According to Variety, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has issued a litigation hold letter to Marvel President Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger, demanding the preservation of all documents related to the creation and development of “Nicepool,” a character featured in Deadpool & Wolverine. In Shawn Levy’s superhero follow-up, Lively cameoed as Ladypool, who became the subject of Nicepool’s questionable remarks about postpartum body changes—comments Freedman alleges mirror Baldoni’s alleged behavior on the It Ends with Us set.
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The Deadpool & Wolverine sequence at the center of the controversy shows Nicepool, a gawky alternate version of the titular antihero, making comments that Baldoni’s team argues are too specific to Lively’s claims against the actor to be coincidental. These remarks, delivered by Ryan Reynolds, parody a faux-feminist persona, with Nicepool at one point quipping, “It’s okay, I identify as a feminist,” after Deadpool calls out his misogynistic comment against Lively’s Ladypool: “She just had a baby too, and you can’t even tell.” Reynolds—who also wrote and produced the film—has never addressed the connection.
Baldoni, who prominently touted his feminist credentials during the It Ends with Us promotional campaign (via Independent), believes the scene was meant to ridicule him directly. The litigation hold letter not only demands documents related to Nicepool but also requests records involving complaints “made against Ryan Reynolds by any person, including without limitation Tim Miller.” Miller, who directed the first Deadpool movie, did not return for the sequel or Deadpool & Wolverine, reportedly due to creative differences with Reynolds. It appears that Freedman may be leveraging this industry tension for his case, which is moving closer to litigation as Baldoni plans to sue the Hollywood couple “into oblivion.”
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With Marvel and Disney in the mix, the Baldoni-Lively legal saga receives even more paperwork, studios, and a litany of accusations regarding an already contentious feud. With Reynolds now potentially drawn into litigation, the case broadens from personal accusations to industry-wide scrutiny against Lively and her husband. Whether Nicepool was intended as a caricature of Baldoni specifically or a broader satire of “male feminist” archetypes, Baldoni’s demands for records appear to shift focus from Lively’s detailed allegations of a hostile work environment on the set of It Ends with Us, further mystifying their ongoing battle.
