FRIGHTFUL FOUR TEST TEAM

Membership: Constrictor, Deadpool, Taskmaster, the Wizard

Purpose: To run a test mission for the Wizard to see if they were good enough to be the next Frightful Four.

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Franklin Richards, The Thing (Ben Grimm)

Base of Operations: Warehouse C-17 on Pier 20, Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Deadpool III#35 (December, 1999)

History: (Deadpool III#35 (fb)) - The Wizard approached the young thug-for-hire called Deadpool, telling him that he'd been watching his work and would like to give him a shot at joining his team. Deadpool went to the warehouse (after first going to Warehouse C-20 on Pier 17 and getting a job as a Hobgoblin decoy) where he and the other recruits were given special training suits. During a practice session, Wizard got the best of Constrictor and Taskmaster, but Deadpool, thinking it was a contest, repeatedly bashed his face in with a gun, breaking his nose.

The team then ran its test mission, attacking the Baxter Building as Ben Grimm and Franklin Richards were alone within with their plan to kidnap Franklin. The group easily got inside and knocked out the Thing and the Wizard thought the three would make a good team. Deadpool chased Franklin, but when Deadpool put down his gun while looking for the kid, Franklin took it and shot him. Ben Grimm woke up and the rest of the Fantastic Four was on their way, so the team fled.

Comments: Created by Christopher Priest, Paco Diaz and Andy Smith.

And none of these three ever ended up with the Wizard on a real grouping of the Frightful Four.

The Wizard would later get revenge on Wade for the embarassment he took with this team. He worked with the Taskmaster (who had this and more as reason to dislike Wade) to hire Copycat to pose as Titania in a ploy to kill Deadpool. Constrictor was the fake-Titania's roommate (not knowing she wasn't the real deal) and he didn't know about the Wizard's plan until it climaxed, but he wasn't opposed to it. Leave it to the Wizard to hold a grudge over one beating that long and go to the effort of reuniting all the players involved to make it all so poetic. If it wasn't for hang-ups like that, I bet the guy could have taken down Richards by now.

When Taskmaster appeared in Deadpool III#2, he was written with a dialect more sophisticated than his usual Brooklyn accent. Apparently this was Priest's only exposure to the character when he wrote the Frightful Four appearance and here Tasky spoke more fancy than ever ("Fool! Think you these foolish discs can bring low the Taskmaster?"). This was pretty early in Tasky's career, so I'd wager he didn't yet have the reputation he would one day get. He was probably talking big to impress the Wizard, who he knew might end up as someone paying for his henchman training services.

by Patrick D Ryall

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Frightful Four test team should not be confused with:

• The Frightful Four, the non-training groupings, @ Fantastic Four I#36
• Frightful Four Wannabes @ Fantastic Four I#177
• The Frightful Four, of Earth 1961 (Wizard, Quicksand, Blastaar, the Hooded Haunt), @ Fantastic Four/Fantastic Four Annual 1998
• The Frightful Five 2099, of Earth-Amalgam, @ Spider-Boy Team-Up#1

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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