TheDeadpoolmovies might not be known for their drama, but the trilogy has managed to intersperse some shockingly emotional and serious scenes throughout the humor and violence. It’s no secret that comedy and action are the two major pillars holdingtheDeadpoolmovie franchisealoft, with Ryan Reynolds embodying the irreverent humor of the bloody mercenary like it’s the role he was born to play. As crass as the series is, it has its occasional moments of genuine drama and palpable earnestness sprinkled throughout the depravity.
For the most part, the most serious scenes of theDeadpoolfranchise center aroundWade Wilson’s love interest, Vanessa Carlysle.By allowing Vanessa’s scenes to be more serious without interruption by a million quippy one-liners, the series does a good job of making their relationship part of the genuine stakes the various conflicts of the trilogy establish. Beyond that, deuteragonists like Wolverine and Cable are also occasionally granted some more emotional beats that go without humor.
10Logan Relives His Past
Deadpool & Wolverine
The freshestDeadpoolmovie in recent memory,Deadpool & Wolverineis the franchise’s most meta and comedy-filled romp yet.From the multiversal setting to the endlesscameos ofDeadpool & Wolverine’s cast, it seems like the third installment of theDeadpooltrilogy would have a difficult time taking anything seriously. But the movie certainly knows when to pull back, especially when it comes to the newest version of Wolverine as played by Hugh Jackman.
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The emotional finale ofDeadpool & Wolverinelends itself equally to comedy and drama as the titular duo lock hands in order to sacrifice themselves, overloading and destroying Cassandra’s Time Ripper.The strain causes Wolverine to remember his past in flashbacks, tearfully allowing himself to be forgiven for his past mistakes and officially claim his rightful title as “theX-Man”.Set to a now-famous choir version of Madonna’sLike A Prayer,this beat is a gratifying crescendo to cap off the entire film.
9Wade Sees Vanessa Again
Deadpool 2
It seems odd for aDeadpoolmovie, of all things, to have once of the most faithfulcinematic interpretations of the Christian afterlife. Yet thanks toDeadpool 2, this is exactly the case, as shown off when Deadpool briefly gets the chance to reunite with his deceased wife, Vanessa Carlysle. Taking a bullet for Russell while a mutant inhibitor collar keeps his healing factor from activating, Wade Wilson gets the chance to meet up with Vanessa in his version of heaven - A bright, idyllic version of the old apartment that the two once shared.
A gentle acoustic guitar plays a cover of Celine Dion’sAshesas Wade steps through the barrier between heaven and Earth, finally shedding his scarred appearance for the first time since before his transformation in the originalDeadpool.Though he’s finally able to tearfully reunite with his old love,Vanessa eventually urges him to return to the land of the living, as there are still people who need him there.It’s a tear-jerking scene, punctuated by Vanessa’s final request for Deadpool to “Kiss me like you miss me”.
8Deadpool Gets His Powers
Deadpool
The last time Ryan Reynolds was able to play Wade Wilson in the flesh sans scars or costume before his vision with Vanessa was a grisly one indeed.Agreeing to undergo an experimental forced mutation procedure, Deadpool is tortured by the operative Ajax, better known by his real name, Francis, which Wade relentlessly makes fun of. Though Wade’s sense of humor is able to ultimately survive the procedure that turns him into Deadpool, the lengths of torture he goes through at Ajax’s hands aren’t understated by the film.
Reynolds does a shockingly great job conveying the anguish, one of the rare times in which the pain is great enough to keep Wade’s quips at bay.
Locking Wade into an airtight chamber, Ajax keeps him right on the brink of hypoxia, giving him the feeling of suffocating alive while searing the mutation into his skin. Reynolds does a shockingly great job conveying the anguish, one of the rare times in which the pain is great enough to keep Wade’s quips at bay. Further demonstrating his cruelty by leaving Wade in the chamber for an extra few hours just for fun, this chilling scene does a great job selling just how evil the first film’s major antagonist is.
7Vanessa’s Death
Perhaps the single most devastating scene in the entireDeadpooltrilogy is none other than the death of Wade’s primary motivation throughout the series, Vanessa. After working as a vigilante via Deadpool for a few years, Wade makes more than a few enemies, who are keen to strike at him when he’s most vulnerable.The slow-motion moment in which Vanessa gets caught in the crossfire is a shockingly straightforward and emotionally gutting action sequence, as Wade is just barely not fast enough to stop the bullet that takes her life.
Even more chilling is Deadpool’s treatment of the perpetrator, who he wordlessly kills by hugging him and stepping in front of a racing semi-truck, likely hoping the impact would somehow kill him for good, as well.The fact that this scene plays out more or less silently makes it stand out among the rest of the film’s joke-ridden script.Even ifVanessa is able to return forDeadpool & Wolverine, her death sequence is an impactful tragedy played alarmingly straight.
6Wolverine Shuts Deadpool Up
Throughout the entire first two movies, it’s rare that someone is able to get Deadpool to shut up, especially via words alone.Yet that’s exactly what Wolverine is able to do inDeadpool & Wolverineafter listening to his jabbering for one hour too long. While traveling in the Honda Odyssey, Wolverine has enough of Deadpool living up to his name as the “Merc with a Mouth”, giving him a legendary verbal thrashing that even Deadpool’s healing factor takes more than a few moments to recover form.
Laying into the failed hero, Wolverine points out Wade’s immature attitude, stupidity, selfishness, and general incompetence, asking how he’s meant to save the world if he “couldn’t even save a relationship with a g*ddamn stripper”.
Shocked, Deadpool actually is shut up by the utterly brutal barrage of insults, resulting in one of the few times audiences might not be sure what he’s thinking under his mask. His cold declaration in response, “I’m gonna fight you now”, shows off just how much of a nerve Wolverine was able to strike with his vicious words.
5Laura Has A Heart-To-Heart With Logan
One of the most underrated elements ofDeadpool & Wolverinewas getting to see Dafne Keen’s Laura, a.k.a. X-23, back in theaters for the first time since 2017’sLogan.The film respects her enough not to let her inclusion fall by the wayside, giving her a chance to have a heart-to-heart chat with a depressed Wolverine as he sits by the fire.Here it’s revealed that this Laura does indeed seem to be the same one from the originalFox X-Men movie timeline, and audiences finally learn exactly how this Logan failed his world so terribly.
Choking through tears,Wolverine describes how his refusal to join the X-Men and alcoholism resulted in his beloved family being slaughtered by bigoted humans.Hugh Jackman is utterly amazing here, giving one of his most poignant performances as Logan throughout his over two-decade-long career playing the feral mutant. It’s great thatDeadpool & Wolverineis able to give this scene the gravitas it deserves.
4Deadpool Finds Out Vanessa Is Dating Someone Else
For all the high-flying, multiversal action harbored byDeadpool & Wolverine, the film repeatedly demonstrated a mastery of more subtle and down-to-earth conversations, as well.Other than Wolverine and Laura’s fireside chat, Wade and Vanessa’s interaction towards the beginning of the film is also an achingly real portrayal of real-life heartbreak.It’s revealed that Vanessa and Wade had broken up prior to the events of the film, yet manage to stay good friends, as Vanessa shows up for Wade’s birthday party and still considers him family.
Though much is left unsaid, Wade struggles to find the words to say to the woman he loved who now regards him like an acquaintance, using humor as an obvious defense mechanism.
The two have an awkward one-on-one conversation that’s refreshingly realistic, demonstrating a type of break-up that isn’t portrayed so often in movies. Though much is left unsaid, Wade struggles to find the words to say to the woman he loved who now regards him like an acquaintance, using humor as an obvious defense mechanism. This type of amicable post-breakup friendship doesn’t show up in Hollywood films very often, and seeing Deadpool struggle with befriending his ex his still clearly has feelings for is painfully grounded.
3Deadpool And Vanessa Break Up
As hard as their post-breakup conversation is to watch, the actual conversation that leads up to Wade and Vanessa calling things off is an even tougher scene. In a flashback,Deadpool & Wolverineunveils the struggles Wade and Vanessa' relationship endured, the two having a surprisingly realistic and adult conversation about Deadpool’s superhero activities. After being rejected by the Avengers of theprimary MCU timeline, Deadpool is quite self-pitying and morose, an attitude that, according to Vanessa, he simply doesn’t recover from.
Stopping his normal superhero activities, Vanessa is heartbroken to see Wade fade in his passion for helping others (albeit, through violent means).It’s quite painful to see Wade insist that he’s still right there, only for Vanessa to get her point across with a stunning verbal blow.As great as the jokes and fight scenes are, small moments like these are some of the most impactful in the entire trilogy.
2Deadpool Tries To Leave Vanessa
It’s easy to forget that the entire reason that Wade Wilson becomes Deadpool is his cancer diagnosis, finding evidence of the terrifying disease in his lungs, brain, liver, and prostate. Before he volunteers for the dangerous procedure that sends his brain through the fourth wall and activates his healing abilities, Wade struggles with how the terminal illness affects his relationship with Vanessa.Not wanting Vanessa to see him in a weakened, dying state, he attempts to leave her before the treatment and disease gets him to that point.
Though the scene does include some of Wade’s trademark colorful language,his references somehow make the conversation sadder,saying that he doesn’t want Vanessa to remember him as “The ghost of Christmas me”. Vanessa seemingly wins the argument, with Wade agreeing to stay, only to eventually leave to take on the deadly treatment against her wishes. This final interaction the two of them have before Wade becomes Deadpool is a sorrowful and serious beat that hits like a freight train.
1FireFist Kills Cable’s Family
Deadpool 2introduces Josh Brolin’s Cable, a grizzled veteran from a dystopian future that time travels to Deadpool’s time to kill Russell, who grows up to become FireFist, as a child. Cable reveals to Wade that Russell is responsible for killing his family, an event that is hammered home in a flashback that gets across why Cable is so desperate to kill a seemingly innocent teenager.Cable then goes on to make the argument that Vanessa would’ve wanted Wade to save future lives by ending Russell’s early.
What’s so chilling about Cable’s words here is that it’s hard to articulate an argument against him, even if Deadpool’s insistence that killing a teenager for a crime he’s not yet comitted is morally right. Brolin’s gravely voice is perfect here as the haunted future soldier, leaving Deadpool almost speechless. It’s a shame Cable wasn’t featured more heavily across the entireDeadpooltrilogy.
