Warning: SPOILERS for Deadpool 2 are ahead!
When he's not directing or writing movies and TV shows, Kevin Smith can usually be found giving his two cents on geek culture on one of his many podcasts, particularly regarding the on-screen Marvel and DC worlds. Fortunately, there's been no shortage of discussion on those topics lately, and one of the many movies that opened last month was Deadpool 2. Reception towards the Merc with the Mouth's latest cinematic adventure has been largely positive, and Smith definitely finds himself in that camp. However, there was one aspect of the movie that filmmaker didn't particularly like: how Vanessa, Wade Wilson's love interest, was killed early on. As Smith explained:
But, you know, I fucking love the entire concept, and I love the entire execution of Deadpool. But my favorite element of Deadpool was his relationship with Vanessa. So in this movie, I was like 'Alright, well hopefully that changes midway through. I know we're playing with time here.' And then it never did. So, the fact that they had me as much as they did, even though the movie I came to see wasn't happening. Like, I was looking for more of him and her. I like their relationship.
Deadpool is primarily known for being ultra-violent, making ridiculous jokes and consistently breaking the fourth wall, but if you think about it, his first theatrical movie at its core was a love story, as Wade was driven to either return himself to normal so he could be with Vanessa again or to rescue her from Ajax's clutches. So the clever marketing presenting Deadpool as a romantic comedy actually wasn't too far off the mark. Deadpool 2, on the other hand, took Vanessa off the proverbial board early on when a criminal who escaped from Wade Wilson killed her, something that Kevin Smith didn't particularly care for.
Kevin Smith certainly isn't alone in not liking this element of Deadpool 2. Vanessa's death has been criticized for being another example of the frequently used plot device of injuring or killing off a female character solely to motivate a male character (known as "fridging"), though director David Leitch believes that it was necessary for Vanessa to die in order to humanize Wade Wilson. However, this was just one aspect of Deadpool 2, and as Smith also mentioned during his latest Fatman on Batman episode, he enjoyed Deadpool 2 as a whole, particularly once Cable entered the picture. In Smith's words:
I dug it. But the first fifteen minutes, I'll be honest with you, I was like 'Uh oh.' Like, it didn't feel like the movie I was hoping it would be. And not that like 'I had a different movie in my head!' It just didn't feel like the last movie. And then about like, once the Cable shit kicked in, suddenly the rest of it kicked in.
Fortunately for Kevin Smith and everyone else who liked Wade Wilson and Vanessa's relationship, Deadpool 2 didn't mark the permanent end for these crazy kids. After Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio fixed Cable's time traveling device, Wade went back in time to save Vanessa from being killed, as well as prevented Peter's death, killed his Weapon XI counterpart from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and murdered Ryan Reynolds before he could film Green Lantern. So now the couple is free to go about their lives and try starting that family they talked about, and presumably Vanessa needn't worry about traveling to the great beyond on screen ever again.
While there's no word yet on if Deadpool 3 will move forward, Wade Wilson will return with Cable and Domino in X-Force next, so perhaps Vanessa will be around for that story. In the meantime, you can keep up with what's in development for the X-Men movie franchise by checking out our handy guide.
