TRAILER: Deadpool

TIME recaps:

“One thing that never survives this place is a sense of humor,” evil sidekick Ajax, played by Ed Skrein, tells Ryan Reynolds’ character Wade Wilson, a.k.a Deadpool, while strapping him onto a gurney. “We’ll see about that, Posh Spice.” Wilson deadpans. If the first official trailer for the eagerly-awaited Marvel movie Deadpool is any indication, the movie promises just as many laughs as it does thrills. The red band trailer, which begins with the cancer diagnosis which prompts Wilson to volunteer for the genetic experimentation program that gives him his superpowers (including an inability to be killed), is an action-packed blur of gunshots, punches, smashed cars and…more jokes.

Captain America Fights Teen Suicide

Marvel Comics has responded to the national discussion about teen suicide by issuing a free episode of Captain America in which a boy decides not to kill himself after watching the superhero fight villains.

John Draper, director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a network of crisis centers across the country, told The Associated Press that Marvel approached the organization about using its logo in the book "which we happily granted them." The 11-page story "Captain America: A Little Help" is written by psychologist Tim Ursiny and illustrated by Nick Dragotta. In it, a despondent youth is poised to jump off a building when he spies Captain America facing a bevy of villains on a nearby roof. The fracas keeps him from going over the edge, literally and figuratively. There is no dialogue, save for the end, which ends with the boy saving both the hero and, in the process, himself. "Super heroes fight a lot of battles, but there are few more important than combating suicide," said Tom Brevoort, Marvel Entertainment's senior vice president of publishing.

The issue is available today on the Marvel Comics website.

(Tipped by JMG reader Michael)

Disney Buys Marvel Comics

The Walt Disney Company has purchased Marvel Comics for $4B.

Disney said on Monday that it would pay cash and stock to acquire Marvel, the comic book publisher and movie studio whose library of 5,000 characters includes some of the world’s best-known superheroes: Spider-Man, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. The deal was valued at about $50 a share, a 29 percent premium. On Monday, Marvel shares shot up 25 percent to $48.37. Marvel has forcefully exploited its most popular characters through motion pictures, video games and consumer products. But Disney sees an opportunity to plug Marvel into its vaunted global marketing and distribution system.

Coming soon: The Incredible Hulk Vs. Hannah Montana.