC that they decided to make it an ongoing title even before the first issue was released.

Grant Morrison cleverly used Buddy Baker’s animal-based powers to delve into issues surrounding animal rights, along with other surprisingly complex themes for a superhero comic – though, looking back, a late 1980s DC title was probably the perfect place to explore them.

Grant Morrison also significantly explored the concept of ongoing storylines in superhero comics. He did this by introducing a character named James Highwater, a

He was a physicist who suspected there was something beyond what was known in the DC Universe. He didn’t realize at the time that the missing piece was caused by the Crisis on Infinite Earths, an event that merged the many worlds of the DC Multiverse into just one Earth.

Animal Man, unusual for a superhero because he was married with two young children, joined Highwater on a journey to uncover some mysteries – Animal Man himself was curious about his past. They shared a psychedelic experience with peyote, and in issue #19 of the Animal Man comic, Buddy was shocked to come face-to-face with… another Animal Man!

Basically, Buddy came face-to-face with an earlier version of Animal Man – the one that wasn’t used much after the character was reimagined. While Buddy overcomes this older version of himself, he unexpectedly uncovers something important in the process.

Yep, Buddy breaks the fourth wall, and he shouts, “I can see you!”

Morrison skillfully frames these events as part of Buddy’s peyote experience, meaning he doesn’t actually break the fourth wall directly. Still, Buddy does learn something new about where he comes from, but this revelation is quickly overshadowed by a terrible tragedy: he returns home to find his entire family murdered.

Over the next few months, Buddy’s life falls apart, but he and James Highwater also become aware of the larger world of comic books. They discover the storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths and encounter characters who no longer fit into the current DC Universe, essentially meeting those who have been written out of existence.

This culminates in the last issue of Grant Morrison’s celebrated Animal Man series, featuring a crossover connection to the Batman/Deadpool story.

How is the quote tied to Batman/Deadpool’s adventure?

In issue #26 of Animal Man (created by Grant Morrison, Tom Truog, and artist Mark Farmer), the hero Animal Man encounters Grant Morrison himself, who is presented as the person writing his story.

Grant Morrison discusses their work on Animal Man, including an apology to the character Buddy for the death of his family. In a touching moment before leaving the series, Morrison unexpectedly revives Buddy’s family.

In the Batman/Deadpool comic, the story revolves around a struggle for control over reality itself. Cassandra Nova attempts to steal the powers of writer Grant Morrison – who can rewrite reality within the comic – to remake the world according to her own vision. However, Morrison ultimately regains control and returns home.

This is seriously adorable! And hey, there’s actually a funny link to Suicide Squad I’m planning to cover in a future article. I’ll be sure to share when I do!

If you have any awesome comic book quotes you’d like me to share, please send them to brianc@cbr.com. I’m always looking for great lines, and if you think a quote is fantastic, there’s a good chance I will too and will feature it here – probably around 60% of the time.

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2025-11-23 18:40