Vanessa's Fate In 'Deadpool 2' Could Lead To The Creation Of A Brand-New Superhero

Spoilers ahead. Within the first 15 minutes of Deadpool 2 the movie commits one of the most infamous superhero movie sins: killing off the female love interest. Vanessa is shot dead in the apartment she shares with Wade after an assassin escapes Deadpool and returns for revenge. But, by the end of the film, Vanessa appears to be saved, so is Vanessa really alive? Deadpool 2's post-credits scene saves her life, but the circumstances of her revival should raise a few eyebrows.

The fact that Vanessa dies in Deadpool 2 is, frankly, a pretty shocking act of fridging (a term used to describe when a male protagonist's love interest or female counterpart is killed to serve as a motivation for the male character). The film attempts to poke fun at this trope with an elaborate opening credits sequence featuring credits like "Did they just kill her?" and "Written by the real villains" as Celine Dion's new ballad, "Ashes," plays in the background, but it's still pretty disappointing. Vanessa appears throughout the film as a sort of spirit from the afterlife to help guide Deadpool into doing what's right by Russell and protect him from Cable, but she's still dead, and that's just unacceptable.

Vanessa's death is so egregious, in fact, that the movie itself backtracks in the post-credits sequence. Using time traveling technology from Cable, Deadpool goes back in time and kills the gunman who shot Vanessa before he had the chance, seemingly saving her life and their future together. The rest of the sequence shows the superhero going through the motions of the film, so despite not having Vanessa's death to motivate him to help Russell or fight Cable, it would seem that Deadpool does it all anyways, just without the angst and suicidal tendencies. So, yes, after the Deadpool 2 post-credits scene, it looks like Vanessa is alive and well. But what does this mean for Vanessa going forward?

Well, assuming that she is truly alive and that the Deadpool 2 post-credits sequence isn't just one long punchline (the scene also sees Deadpool go back to his X-Men Origins: Wolverine debut to kill that film's version of Wade Wilson), then Vanessa's future is wide open. One can certainly imagine her living happily ever after with Deadpool — hopefully in a more secure apartment — making babies and starting a new life.

That said, if another Deadpool movie does get the green light, it's possible that fans could see Vanessa as a superhero herself. In the comics, Vanessa is also a mutant superhero known as Copycat. A shapeshifter, Copycat is an active member of the X-Force, the superhero team Deadpool founds in Deadpool 2. "I would love to see the evolution of [Copycat], and how she becomes that," said actor Morena Baccarin in an interview with CinemaBlend. What better time to discover you're a shapeshifting mutant superhero than right after you've cheated death with the help of your superhero, time traveling boyfriend?

Before fans can start looking forward to seeing Vanessa become a superhero, however, Deadpool 3 actually needs to be confirmed. Though it seems obvious that a third film would happen, nothing has yet been confirmed by the studio. Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds himself has even said that he would be hesitant to make another film, telling Entertainment Weekly, "I don't know that there would be a Deadpool 3." If there isn't another Deadpool solo film, it's unlikely that audiences will ever get to see Vanessa evolve into Copycat. But, given the guaranteed success of Deadpool 2 and fans' love for the franchise's characters, it certainly is in the realm of possibility.