With all the violence a character like Deadpool causes and all the fourth wall-breaking quips he makes (and believe us, there are a lot of those), it’s easy to forget just how much of a focus his relationship with his love interest Vanessa had in the first movie. Audiences enjoyed seeing the sweeter side of the merciless mercenary and 20th Century Fox was so confident in their romantic chemistry that they famously created a touching romantic poster with the tagline “True Love Never Dies” to promote the film’s Valentine’s Day release.
That’s probably why it came as such a shock that the sequel had Vanessa killed in her own kitchen so quickly that she may as well have landed in her refrigerator. This decision proved controversial at the time, and even after the beloved female lead was brought back at the end via temporal shenanigans, many fans were still disappointed about the lack of Vanessa’s presence in Deadpool 2.
One such fan happens to be Morena Baccarin, the actress who portrayed Vanessa in both the original and its sequel. But while she shares audiences’ displeasure at her lack of screentime in the second pic, she also endorses the dramatic turn it brought to the movie.
“I can understand that people felt that way and I certainly was disappointed that I didn’t have more to do because I just loved the part so much, but in watching the film and reading the script, it felt like such an emotionally pivotal role in the film and the entire arc of his character in the film is set into motion because of what happens to my character, that it felt that I was very involved in the movie even though I didn’t have a lot of scenes.”
Unfortunately, that posthumous presence could be Baccarin’s last contribution to the Deadpool series. Ryan Reynolds has gone on record saying that a third film is still a long way off, and Disney remains silent on their plans for the character following their acquisition of 20th Century Fox. It’s safe to say that the Merc With a Mouth’s style of graphic violence and mature themes clashes with the company’s family-friendly image, so it’ll be interesting to see how they proceed.
Add in the still ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and all that can be said with certainty is that Deadpool‘s cinematic future remains uncertain.