The Workshop is a top-secret illegal research organization that experiments on humans to activate any dormant X-Genes in their DNA and turn them into mutants. It is a modern-day subsidiary of Weapon X.
Biography[]
Deadpool[]
Early Years[]
Following the inception of Weapon X and the discovery of the mutant X-Gene, the Workshop was formed to experiment on humans with the hopes of unlocking any latent mutant abilities they could possibly have. Most of the people who volunteered for the program as test subjects were terminally ill and had been convinced into joining on the promise that it could cure them of their ailments.
Unfortunately, the experiments that were performed on them were horrifically unethical and mainly involved torture, as the X-Gene could only be activated if extreme stress was applied to the body. The Workshop also did not bother to check if their patients actually had the X-Gene and as a result, those who did not were doomed to die since they would never be able to mutate. Those who had the X-Gene and actually survived the procedure did not have a better fate waiting for them, as once they became mutants, the Workshop would auction them off as slaves to the highest bidder, who were then free to use them for any desired purpose.
At some point after the Workshop first began, Francis Freeman took over the program as its leader and had the same procedure that all of the program's patients went through performed on himself, gaining superhuman strength and an immunity to pain in the process. Following his mutation, Francis would adopt the name "Ajax" and continue running the Workshop with his assistant Angel Dust, who was able to acquire her own mutation from the program as well.
Wade Wilson's Mutation[]
At some point during the early 21st century, Wade Wilson was recruited to join the program in hopes of being cured of terminal cancer. Upon winding up on Ajax's table, he was subjected to extensive torture over the course of several days, including electrocution, induced hypothermia, physical beatings, and chemical injections. However, due to his special forces training and his strong desire to live for his fiancée Vanessa Carlysle, Wade managed to retain his humor and spirit through the intense pain that he was subjected to.
When the previous tests proved ineffective in bringing out Wade's X-Gene, Ajax decided to put Wade through the worst test yet and locked him in an oxygen deprivation chamber that repeatedly suffocated him over and over for two days straight. Although this was enough to trigger a mutation and grant Wade a regenerative healing factor that neutralized his cancer, it also left him with horrible burn-like scars all over his entire body. It was at this point that Ajax finally revealed to Wade the true purpose of the Workshop and that they were making him into a "super-slave" and not into a superhero like he'd been previously told by the Recruiter.
Refusing to spend the rest of his life in slavery, Wade was able to steal a match from Angel Dust and use it to trigger an explosion that set the Workshop on fire and freed him from his restraints. When Ajax attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, Wade suddenly and furiously attacked him. After a long and bloody fight, in which Ajax told Wade that he was the only one who could "fix his ugly mug," Ajax overpowered Wade and impaled him through the chest with rebar before leaving him to die. The facility collapsed soon afterwards, killing all the other test subjects inside, including David Cunningham, who weren't able to escape from the fire in time.
Downfall[]
Although Ajax assumed that Wade died in the fire and was able to relocate the Workshop somewhere else, in reality, Wade survived the fire due to his regenerative powers. Not knowing that Ajax had lied to him about being able to reverse his disfigurement, Wade took up a new identity as the costumed vigilante known as Deadpool and spent the next year hunting Ajax across the world for the cure.
After finally tracking Ajax down and defeating him in their rematch, Deadpool finally learned that there had never been a cure for his condition the whole time. Enraged, Deadpool pulled out a pistol and despite Colossus' pleas, fatally shot Ajax in the head, presumably terminating the Workshop alongside him as well.
Members[]
- Ajax † - Lead Scientist and Former Patient
- The Recruiter † - Recruiter
- Angel Dust - Assistant and Former Patient
- Deadpool - Test Subject
- David Cunningham † - Test Subject
- Marrow - Test Subject
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Dr. Killebrew ran The Workshop instead of Ajax. Ajax was only a test subject like Deadpool and would eventually serve Killebrew as one of his henchmen.
- The mutant Marrow appears as a woman with bones protruding from her back when Wade enters the facility.
- In the comics, the Workshop was located in Montana and its first appearance was in Wolverine Vol 3 17.