Deadpool 2 Director Reveals Whether That Important Character Really Died
Contains major spoilers for Deadpool 2
Deadpool 2 handed a tragic fate to Wade Wilson's fiancée Vanessa (Morena Baccarin): a group of gangsters killed her early on in the film, sending Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) on a journey of self-discovery. When he got the chance to, Deadpool stole Cable's (Josh Brolin) time-travel device to hop through time and save his betrothed. Though the spunky brunette returned at the end of the film, in a post-credits scene, many fans were left wondering if she's actually still dead or is genuinely back from the great beyond, since it's difficult to distinguish what's real and what's a gag in Deadpool movies.
Thankfully for us, Deadpool 2 director David Leitch has the answer. The filmmaker told Collider's Steve Weintraub (via YouTube) that he knows the situation is up for debate, which he encourages, but he thinks Vanessa isn't dead.
"That's a good question. I think [she's not dead]. We see that he saved her," said Leitch. "You can leave it to interpretation, and I think people have fun with it, but in my opinion, the whole point of going back in time was to save her so she'd be alive."
He continued, "If it's just having fun, and we're just winking at ourselves... I think Wade stole Cable's device and he's going back and he's going to go fix time. Yes, we brought her back. It was intentional. It was something I wanted from the beginning. It was my coda idea to steal the time travel device, and that got everyone really excited and started to generate a lot of ideas, especially Ryan who's like, 'I've got some things I want to fix!'"
Actor Ryan Reynolds was also in on the conversation with Weintraub, during which he noted that he believes Vanessa is alive as well. However, he hesitates to say it's now canon within the Deadpool franchise or the upcoming X-Force movie.
"That was hugely debated internally for us. Do we do this, do we not do this? That sort of idea of Deadpool snatching Cable's time traveling device and using it in an incredibly irresponsible, reckless way was sort of too good to pass up for us. It was too much fun to pass up for us. But I also like to think that Vanessa is alive and well," said Reynolds (via Collider). "I don't know how many of the supporting characters are in [X-Force] or not yet. We're still sort of figuring all that stuff out. But I would assume that Vanessa is alive and well. But that's not something we've all really totally dug into. Right now that's just my sort of Monday morning quarterback spot."
Still, Reynolds is a big fan of Vanessa as a character and would relish the chance to see more of her. "I love her. I love that character. And I love how much she anchors Wade Wilson in Deadpool. And so, I would certainly love to have more storylines with her in the future," the actor stated.
Both Leitch and Reynolds' comments to Collider come after Deadpool 2 co-writer Rhett Reese opened up to Entertainment Weekly about Vanessa's future. Comic book fans have speculated that Vanessa truly is alive and might appear as her alter-ego Copycat, who puts her shapeshifting abilities to good use as a member of the X-Force, in a future film. Reese explained that the creative team are "leaving that option open" and nothing major has been decided just yet.
"We certainly haven't made any decisions along those lines. But we always thought that might be a fun twist for her at some point," he said. "The question is how to give her those powers without it feeling too coincidental. You have to iron out the logic if we go there. But why not? I think people would love to see Vanessa kicking a**."
Baccarin previously expressed her interest in seeing Vanessa assume the Copycat mantle, but was candid in admitting that she isn't sure if or when that might actually happen. "Obviously, everyone wants to see Copycat," the actress said before Deadpool 2 kicked off production. "I have no idea if that's something they have in the works or not ... I would love to see the evolution of that character, and how she becomes that."
With the possibility of a third Deadpool movie still up in the air, fans will have plenty of time to ponder (or stress about) whether Vanessa is dead, alive, or somewhere in between.