Deadpool & Wolverineis one of the most anticipated movies of summer2024. Not only is it the onlyMarvel Cinematic Universe film of the year, but it also brings Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine following his retirement from the character in 2017’sLogan. In addition, it rides theX-Menmania of 2024, which has been kicked off byX-Men ‘97and the newUltimate X-Mencomic series.Deadpool & Wolverinehas the potential to be the biggest movie of the summer.
Footage of the movie was shown at CinemaCon, which gave some interesting details about the upcoming film. While most people might have been focusing on the multiverse nature of the reveals, there was one detail the footage confirmed that many fans suspected after the first teaser trailer, and it is a frustrating development.It continues a bad trend fromDeadpool 2that undermines one of the best elements from the firstDeadpoolfilm. Despite how excitingDeadpool & Wolverineis, here is the frustrating element that the movies keep repeating.
Deadpool & Wolverine Will Break Up Wade and Vanessa
Deadpool & Wolverine
A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Footage fromDeadpool & Wolverineat CinemaCon revealed that during the scene of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), aka Deadpool’s birthday party shown in the trailer, he and Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) have a brief conversation. It is revealed that they broke up after the events ofDeadpool 2, and she is now seeing someone else. Someone who doesn’t get her killed, as she mentions. Clearly, it is a reference to the fact thatVanessa was killed off at the beginning ofDeadpool 2, only to be resurrected in the film’s post-credit scene thanks to Wade Wilson messing around with Cable’stime travel device.
It is currently unclear if Vanessa broke up with Wade due to the stress and trauma of having died only to be brought back to life or if Wade broke up with her to keep her safe, a plot point that will likely be revealed whenDeadpool & Wolverineopens in theaters this July.Yet, having them break up after killing her off for most ofDeadpool 2is a frustrating trend that sidelines Vanessa.
Deadpool 2killing Vanessa so early in the movie to motivate Wade Wilson, despite having been a major part of the first film, followed thepopular trope of women in the refrigerator,or “fridging” for short. Coined by famous comic creator Gail Simone in 1999, it describes a trend in fiction that involves female characters facing harm, such as maiming, assault, or death, to serve as plot devices to motivate male characters and also highlights how often it happens to female characters rather than male characters. The term women in the refrigerator got its name from an incident inGreen Lanternvol. 3 #54 from 1994, which saw Kyle Rayner return home to find the villain Major Victory had killed Kyle’s girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, and stuffed her body in the refrigerator.
Deadpool 2can be said to avoid this issue as Vanessa is brought back to life by the end of the movie, but it doesn’t change the fact that Vanessa is removed from the narrative by killing her off, and it is used to motivate Wade Wilson’s arc for the film. The original plan was for Vanessa’s death to be permanent, but it only changed later. Vanessa being saved in the movie’s post-credit scene was added after a negative reaction from test audiences, showing that they did love the character of Vanessa and her and Deadpool as a couple.
The movie might lampshade the decision to kill her off in the opening credits, but eventhe writers admitted to not knowing what fridging waswhen they wrote the script, according toVulture. Killing Vanessa inDeadpool 2and having them break up inDeadpool & Wolverineis frustrating because it forgets that Vanessa and her love story with Wade were one of the elements that made the movie a hit.
Wade and Vanessa’s Romance Was a Big Part of Deadpool’s Success
Deadpoolhad a long road to the big screen. Once the test footage leaked online and got a positive reaction, 20th Century Fox gave the movie the green light. Despite having a budget well below that of the bigger-budgetX-MenorWolverinefilms,Deadpoolbecame a box office juggernaut (pun intended), having an opening weekend of $137 million, the biggest for an R-rated movie.
Deadpoolwould go on to gross $363 million domestically and $782 million worldwide, becoming thehighest-grossingX-Menfilmof all time until the release ofDeadpool 2. The movie managed to do this with an R-rating and a February release date, typically a slower month for releases, butDeadpoolperformed like a summer blockbuster.
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Part of that was the film’s Valentine’s Day release window. Opening on June 01, 2025, the movie opened on Valentine’s Day andPresident’s Day weekend. While it appeared to be taking advantage of the three-day holiday weekend,Deadpoolwas accurately marketed as a romance and a surprisingly good date movie.
For all the violence and foul language,at the heart ofDeadpoolwas a charming romance between Wade Wilson and Vanessa. Audiences gravitated to this unconventional romance of an assassin and a prostitute who felt genuine love for one another. They were sex-positive and also accepted each other for their flaws, a significant arc Deadpool had to go on to realize that Vanessa would love him despite his looks. It was a refreshingly adult relationship, both in terms of actually being sexual when most superhero romances are criticized for being sexless and also feeling honest about two adults who are open with one another.
Deadpoolreceived positive reviews from critics, with the romance being a significant highlight of the movie. Audiences were invested in this couple and where they could go withDeadpool 2, seeing a superhero movie that tackles issues like marriage and parenthood that other films actively avoid.Deadpool 2, though, opts out of exploring those ideas, and despite the film’s mid-credit scene hinting that this would be explored in later movies,Deadpool & Wolverinedoesn’t seem to have time for Vanessa in allthe multiverse anticson display.
The Romance Actually Makes Deadpool a Better (And Funnier) Character
Getting rid of Deadpool and Vanessa’s romance actually removes one of the best elements of Deadpool as a character. One way the first film improved on the comics was by giving Deadpool a long-term romantic partner, which made him a better character. There is a great comedic juxtaposition of having the foul-mouthed, immature, sounding antihero be the one superhero in a healthy, functional relationship. Deadpool is a popular character among young men, so it made the character being a role model for romantic relationships rather funny.
Deadpool, the assassin who kills people in a bloody manner and has a juvenile sense of humor, is able to maintain a long-term loving relationship with someone, while moretraditional Marvel heroeslike Iron Man or Spider-Man have trouble maintaining their romantic relationships without a series of speed bumps. This makes Deadpool both a more well-rounded character and a funny contrast to the rest of the superhero genre.
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Yet the films seem to want to downplay Deadpool’s romance with Vanessa, despite it being one of the best parts of the first film and the heart of the movie. The films haven’t even tried playing up Deadpool’s pansexuality from the comics. In many ways, the constant separation of Deadpool and Vanessa is very similar to how Marvel Comics tends to downplay Peter Parker’s romantic relationship and marriage to Mary Jane Watson.
For years, the characters in the comics were married, but this was undone in the infamous storyline “One More Day,” which saw Peter Parker trade his marriage in a deal withthe demon Mephistoto save Aunt May’s life. This was done as a Marvel editorial, though Peter Parker being married made him less relatable to young audiences. Being a superhero and fighting various supervillains and aliens is relatable, but being in a healthy marriage was a stretch too far, it seemed.
Deadpool has now found himself in a similar role. After the exciting foundation laid in the first film to explore a superhero who is in a loving romantic relationship with a partner who understands him and neither one is judgemental of their past, the films have opted to find stories that get rid of her to have Deadpool play around with Cable and Wolverine. This is particularly odd as it’s not like Vanessa can’t join Wade on his adventures, as in the comics, she is actually a mutant herself. She goes by the codename Copycat and is a shapeshifter like Mystique or Morph.The comics have allowed Vanessa to be a more active part of Deadpool’s story, which the filmmakers have opted to ignore.
Will Vanessa Be Deadpool’s Key to Saving the Multiverse
InDeadpool & Wolverine’s defense, the movie has not been released, so it can’t be judged until the finished film is available. Vanessa may be a big factor in the movie that the trailers are downplaying. Wade’s love for Vanessa might be his ultimate motivator to save his universe, which appears to be on the verge of destruction as characters from past 20th Century Fox adaptations like Pyro and Elektra are set to appear. With the threat of incursions arriving and likely laying the foundation for theX-Men and Avengers to clash, Deadpool might fight to save his universe and Vanessa.
It is also possible Deadpool will encounter a multiversal variant of Vanessa, possibly one with her superpowers. The film brings back Morena Baccarin, which is a positive sign. They aren’t just getting rid of her character the same way thatMegan Fox was dropped fromTransformers. Maybe Marvel Studios didn’t just bring her back for a small role, but instead, she will appear in more of the movie than the trailer so far has implied.
Breaking up Deadpool and Vanessa is a heartbreaking developmentfor one of thebest romances in superhero films. Hopefully, the third entry has not completely forgotten about this love story that made Deadpool go back and alter time in the first place, just at the expense of Wolverine.Deadpool & Wolverineis heading to theaters on June 29, 2025.
