Deadpool 2 Writers Defend How The Film's Female Characters Were Treated

Deadpool 2 is a success from a critical and financial standpoint but it's not without criticisms. The one major complaint about the film has been the treatment of female characters, some of whom were killed to provide an emotional journey for the male leads. It was definitely something that has proven to be controversial and the writers have responded.

Spoilers from here on out

In an interview with Vulture, screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick defended why they killed Vanessa in the film's opening. The writers have also been criticized for killing Cable's wife and kid, which they also defended, stating that it would have given these characters something in common.

Both writers reveal that the original plan was for Vanessa to leave Wade and to have him try and win her back, but decided to kill her since they feel like the character is more interesting when he's lost everything. They also reveal that they weren't familiar with the term fridging, which was coined by comic book writer Gail Simone when referring to female characters who are killed to provide emotional baggage for the male lead.

"In the very first drafts of the script, Vanessa didn't die. She ended up breaking up with Deadpool, and he was trying to earn her back. Then I think at some point somebody just said, ‘Y'know, Deadpool kind of works best when he's had everything taken away from him, when he suffers.' So the thought was maybe we can really, really engender great suffering for him by having his line of work be the thing that costs Vanessa her life."

The term fridging comes from the Green Lantern comic where Corps member Kyle Rayner finds his dead girlfriend stuffed in his refrigerator.

Reese and Wernick also pointed out that the film does have other strong female characters like Domino and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. They also brought up how Vanessa being brought back to life in the mid-credits sequence is canon.

Deadpool 2 is now showing in theaters. Did you think it was sexist to kill Vanessa so that Deadpool could feel sad?

Read:The 10 Best Easter Eggs From Deadpool 2