Ryan Reynolds opened up with a poignant Instagram post about the tribute to his Deadpool & Wolverine costar Rob Delaney's late son in the film's credits.
Delaney's baby boy was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2016. He died at age 2½ in 2018 around the time Delaney and Reynolds finished production on Deadpool 2.
On Tuesday, August 20, Reynolds spoke highly of Delaney on Instagram and joked that the actor and writer who played Wade Wilson's buddy Peter Wisdom–a.k.a. PeterPool–could "be the new Anchor Being"—a reference to an individual stabilizing presence of a timeline within the MCU multiverse.
Reynolds pivoted to a genuine tone and said:
"There’s more to @robdelaney than some realize. He’s one of the most subversively funny people I know."
"He’s a beautiful, acerbic and vulnerable writer."
"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."
Reynolds expressed regret for initially missing the opportunity to honor the boy's memory.
"I’ve always kicked my own ass because I didn’t place a tribute to Henry over the end credits of DP2," he said, before making peace and doing right by him now.
Reynolds continued:
"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 post included a carousel of photos of Delaney in and out of his PeterPool costume on set alongside Reynolds as Deadpool.
The first photo in the slide included an inset thumbnail of Delaney's 2022 memoir A Heart That Works, about his grief over the death of his son.
The If actor commented on Delaney's mourning journey and promoted his touching memoir, writing:
"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 colours of emotion Henry’s passing revealed."
He said in conclusion:
"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."
Fans who appreciated Reynolds paying tributes to his Deadpool & Wolverine costars were especially moved by his recent post honoring Delaney.
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People also expressed fond admiration for the proud father.
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Delaney has been vocal about his grief and proudly reflects on the memory of his son's loss on social media and in interviews.
In June, the Catastrophe actor shared a throwback photo of Henry with Delaney's late father, Robert, and wrote:
"Laughed out loud when I found this photo. My son Henry and my dad Bob in the best seats on the bus."
"They are both dead now. I miss them so much. I talk to them both often."
@robdelaney/Instagram
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Delaney also discussed tragic family loss on an episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna from this past July.
"In 2018, my son Henry, he died of a brain tumor that he was diagnosed with right around his first birthday. And yeah, he died in the beginning of 2018 and he was just the sweetest little most wonderful guy," Delaney told the hosts.
"We say that about all of our kids but Henry was better than other children. And he was so funny and his brain tumor was in the back of his head near his brain stem, so it brought him a lot of physical disabilities ‘cause that stuff is controlled back there."
He continued:
"But his frontal lobe was fine so he was very funny and smart and charming and gorgeous and flirty and silly and brilliant."
"He learned sign language cause he couldn’t talk cause he had a tracheostomy."
Delaney endeavored to get real about processing grief and wanted to write A Heart That Works since the experience can be different for everyone.
Said Delaney about the literature out there on families in mourning:
"I always thought there’s a lot of stuff written about grief where people are kind of like, ‘And then one day the sun came out again.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, enough of that crap.'"
"It’s a nightmare and I figured the best thing I could do was sort of elucidate how awful it is. And let the reader glean hope by seeing that my family is okay now but I didn’t want to prescribe it like, ‘It’ll all be fine.’ Cause a lot of things aren’t fine."
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When Hotb said she was glad that he was so willing to discuss such a sensitive topic, Delaney responded:
"No, I love to talk about him. He’s my son, I’m his dad."
"His brothers miss him, his mom misses him, and he’s part of our family, so I don’t know how to not talk about him."
Rest in peace, Henry. You are missed.
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