Earlier this week, Justin Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel Studios and Disney, demanding that they share all documents relating to the development of the Nicepool character in Deadpool and Wolverine.
In the movie, the Wade Wilson variant has a number of exchanges with the OG Deadpool that certainly could be construed as making reference to some of Blake Lively's accusations against her It Ends With Us co-star and director, and Baldoni is convinced that Reynolds was "flagrantly mocking" him with the creation of the character.
THR has now shared an update, and it seems Freedman believes that the character of Nicepool was developed around the same time Lively and Baldoni's relationship soured during the It Ends With Us shoot. Apparently, Nicepool was created before the rift between the actors, but scenes involving the variant were shot later on, following the November 2023 conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
The original version of Nicepool is notably different in the script, and it does sound like Reynolds and (possibly) director Shawn Levy did make some late changes (the addition of the man-bun, for example).
“He’s immaculate. He wears a Deadpool suit with no mask,” reads the script’s description of Nicepool. “The suit looks like Yves Saint Laurent himself slummed it and designed a Marvel film. The man’s about twenty-percent more muscular and after a pretty healthy session in Lola, looks like a younger RYAN REYNOLDS in his prime before his looks were ravaged by four children and ten side hustles. The man’s a goddamn angel.”
Whether anything comes of the Nicepool situation or not, Baldoni is out for blood - and a hefty payday.
The filmmaker has now officially sued Lively and Reynolds to the tune of $400 million.
The lawsuit alleges the couple of hijacked his film, and attempted to "destroy him with false allegations of sexual harassment." The 179-page complaint also accuses Lively and Reynolds of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.
You can check out an excerpt from Variety's report below.
"Lively summoned him to her penthouse in New York, where Reynolds and a 'megacelebrity friend' — who appears to be Taylor Swift — both praised Lively’s version. In a later text message quoted in the complaint, Baldoni praised Lively’s contribution, and said he 'would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor.' In fact, according to the complaint, Baldoni feared that he was being pressured by two of the world’s biggest celebrities — whom Lively called her 'dragons' — into acceding to her wishes."
We'll see how things progress, but taking Reynolds and Lively's celebrity status, power and resources into account, Baldoni may have brought a knife to a gunfight here.
The MPAA gave Deadpool and Wolverine an official R-rating for: "Strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore, and sexual references."
“Marvel Studios presents their most significant mistake to date - Deadpool & Wolverine," reads the new synopsis. "A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life. His days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. When his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctantlier... reluctanter? Reluctantest? He must convince a reluctant Wolverine to - F*ck. Synopses are so f*cking stupid.”
In addition to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the title roles, Deadpool and Wolverine will see Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), Rob Delaney (Peter), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead) And Shioli Kutsuna (Yukio) return as their respective characters, and they'll be joined by franchise newcomers Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), who will play a TV agent and Charles Xavier's evil counterpart, Cassandra Nova.
Shawn Levy directs Deadpool and Wolverine from a script by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells.
The movie is now available on Digital platform, Disney+ and DVD/Blu-ray.