In a career that spans 40 years, Grant Morrison has written the definitive take on numerous comic book characters. Their runs on Animal Man and Doom Patrol set the model for adult, mature approaches to superheroes. Their work on The Authority and JLA showed how superhero comics could compete with Hollywood blockbusters. They wrote All-Star Superman, the perfect story about the first superhero and a key inspiration for James Gunn‘s DCU.

So Morrison could be forgiven if they felt a little burned out on the medium, a little tired of what comics can offer. But Morrison has revealed that they’ve found new love and inspiration for the medium. And it comes from Merc With a Mouth, of all characters.

In the latest issue of their newsletter Xanaduum, Morrison shares some details about Batman/Deadpool, a contribution to the many intercompany one-shots published by Marvel and DC. Most surprisingly, Morrison declared, “I enjoyed writing Batman/Deadpool more than I expected, and it reignited my dormant passion for writing comics. I thought I’d take a swing at one of those late career renaissances I hear about!”

Morrison hasn’t been as absent from the comics medium as that statement suggests. Although their last major work was the DC miniseries Superman and the Authority, they have been doing independent work such as Proctor Valley Road for Boom Studios and a story submitted to the Z2 anthology Anthrax: Among the Living, all published in 2021. In the meantime, Morrison’s been trying their hand at writing prose, publishing the novel Luda in 2022, and pitching ideas for the latest seasons of Doctor Who.

But in Batman/Deadpool, Morrison has found something rejuvinating. “My headliner is a buddy banter-based psychedelic romp with a story structure rooted in the kind of stuff Bob Haney and Jim Aparo used to do with the Batman team ups in Brave and the Bold,” the Scottish writer says of their contribution, one of many stories in the issue that pair characters from the two publishers.

“The tone is not especially serious,” promised Morrison. But the more compelling part comes from the following tidbit of the plot. “The prologue follows directly from a plot strand in JLA/Avengers by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, which was the last and greatest of the DC/Marvel crossovers – from 2003/4 – before the recent Deadpool/Batman (well worth a look) and the upcoming Batman/Deadpool with me and Dan Mora re-ignited the grand tradition.”

In JLA/Avengers, the aforementioned previous crossover between the two companies, the two universes collide when Krona travels from the DC world and meets Marvel’s the Grandmaster. The two wager on their respective worlds, forcing the respective heroes to go on a scavenger hunt, eventually entangling their two realities.

It’s a wonderful story, full of both great character moments, such as Batman and Captain America realizing they’re equally matched as fighters or Green Arrow and Hawkeye having an archery competition—and satisfying fan nods, as when Darkseid dons the Infinity Gauntlet.

If Morrison can build on what Busiek and Perez already laid out, then they will not only have that late career renaissance that they joked about, but they’ll also have another definitive comic in their bibliography.

Batman/Deadpool comes to comic stores on November 19, 2025.

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