The Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively legal battle isn’t something io9 would normally cover—but when Marvel got pulled into the fray, we took a little more interest. Deadpool & Wolverine, starring and co-written by Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, famously featured a Deadpool variant played by Reynolds that seemingly mocked Lively’s It Ends With Us co-star and director Baldoni.
Though the character was dubbed “Nicepool,” Baldoni didn’t take kindly to the portrayal. The issue became part of the defamation lawsuit Baldoni filed against Lively and Reynolds, in the wake of the suit Lively filed against Baldoni accusing him of misconduct during the making of It Ends With Us. It’s been a big back-and-forth of Hollywood spin and legalese, but Marvel fans perked up when, as part of the suit, Baldoni’s lawyers wanted access to Marvel documents pertaining to the development of the Nicepool character.
In late April, Marvel pushed back, explaining in a letter shared on Deadline that “the requested documents are particularly sensitive because they relate to the development of a character in an ongoing movie franchise.” It went on to explain that the “crossover” way of storytelling is a foundational part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—something any Marvel fan, including anyone who saw Deadpool & Wolverine, can understand—and “whether and how such elements will appear in upcoming, unreleased projects is the subject of much public interest, and this information is closely guarded by Marvel.”
Basically, Marvel was worried that if certain documents became public as part of Baldoni’s lawsuit, they could potentially spoil what Marvel has coming in the future, particularly as it pertains to Deadpool (or even Nicepool, though we can’t imagine Reynolds is in a hurry to bring him back after all this).
But with Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit being tossed out this week, Variety reports, Marvel can breathe a little easier. While the legal clash between Baldoni and Lively is still in play—on Baldoni’s side, he can still file an “amended complaint by June 23 regarding interference with contracts”—Nicepool is now off the table.
According to Variety, Judge Lewis Liman’s ruling included the following: “The motion by Marvel Entertainment, LLC (‘Marvel’) to quash a subpoena issued to Marvel from the [production company] Wayfarer Parties and for a protective order prohibiting the disclosure of Marvel’s confidential documents is GRANTED.”
“The information sought is no longer relevant to a claim or defense in this action. Moreover, assuming the information were relevant, it would not be proportional to the needs of the case and the potential harm to Marvel of disclosing confidential commercial information.”
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