The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always growing, thanks to new releases hitting theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool 3 broke box office records, but it's currently involved in the ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. And that MCU blockbuster continues to factor into that situation.
Blake Lively's lawsuit again Wayfarer Studios kickstarted a long legal battle between herself and Justin Baldoni from It Ends With Us (streaming now with a Netflix subscription). He's since sued Lively and Reynolds for defamation, and cited the character Nicepool from Deadpool & Wolverine. Baldoni's legal team is trying to get all of the studio's documents about that character, but per TMZ Marvel is putting up a fight.
According to this report, Marvel has filed for Baldoni's subpoena to be thrown out of the case. This would allow the studio to keep its documents private, including those surrounding Nicepool's role in Deadpool 3. And in response, the director/actor has filed new legal documents doubling down on the idea that he was mocked in Shawn Levy's blockbuster.
Shortly after the drama began with Lively, including Justin Baldoni's defamation suit, folks online connected Nicepool's depiction with the director/actor. Fans thought that Reynolds wore his hair like the filmmaker, and that the dialogue poked fun at him self-identifying as a feminist. Furthermore, fans even thought that Nicepool's grisly death in front of a flower shop was a reference to the drama surrounding It Ends With Us.
For its part, Marvel Studios reportedly claims that the contents of Deadpool 3 have nothing to do with the case Justin Baldoni is putting forward. Mostly because, if anything, Nicepool is simply showing one person's opinion of the actor/director. And since he's never actually mentioned, the claims are never presented as facts.
That reportedly hasn't stopped Baldoni, who thinks that documents about the character might prove Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's intended malice against him. Only time will tell how the situation unfolds, and if the courts end up giving the It Ends With Us filmmaker access to Marvel's internal documents. But his legal team is hard at work as the countless headlines are written as his feud with Lively continues on.
The stakes certainly feel high regarding this legal matter, as both Lively and Baldoni are spending a ton of money on legal costs. Add in the millions of dollars at stake for the director's defamation suit, and the It Ends With Us drama has the potential to cost both parties a pretty penny.
There's also the matter of both actors' reputation, and whether or not their legal battle ends up costing them professional opportunities. Baldoni doesn't currently have any upcoming project announced in the 2025 movie list or beyond.
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