As we’d heard in the lead up to its release, Deadpool 2‘s opening scene begins with a rather shocking death – Wade Wilson’s fiancée Vanessa, to be precise. Morena Baccarin’s character was a fairly important part of the 2016 original but in the sequel, she’s quickly killed off for what seems like the sole reason of finding a new emotional arc for the Merc with a Mouth.
In other words, she’d been “fridged,” the all too common comic book trope of the hero’s girlfriend dying just to further their loved one’s story. It was disappointing that something as subversive as this franchise usually is was playing the cliche straight… but maybe we should have had more faith.
Deadpool 2‘s post-credits scene brought Vanessa back to life and though it left things unclear as to whether this could be considered canon or just the filmmakers having some fun with audiences, writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese have now confirmed that it is indeed canon, meaning Wade’s fiancée is still alive.
“Yes, the after credit scene is CANON! Don’t expect that device to stick around beyond this movie, though!”
Of course, the post-credits scene being canon doesn’t just mean that Vanessa has been brought back from the dead. It also means that X-Force MVP Peter is still amongst the living, too, as Wade saves him as well.
Both of these characters not staying six feet under makes a lot of sense. As mentioned above, having Deadpool 2 “fridge” Vanessa would have caused a lot of backlash from fans, while Peter ended up being a true highlight in a film full of them. With that in mind, it’d have been a waste for him to be a one and done character.
After all, with T.J. Miller now gone from the franchise, they’ll need someone to fill the comedic relief role, right?