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Morena Baccarin Reveals That Online Blowback Led to Her De-Fridging in Deadpool 2

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Published on March 22, 2022

Screenshot: 20th Century Studios
Screenshot: 20th Century Studios

Those who have seen Deadpool 2 know that the fate of Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa—Deadpool/Wade/Ryan Reynolds’ love interest—got mixed reviews from viewers.

It turns out that the initial response to Vanessa’s plotline in Deadpool 2 was tweaked last minute, at least in part due to the negative response received online.

Warning: Spoilers for Deadpool 2 reside below.

Vanessa gets killed off early in Deadpool 2 to give our main male character something to feel sad about and spur into action. This is a classic example of the “fridging” phenomenon, where the death of a woman catalyzes the male protagonist to Do Something.

It’s so common of a trope that Catherynne M. Valente wrote a book of monologues from these deceased women, and it’s one that the Deadpool 2 writers should have known about (I say should, because they made clear in an interview that they had no idea that killing women to give men motivation was a thing to think about).

Deadpool 2 does “fix” Vanessa’s fridging in a mid-credits scene, where Deadpool goes back in time to save her. In a recent interview with SYFY WIRE, however, Baccarin revealed that the this moment was added in part because of online blowblack.

“I feel like I got a call from [Deadpool 2 director] David Leitch one day,” Baccarin told SYFY WIRE, “and he was just like: ‘You know, your [scenes] with Ryan are testing so well in this movie, and people are getting so upset [online] that she’s dead, so we’re gonna have to leave the door open for her to possibly come back.'”

The last-minute inclusion of Deadpool saving Vanessa helps explain why the whole plotline doesn’t make much sense. The bright side of things is that the writers and director of Deadpool 2 listened enough to add the mid-credits moment, and that Vanessa is still alive and well. Hopefully she’ll be back for Deadpool 3 (although Baccarin said in the same interview that they haven’t called her yet), and if so, her character will be more than just set dressing.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Vanessa Armstrong

Author

Vanessa Armstrong is a writer with bylines at The LA Times, SYFY WIRE, StarTrek.com and other publications. She lives in Los Angeles with her dog Penny and her husband Jon, and she loves books more than most things. You can find more of her work on her website or follow her on Twitter @vfarmstrong.
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