The Nicepool character in Deadpool & Wolverine has become controversial, as it has now been pulled into a big-money lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni is suing the power couple for $400 million, and the creation of the Nicepool character has become a big issue pointed out in the complaint.
Ahead of the lawsuit getting filed, attorney Bryan Freedman alleged that Nicepool was developed by Reynolds, possibly with Lively’s help, just to poke fun at Baldoni. Freedman is arguing that the serious allegations Lively made against Baldoni, which include sexual harassment, wouldn’t have been turned into a “joke” to use in a movie if they were genuine; they’d be taken much more seriously. Freedman has also sent a legal notice to Disney and Marvel Studios to preserve all materials related to Nicepool’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine, likely in a search for evidence to prove the character was created to mock Baldoni.
Per THR, a new report sheds some light on the shooting schedule for Deadpool & Wolverine, and it suggests that Nicepool spoofing Baldoni is theoretically possible. One hold-up is that the concept of the Nicepool character was created before the apparent issues between Baldoni and Lively on the set of It Ends With Us. However, Nicepool’s scenes were reportedly shot “late in the game following the November 2023 conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike,” even in the final days of production in January 2024.
If accurate, this would mean the scenes with Nicepool were filmed well into the feud between Lively and Baldoni on the set of It Ends With Us. In November 2023, Baldoni and Wayfarer producer Jamey Heath signed an agreement on how to behave with Lively for the rest of the production, though the two sides disagree over what led up to this point. Reportedly, Reynolds confronted Baldoni over “fat-shaming” Lively in January 2024, which would have been around the exact same time the Nicepool scenes were being filmed.
It’s unclear when the Nicepool character’s dialogue was written, and this is likely something that Baldoni’s legal team is looking to find out for sure through the discovery process. What is known is that Nicepool was conceived as a character to use in the film earlier on in the process, though the THR report noted that the description of his appearance is very vague in the shooting script. He’s said to have been described simply as a “younger, slightly more muscular Reynolds.” There’s no mention of the man-bun hairstyle, which was similar to the one worn by Baldoni up to 2023 before he’d gotten it cut.
As the description from the script states, “He’s immaculate. He wears a Deadpool suit with no mask. 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 g*ddamn angel.”
Were Nicepool’s Look and Dialogue Directly Mocking Justin Baldoni?
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has said that there’s “no question” that Nicepool was used to poke fun at Baldoni. The reason this has become such a big issue in the legal battle is that Freedman alleges that Lively and Reynolds would not be spoofing the feud with Baldoni if he was genuinely guilty of the claims of sexual harassment. It’s being argued that if Baldoni had indeed treated Lively in such a way, it wouldn’t be joked about in a movie, but instead taken much more seriously.
Beyond the man-bun, there are other reasons that it’s said Nicepool mocks Baldoni. The character’s dialogue mentions how “you can’t even tell” that Ladypool, played by Lively, had just had a baby, believed to be a reference to the allegation that Baldoni had fat-shamed her. Nicepool also noted that he identifies as a feminist, with a deleted scene adding that his dream is to “one day start a podcast that monetizes the women’s movement.” At the time, Baldoni was co-hosting the Man Enough podcast and had a reputation as someone who’s an ally to women. After Baldoni was accused by Lively of mistreatment, the podcast went defunct.
For his part, nobody from the Deadpool & Wolverine team, including Reynolds and director Shawn Levy, has publicly addressed the claim that Nicepool is directly mocking Baldoni. It may be an issue that’s put under the microscope in the courtroom. Meanwhile, a legal notice sent to Disney and Marvel Studios has demanded that all materials related to the Nicepool character be preserved.
Deadpool & Wolverine is streaming on Disney+, while It Ends With Us is available to watch on Netflix.
