Marvel fans think Ryan Reynolds threw shade at Justin Baldoni in Deadpool and Wolverine

Drama between It Ends With Us stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively shows no signs of stopping. In December 2024, the difficult situation escalated to the point where Lively's legal complaint accused Baldoni of sexual harassmentand Baldoni sued the New York Times for defamation over a December 21 article about the situation.

At this point of the allegations and legal proceedings, it's difficult to comment on the situation, but even so, there is one person whose comments people would really like to hear. With Lively's husband being one of Hollywood's biggest A-listers right now, it's no surprise that speculation is fueling Ryan Reynolds' possible reaction to the situation. But according to several Marvel fans, including X/Twitter user @spiritualshift_Reynolds has actually already made his point … based on Baldoni's very specific character in Deadpool & Wolverine, no less:

“The more I learn about Nicepool's character, the more clear it becomes that Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were mocking Justin Baldoni in Deadpool & Wolverine.”

For readers who haven't seen the film, Nicepool (Reynolds, referred to as his longtime alter ego Gordon Reynolds) is a warm and positive version of Deadpool that the main Deadpool (including Reynolds) immediately despises. Nicepool comments on Lady Deadpool's (living) body and ends up being used as a human shield before Deadpool reveals that he doesn't actually have any superpowers.

Social media users have given many reasons why they suspect that Nicepool is a thinly veiled parody of Baldoni. These range from spiritual to feminist views expressed by the character prom where Nicepool says, “My calling is to host a podcast that monetizes the women's movement.” this, @spiritualshift_ claims is a particular dig at Baldoni, who has been outspoken about his feminist views and hosted a podcast called “Man Enough” until the latest allegations were made public. The fact that one of the characters who kills Nicepool is none other than Lively's Lady Deadpool gets a mention in this theory, as is the fact that it takes place outside a flower shop, a prominent location in It Ends With Us.

Of course, at this stage the theory that Nicepool could be a Reynolds impersonator throwing shade at Baldoni is just one of many claims in the complicated situation surrounding Lively and Baldoni. In a Jan. 7 interview with Megyn Kelly Baldoni, attorney Brian Friedman noted that he's aware of the Nicepool theory, so there's a chance that's one aspect of the situation we'll hear more about in the future.