Spoilers ahead for Deadpool 2
As fun as Deadpool 2 was, it did feature some shocks and twists that didn’t go too well with some fans, particularly surrounding Deadpool’s love interest, Vanessa. One of the most shocking revelations would be her death in the first 15 minutes of the film. There have been various discussions on this as some would say the tragedy of her death in the film was a mere plot device for Deadpool’s emotional journey.
Although this no doubt happens in a variety of films including non-comic book films like the death of John Wick’s dog in well, John Wick but these complains mostly come from a more feminist argument. Some have argued on that this death was reminiscent of early comic book tropes which female characters are injured or killed to serve the male protagonist’s story arc. This trope is commonly know as “fridging”.
Director David Leitch addressed these arguments in an interview with ComicBook, stating:
“It’s Deadpool’s movie, and you need to take everything away from him to humanize him. He can be grating and he can be sort of offensive and he can be all these things, but you need an emotional hook that grounds the movie that we can go on this journey with this character and experience Deadpool”
The original Deadpool presented Vanessa in a much stronger light and Deadpool 2‘s trailer featured her much more prominently and one would assume she would be a big part of the film. Leitch did understand where the fans were coming from but it seems somewhat understandable to make the decision. He did bring out a “I’m not sexist by the way” vibe when pointed out his record of including “strong female characters” in his films such as Atomic Blonde.
Well, at least Vanessa was resurrected in the mid-credits scene but fans had a problem with that deeming it a ‘cop out’. Future installments would have to take extra precautions in regards to how they handle their supporting characters. Hopefully, Vanessa would have a more prominent role in the future, perhaps taking the mantle of Copycat in the future like her comic book counterpart.
Source: ComicBook
