Deadpool 2 was generally popular with fans, thanks to it expanding the scope of the smash-hit first movie by introducing new favorites like Zazie Beetz’s Domino and Josh Brolin’s Cable. But its treatment of one familiar character got people up in arms. Though the romance between Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) had been at the heart of the original movie, Vanessa was swiftly killed off in the sequel.
Luckily, thanks to the tech brought from the future by the time-traveling Cable, the Merc with the Mouth was eventually able to change the timeline and undo his beloved’s death, albeit in a hastily played-out post-credits sequence. If this came across as something cobbled together in reshoots, it turns out that’s because it was.
While reflecting on her role in the Deadpool franchise, Baccarin confirmed to Syfy Wire that Vanessa’s resurrection was a last-minute decision after the filmmakers got wind of all the online blowback. As Baccarin recalled:
“I feel like I got a call from David Leitch one day, 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.'”
Despite her fate being reversed, however, the Gotham star isn’t sure that she’s going to return for Deadpool 3, which was just officially announced to be coming from Marvel Studios. Baccarin revealed in this same interview that she’s still waiting on the call to see if she’ll be invited back as Vanessa. It could go either way, as the actress likewise admitted that Reynolds remains tight-lipped about her involvement in the third movie whenever they chat.
So far, only Reynolds is confirmed for Deadpool 3, which will see him reunite with Free Guy and The Adam Project director Shawn Levy. There’s an expectation that the film will reboot the Merc’s mythos for the MCU, but with original screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick returning to pen the script, there’s a chance it will pick up some threads from the earlier films. Hopefully, that includes Wade’s love story with Baccarin’s Vanessa.
