Viewers saw Morena Baccharin as the sexy but sweet and loving Vanessa in the first "Deadpool" film. She played the love interest to Ryan Reynold's Deadpool and appears to be very normal and without any mutant abilities. However, there are speculations that Vanessa's powers would be unveiled in "Deadpool 2."
The movie and comic book versions of Vanessa depict her as a stripper before she met Wade Wilson. The only difference is that while she did not have powers in the movie, Vanessa actually possessed mutant powers in the comic books and was known as Copycat.
As Copycat, Vanessa is a shape-shifter with powers similar to those of Mystique. When she broke up with Deadpool, she also became a mercenary herself.
When Cinema Blend asked why writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick held off this important aspect of Vanessa's character, they explained that it was something they considered but eventually altered because they thought it would be too much for the audience.
"We did toy with [the idea], you know, but again, there was so much for the audience... We're introducing a new character to the world, and so we didn't want to muddy the waters with, 'Wait a second, she's also a mutant?'" Reese explained.
The reason is justifiable, considering that the first "Deadpool" movie served as an introduction of Wade Wilson as a human and his transition into the smart-mouthed sword-wielding anti-hero that he is. Having another mutant on board might shift the focus from Deadpool to Copycat.
However, Reese is hopeful that Copycat's story would be something worth exploring as "Deapool 2" moves forward. There's an interesting way Baccharin could debut as Copycat. In the comics, Copycat once infiltrated X-Force's team by appearing as Domino under Tolliver's orders. She was tasked to blow up X-Force's headquarters in order to kill Cable.
Cable has always been talked about as potentially playing the big bad in "Deadpool 2." According to Collider, Cable is confirmed to appear in the film, which means there is a possible storyline to bring out Vanessa as Copycat.
"Deadpool 2" will premiere in theaters on Jan. 12, 2018.