Deadpool And Wolverine Fixed Ryan Reynolds' Heartbreaking Deadpool 2 Regret
"Deadpool & Wolverine" features several small details you might have missed, but one stands out from the rest for emotional reasons. In 2018, Rob Delaney's 2-year-old son, Henry, died of a brain tumor — right after "Deadpool 2" wrapped, and it was too late to honor his memory on the screen. As such, Ryan Reynolds celebrated the life of his co-star's kid in "Deadpool & Wolverine," adding the message "For Henry Delaney" during the end credits.
Reynolds took to Instagram to share his reasoning for the tribute, noting that he's wanted to immortalize Henry and Rob's names ever since the news of the child's passing came to light. "I've always kicked my own a** because I didn't place a tribute to Henry over the end credits of DP2. If there's a bright side, even more people are seeing Henry's name in the credits of 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' And at long last, father and son are sharing the same screen."
The tribute might have been difficult to spot since the "Deadpool & Wolverine" post-credit scenes are particularly noteworthy, featuring (among other things) nostalgic behind-the-scenes footage of Hugh Jackman as his X-Men character. However, most fans will agree that Reynolds' homage to the Delaney family is a beautiful gesture, and he hopes it makes people realize how awesome his co-star is.
Ryan Reynolds praises Rob Delaney's response to his son's death
Losing a child is a truly horrible experience for any parent, but Rob Delaney has tried to turn his grief into a positive for others. In the aforementioned Instagram post, Ryan Reynolds hailed the "Catastrophe" star as one of the funniest people he knows, noting that Delaney's been able to contextualize his heartbreaking experiences in ways that connect with people and help them through their own trying times.
"Rob has a vivid perspective on unimaginable grief. And he takes an unfiltered, rage-ful, loving, sad, and hilarious (yes, HILARIOUS) look at grief through his book, A HEART THAT WORKS. It's an incredible piece of writing which explores the kaleidoscopic colors of emotion Henry's passing revealed," Reynolds added. "I'm lucky to know Rob. And I'm lucky to have friends willing to put themselves on the line to make others feel less alone."
Delaney wrote "A Heart That Works" to process his grief, anger, and feelings of loss following Henry's death. However, chronicling those negative experiences proved to be more therapeutic than he could ever have imagined — and it's clear that Reynolds and others were moved by his written words.
Why Rob Delaney wrote a book to process Henry's passing
Rob Delaney went through several stages of grief while penning "A Heart That Works." While speaking to The Guardian, he revealed that he originally set out to write a book that projected a hopeless message that conveyed the harsh realities of life. Fortunately, the end product turned out to be more positive than a tome that aimed to instil misery in readers.
"[As] I was writing the book, as I think is often the case, I realized, 'Oh, this is going to say something different to what I thought it would.' There is ferocious anger, no question. But, and I almost want to cry saying this, my love and my wife's love and my kids' love for Henry was so powerful that it seemed to wash that stuff, not away, but if that anger and hate and fear was like dirt in our hair, the rinsing, nourishing properties of love worked through it."
Needless to say, the tribute to Henry Delaney in "Deadpool & Wolverine" adds a heartwarming quality to the film that no one saw coming during the opening scenes, which see the Merc with a Mouth unleash anarchy in a graveyard to the tune of NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye." Of course, anyone who's seen the violent superhero caper will agree that it's a sweeter movie than it would have you believe at first glance.
To learn more about the movie's more mysterious elements, check out the biggest unanswered questions in "Deadpool & Wolverine."