Fans had to recontextualize It Ends With Us after Blake Lively made sexual harassment allegations against director and co-star Justin Baldoni. Now, it seems they might have to recontextualize her husband’s movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, as well.
You see, fans are coming to believe that a character in Deadpool & Wolverine, which Lively herself cameos in, might have been a deliberate dig at Baldoni. Both movies were filming around the same time, and Reynolds would have been aware of Baldoni’s alleged behavior toward his wife, having gone with her to a meeting to address the issue. The character in question is Nicepool, who’s also played by Reynolds.
Nicepool is one of the many Deadpool variants Reynolds’ Merc With a Mouth meets during the course of the film (Lively’s Ladypool is another). He seems like a better person than the main Deadpool, but he also appears to be a send-up of “nice guys.” At one point, Nicepool says of Lively’s Ladypool, “Oh my goodness, wait til you’ve seen Ladypool. She is gorgeous. She just had a baby too and I can’t even tell.” Deadpool then says, “I don’t think you’re supposed to say that,” to which Nicepool serenely replies, “That’s okay. I identify as a feminist.”
This could, of course, just be Reynolds doing one of his usual bits, but Baldoni did very much identify as a feminist, and one of the things Lively accused him of was questioning her body weight after she’d just had a baby. So, there’s certainly a connection there between Nicepool and Baldoni.
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And hidden away in the outtakes is a Nicepool scene which seems even more damning. In the outtake, Nicepool brags that “my calling is to host a podcast that monetizes the women’s movement.” Baldoni hosted a feminist podcast, Man Enough, before the allegations about him came out. His co-star, Liz Plank, quit after that and said in a statement, “We all deserve better, and I know that together, we can create it,” and, more pointedly, “I will continue to support everyone who calls out injustice and holds the people standing in their way accountable.”
There’s all that, plus Nicepool wears a man-bun, a hairstyle Baldoni also once had. So, is Nicepool Reynolds’ way of sending a message to Baldoni? It’s not confirmed, but plenty of fans have been wondering if that’s the case. And guess what happens to Nicepool? He’s killed in a violent but funny manner after Deadpool uses him as a human shield. If this really was a message, it couldn’t have been clearer.
Baldoni currently denies any wrongdoing and has filed a lawsuit against the New York Times, which published a story accusing him of running a smear campaign against Lively. The same day he filed, Lively filed against him. According to Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman, Baldoni also intends to sue Lively. It’s a messy story that will most likely be part of the celebrity news cycle for a long time to come. But at the moment, public opinion does seem to be in Lively’s favor, as too many women have been chewed up and spat out by the Hollywood machine. And, of course, she certainly has Deadpool on her side.
Published: Jan 6, 2025 12:54 pm