Deadpool & Wolverine’s Tribute to Rob Delaney’s Son Revealed

“Deadpool & Wolverine” features several small details you might have missed, but one stands out for emotional reasons. In 2018, Rob Delaney’s 2-year-old son, Henry, died of a brain tumor right after “Deadpool 2” wrapped, making it too late to honor his memory on screen. Ryan Reynolds celebrated the life of his co-star’s child 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 had always wanted to immortalize Henry and Rob’s names ever since hearing the news of Henry’s passing. “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,” he stated.

The tribute might have been easy to miss among the noteworthy post-credit scenes, which include 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 highlights how awesome his co-star is.

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 his Instagram post, Ryan Reynolds hailed the “Catastrophe” star as one of the funniest people he knows, noting that Delaney’s ability to contextualize his heartbreaking experiences connects with people and helps 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. 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.

Rob Delaney went through several stages of grief while penning “A Heart That Works.” Speaking to The Guardian, he revealed that he initially set out to write a book with a hopeless message, conveying the harsh realities of life. Fortunately, the end product turned out to be more positive than he had anticipated.

“[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.”

The tribute to Henry Delaney in “Deadpool & Wolverine” adds a heartwarming quality to a film that otherwise begins with chaotic scenes of Deadpool unleashing anarchy in a graveyard. Despite the violent start, the film is evidently much sweeter than it initially appears.