Ryan Reynolds ‘fixes a wrong’ with tribute to Deadpool co-star’s son who died aged 2-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

Actor Rob Delaney’s late son is not forgotten in blockbuster movie Deadpool & Wolverine (Picture: Instagram/@vancityreynolds)

Deadpool & Wolverine has been a huge hit in cinemas, but it’s also allowed star Ryan Reynolds to fix something incredibly important that had been gnawing at him.

Marvel’s latest blockbuster delivers all of the action and R-rated humour expected by fans, but it also includes a moving tribute to Rob Delaney’s son.

And it’s something Ryan wished he had done sooner.

Comedian, actor and writer Rob, 47, features in Deadpool 3’s all-star cast led by Ryan and Hugh Jackman, which also includes Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen and a host of cameos.

He plays Peter, a member of Deadpool’s X-Force strike team despite being non-mutant and a pretty regular guy (also known as Sugar Bear).

He first appeared in Deadpool 2 released in 2018, which is the same year his son Henry died from brain cancer aged just two.

Towards the end of Deadpool & Wolverine’s credits, a simple dedication comes on screen that reads: ‘For Henry Delaney’.

Rob plays Wade Wilson/Deadpool’s (Ryan Reynolds) average pal Peter in the film, after debuting in the role in Deadpool 2 (Picture: 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios via AP)

Taking to Instagram on Monday night, Ryan praised Argylle actor Rob and how he has written and been ‘vulnerable’ about his late son.

The Hollywood star also revealed his regret over not including a tribute to Henry in the previous film, admitting he had been ‘kick[ing] my own ass’ over it.

Alongside a slew of pictures of Rob in real life and with Ryan in matching Deadpool costumes on set, the Canadian praised his performance as ‘PeterPool’ in the movie before explaining what his ‘subversively funny’ friend and colleague had been going through.

‘He’s a beautiful, acerbic and vulnerable writer,’ Ryan penned in the caption, before adding: ‘If you stayed through the credits of Deadpool & Wolverine, you might notice a credit saying, “For Henry Delaney”.

‘Henry is Rob’s son. And Rob lost his little boy to a brain tumor in 2018. Right as we finished Deadpool 2.’

He lost his son Henry to cancer in January 2018, aged only two, just as Deadpool 2 finished (Picture: Rob Delaney/Instagram)

The Free Guy actor then shared: ‘I’ve always kicked my own ass 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.’

Ryan went on to reference Rob’s ‘unfiltered, rage-ful sic], loving, sad and hilarious’ look at grief in his 2022 memoir, A Heart That Works.

Ryan praised his co-star and friend, revealing he had been ‘kicking his own ass’ for not organising a tribute before (Picture: Instagram/@vancityreynolds)

‘It’s an incredible piece of writing which explores the kaleidoscopic colours of emotion Henry’s passing revealed,’ he continued.

‘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.’

Rob’s young son had been receiving extensive treatment, including chemotherapy, for a brain tumour since 2016, after he and his wife Leah took Henry to hospital when he began vomiting persistently and losing weight.

While he had surgery to remove the tumour that year and appeared to be on the mend, the family were devastated when it returned in 2017, prompting a year of further treatments before his death. 

As the couple struggled to come to terms with the loss of Henry, they welcomed their fourth son just months later in August.

Rob told The Sunday Times that while the couple did want to have a fourth child together, they had ‘mixed feelings’ about their youngest son’s birth.

The star has spoken often and movingly about Henry and his grief, even penning an acclaimed memoir (Picture: Rob Delaney/Instagram)

‘Having another child in no way, shape or form eases the grief of Henry dying. But also having Henry dying doesn’t make our new son any less magical,’ he said.

In a recent interview, Catastrophe star Rob revealed that he hopes to buy the home in which his young son died.

During an appearance on Lauren Laverne’s Desert Island Discs, he explained has told the current landlord of the house that he would be interested in purchasing the home if they ever wanted to sell it.

Detailing his heartbreaking reason, he told Laverne: ‘We don’t live there anymore, but when we moved out, I asked the landlord, “Listen, if you are ever going to sell this place, will you let me know first because I would like to buy it”, so when I’m 81, I can crawl in here and die, in the same room that my son died in, that my other son was born in.’

Rob then told listeners that he still speaks to his young son, Henry.

‘I don’t know what words to use, don’t care. I talk to him. I don’t know if he hears me. It doesn’t matter. He is my son, I am his dad and I love him,’ he stated.

In Deadpool & Wolverine, directed by Shawn Levy, Wade Wilson’s retired yet unhappy existence is blown apart when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse – where he goes on the hunt for one of his idols, Logan, aka Wolverine.

The movie has been well received by critics, who praised it as ‘a step above a lot of superhero movies’ and ‘the ultimate love letter to Marvel fans’.

It’s currently sitting pretty – and certified fresh – at 78% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, while it boasts a whopping 95% audience score.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in cinemas now.

A version of this article was first published on July 25.

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