Baldoni v. Nicepool: How the ‘Deadpool’ Character Entered the Legal Fray

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50 years back, the burning question during the Watergate scandal was, “What did the President know, and when did he learn it?” Nowadays, an unexpected query has surfaced in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni court drama: “When and exactly what did Nicepool state?” (as a gamer, I might rephrase this as, “In the legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the question on everyone’s mind is, ‘What did Nicepool say, and when did he drop that knowledge bomb?'”)

On Tuesday, I chanced upon a letter penned by attorney Bryan Freedman of Baldoni, addressed to the mighty Disney. This legal correspondence, delivered to the esteemed Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, and Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios’ chief, was quite personal, addressing them as ‘Bob’ and ‘Kevin’. The content of this letter was a request for Disney to safeguard any documents related to Baldoni and the origin story of Nicepool, a character in Deadpool & Wolverine, who some internet detectives (and Freedman himself) claim, was used by star-writer-producer Ryan Reynolds as a jest against Baldoni.

As of now, neither Disney nor Marvel have publicly addressed Freedman’s letter, according to reliable sources. It remains a mystery whether the studio has actually received the attorney’s correspondence. Known for his legal expertise and storytelling prowess in media, it is uncertain as to why Freedman would address Iger and Feige in his letter. Given that it seems implausible for these executives to have any real-world knowledge of Nicepool’s origin or prior acquaintance with Baldoni before the “It Ends with Us” media frenzy, they have chosen not to comment on the matter. Marvel has opted to remain silent regarding this issue.

On January 7th, the same day the Palisades fire erupted, Freedman dispatched a letter through FedEx. Unfortunately, he is one of the thousands who suffered losses due to that fire.

Freedman indicates that work on Nicepool occurred during a tumultuous filming period for Lively’s project “It Ends with Us,” where she was collaborating with director-actor Baldoni. Later, Lively filed a sexual harassment complaint against him, and on Thursday, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against Reynolds, Lively, and her publicist, Leslie Sloane.

So, how (and when) did Nicepool end up in the movie?

The character had already been created prior to the disagreement between Lively and Baldoni, however, according to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, the scenes with Nicepool were filmed towards the end due to the SAG-AFTRA strike’s resolution in November 2023.

According to an informed source, they mentioned that all additional scenes for the filming were done after the main event (strike), and these scenes were shot during the last few days of production which concluded in January 2024.

Essentially, the filming took place during a particularly tense period between Lively and Baldoni. In November 2023, Baldoni and his producing partner Jamey Heath agreed, as proposed by Lively, to cease certain questionable behaviors, which was a condition for her resuming work following the strike. In January 2024, a meeting was held, attended by Reynolds who was there to support Lively, at Lively and Reynolds’ loft in lower Manhattan. This meeting reportedly became confrontational, according to lawsuits filed by Baldoni.

Although the scenes for Nicepool were filmed towards the end of production, the idea for the character had been thought up earlier. During the audio commentary on the movie Deadpool & Wolverine, director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds mentioned that the costume for Nicepool was finished before they finalized the main Deadpool costume, implying that the character’s origin (not necessarily his dialogue) might have come before the conflict between Baldoni and Lively.

In the movie Deadpool & Wolverine, several Deadpool variants are showcased – these are alternate versions of the character who form the Deadpool Corps., a lethal group that plays a crucial role in the film’s climactic battle. On the audio commentary, Levy referred to Nicepool as “one of only a few Deadpool variants not derived from the comics and born from our creative team’s minds – it was such a blast! Absolutely Canadian. Absolutely ridiculous. And Ryan Reynolds truly excelled when portraying Nicepool.” (Note that Baldoni is American, while Levy and Reynolds are both natives of Canada, like Nicepool.)

In a particular scene featuring Nicepool (Reynolds), he remarks that Ladypool (Lively) has recently given birth and is so stunning that it’s hard to tell she had a baby. Deadpool responds, “I don’t believe you’re meant to say that,” to which Nicepool replies, “That’s fine. I consider myself a feminist.” Later, in an extra scene available on home media, Nicepool expresses his aspiration to eventually start a podcast aimed at commercializing the women’s movement. These statements gained additional significance after Lively accused Baldoni of misconduct, who had previously cultivated a public image as a supporter of women, including co-hosting the now-discontinued Man Enough podcast.

In the script for this project, there’s no indication that the character is modeled after Baldoni. For instance, he doesn’t have a man-bun. Instead, he’s depicted as a leaner and more muscular version of Reynolds. This enhanced physique is assisted by Lola, a visual effects studio renowned for de-aging actors like Samuel L. Jackson in movies such as Captain Marvel.

Nicepool is described as flawless in the script. He dons a Deadpool suit without a mask, giving off an air of high-end fashion that seems to be Yves Saint Laurent’s take on a Marvel movie. He’s got about 20% more muscle mass and, after spending some time at the gym, bears a striking resemblance to Ryan Reynolds in his prime, before the effects of four children and numerous side projects took their toll. Some might even call him divine.

Apart from discussing Nicepool’s origins and lampooning Baldoni, Freedman’s letter additionally requests a halt on any disclosure concerning Tim Miller’s departure from the Deadpool series in 2016 due to creative disagreements with Reynolds. This aspect of the letter raises questions, considering that the 2016 film was produced by 20th Century Fox – three years before Disney acquired Fox, and prior to Iger and Feige’s involvement with the Deadpool franchise.

Disney is already familiar with Freedman, as he also manages Beau DeMayo, who was let go as showrunner for X-Men ’97 by Marvel in March 2023 following accusations of sexual misconduct (which DeMayo has refuted).

It’s unclear whether Nicepool represents Baldoni in the film, as Reynolds hasn’t confirmed or denied it. However, a source acquainted with the Deadpool & Wolverine production schedule suggests that only a select few might actually know the truth. Apart from Reynolds himself, perhaps Levy also knows due to their ongoing scriptwork on set, with Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells being among those credited as writers.

According to the source, it’s uncertain because we can merely guess. However, upon reflection, some of his statements seem to be hinting towards Justin Baldoni.

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2025-01-17 01:25