Deadpool 3: Morena Baccarin Confirms If Vanessa Is Dead - But Not Who She Really Is

Loving a superhero is a dangerous business, especially if that superhero likes breaking the rules. In "Deadpool," quirky prostitute Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin) falls for quirky hitman Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) after the pair shares a charming evening at an arcade. And then Wade becomes Deadpool and Ajax (Ed Skrein) pulls a Totally Original Villain Move that puts Vanessa in danger to manipulate him and he saves her, but it's a near thing. And then, in "Deadpool 2," Sergei Valishnikov (Thayr Harris) accidentally kills her while exacting his revenge on Wade, who manages to share several conversations with her in the afterlife but ultimately accepts her death and moves on ... so it's a little surprising that Baccarin is in "Deadpool 3."

During a video interview with ComicBookMovie.com about the upcoming Marvel film, the actor shared, "I finished my shooting days on it already. I think the film is ... going to be quite good! I think fans are in for a fun surprise." A surprise, indeed, because she provides zero explanation for the narrative impetus that allows her return. "Deadpool" isn't a franchise that centers canonicity, and things are bound to look different after the IP changed hands from 20th Century Studios to Walt Disney Studios, but a little structure would be nice, wouldn't it? Is she even the Vanessa we know? What's going on?

Since "Deadpool 3" takes place within the framework of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is currently undergoing Multiverse growing pains, Deadpool et al. can feasibly be any version of themselves that Marvel wants them to be. Leaked set photos show Deadpool and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) fighting in front of a crumbling 20th Century Fox logo in the background, so it's not exaggerating to say that nothing is off the table. With that in mind, Morena Baccarin's other comments about the third installment are enticingly vague.

During a 2023 interview with Screen Rant, Baccarin teased a reinvention of Wade Wilson and Vanessa Carlysle's relationship in that it provides a familiar bond in a new light. "You can see them in and out of each other's lives constantly," she said. "They've done a really great job of always reinventing that relationship and making it interesting, but maintaining the core thing that keeps them always coming back to each other. So I think there's a little bit more of that in this film."

Does that mean that "Deadpool 3" is reviving Vanessa, or does that mean that it will feature a variant of her, similarly to how "The Marvels" features a variant of Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch)? Since mutants are in the MCU now, will she officially become the shape-shifting Copycat? Baccarin must know ... but she isn't telling, and we probably won't find out for certain until next year.