David Leitch responds to the Deadpool 2 “fridging” of Vanessa debate

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

WARNING: This article contains major plot spoilers for DEADPOOL 2. Read at your own peril.

Upon the release of DEADPOOL 2 starring Ryan Reynolds, a section of fans looking forward to seeing Morena Baccasin's Vanessa become a larger part of the action were left with their mouths agape, when the character was killed off during the film's opening sequence. For some, Vanessa's demise had caused the movie to lose much of its steam, right out of the gate. The reason being that these individuals had felt that Wade's better half had been "fridged," a term coined by legendary comic book writer Gail Simone in 1999 used to describe when writers injure, de-power or kill female characters as a plot device.

Recently while speaking with Comicbook.com, the Marvel action comedy's director, David Leitch, spoke on the topic that had created quite the divide among fans.

"I understand where they're coming from," Leitch said. "As a filmmaker, I believe I have a record of strong female characters and proactive female characters." This much is true. After all, it was Leitch who introduced us all to Charlize Theron's lethal Lorraine Broughton in ATOMIC BLONDE. This is not a defense, I'm simply lending credence to Leitch's remark. As he continued to speak with the outlet, Leitch elaborated. "But with Deadpool it's different," Leitch says. "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."

Leitch then went on to point out that despite being taken out, Vanessa remains an important part of the film, and continues to share scenes with Wade throughout his adventure.

"And quite frankly, she doesn't leave the movie," Leitch said. "She is a huge point of contact for him and learning his lesson in the world and learning that one of act of kindness can change history. And I think without her being the vehicle that he learns that from, I don't know, it wouldn't have been the same film and so we wouldn't have had that emotional context. Even the scene at the end where they visit each other in the afterlife, hugely emotional, great performances by both of them. So, again, I don't think she left the movie."

Leitch's comments have arrived not long after the DEADPOOL 2's writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, shared their take on the controversy by saying:

"We didn't shoot Vanessa's material until the very last week on the movie or the last two weeks, maybe, and our lead camera operator, Luke Hosch came up to me right before we were about to shoot all that stuff and he said, 'You know, I love this from start to finish, I think it's so funny, but I'm worried that the movie won't be emotional enough,'" Reese explained to ComicBook.com. "And I said, 'Well, do me a favor.' I was like, 'Come back to me in two weeks, when we're done shooting, after we've shot all Vanessa's stuff and see if you feel the same way.' And at the end of two weeks he came back to me and was like, 'You nailed it, that was the spine it was missing in my mind.' So I do think that Vanessa was a little bit of the emotional underpinning of the movie and helped inform Julian's, the depth of Deadpool's feelings for Firefist and for the back and forth he has with Cable because they both lost a significant other."

Regardless of how you feel about the treatment of Vanessa's character in the film, DEADPOOL 2 is in theaters now for you all to enjoy, even if it's like, an 80/20 split.