If you’re a fan of the superhero genre, you’ve probably come across the term fridging. Named due to an incident when Green Lantern’s girlfriend was murdered and stuffed in a refrigerator, it’s used to describe the worrying number of times in comic books when the female love interest is killed off solely to further the protagonist’s story. And now, many people think that Deadpool 2 is guilty of this.
In the film’s pre-credits sequence, the Merc ticks off some gangsters who proceed to shoot up his apartment, resulting in the death of his beloved fiancee, Vanessa. Though Morena Baccarin’s character does then reoccur throughout the rest of the sequel in the form of a ghostly vision that Wade Wilson dreams of when he’s close to death, some fans have reacted negatively to her being killed off so early into the movie – including Kevin Smith.
The beloved writer/director shared his thoughts on the pic recently and while he did enjoy it overall, he mentioned that the scene with Vanessa meeting her maker threw him off a bit.
“I dug it.” Smith revealed. “But the first fifteen minutes, I’ll be honest with you, I was like ‘Uh oh.’ Like, it didn’t feel like the movie I was hoping it would be. And not that like ‘I had a different movie in my head!’ It just didn’t feel like the last movie. And then about like, once the Cable shit kicked in, suddenly the rest of it kicked in.”
Continuing on, he elaborated on why the whole fridging thing bothered him, saying:
“But, you know, I love the entire concept, and I love the entire execution of Deadpool. But my favorite element of Deadpool was his relationship with Vanessa. So in this movie, [when they fridge her], I was like ‘Alright, well hopefully that changes midway through. I know we’re playing with time here.’ And then it never did. So, the fact that they had me as much as they did, even though the movie I came to see wasn’t happening. Like, I was looking for more of him and her. I like their relationship.”
“But I thought they did a good job.” Smith continued. “I thought it was funny. I thought he made some really great fucking jokes. In terms of pop culture references, and in terms of action sequences, I thought it was well done. Across the board, I really enjoyed it, but it did not stay with me like Deadpool did.”
Smith also touched on Wade and Vanessa’s relationship and why it resonates with him so much, explaining:
“And I think that’s because of the relationship between Wade and Vanessa that, I don’t know, it was insanely fucking touching.” “That’s the relationship you want — maybe not getting pegged, although it looked interesting, especially on the right holiday. But I don’t know. That to me, in a story that was beyond believability, outlandish as fuck even for a superhero story, that grounded human element of misfits finding each other – the one person who can look past what you look like, in the case of Wade Wilson – and find love. That’s what resonated with me.”
In conclusion, Smith stated that despite some flaws, he still “totally dug” the film.
“You’re going to Deadpool for the jokes, so Deadpool 2 delivered big time on the jokes and stuff. But I missed that aspect. It felt like she was in movie jail, and she really was for most of the scenes, she’s just trapped in another place. But that being said, I totally dug it. Definitely thumbs up, but I did not enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Deadpool for that reason.”
Deadpool 2 is now playing in theaters everywhere and just yesterday passed The Hangover Part II to become the highest grossing comedy sequel of all-time.
