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Justin Baldoni is dragging Marvel into his legal war against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
For months, the director has insisted that Reynolds’ Nicepool character from Deadpool & Wolverine is a parody of him.
He previously demanded that Disney and Marvel hold onto all documentation behind the film. Marvel is clearly uninterested in being part of this.
Baldoni insists that he needs to sift through Marvel’s records for some sign of the actor’s “malice” towards him. A court will decide if he gets to.
Why is Justin Baldoni facing off against Marvel in his war against the A-list couple?
To briefly recap, Justin Baldoni has asserted that Ryan Reynolds was mocking him, personally, in the Marvel film, Deadpool & Wolverine.
During the film, one of the alternate timeline Deadpools is a long-haired version of the character.
Reynolds portrays Nicepool, who has a generally insufferable vibe despite insisting that he’s a nice guy.
For example, Nicepool makes that cringe comment: “I identify as a feminist.” (The joke is that you should be a feminist and let your actions and values be apparent, rather than claiming the label)
He also comments on how Ladypool — Blake Lively’s character — just had a baby, but “you can’t even tell.” There is, similarly, a scene where Deadpool asks “where the hell is the intimacy coordinator?” That’s a good question.
Nicepool isn’t a bad guy. He’s insufferable because his apparent kindness seems extremely fake. But, at the same time, he’s also handsome and has an at-times distracting package.
He does die, though. He does very much die.
As for the courtroom side of this …
Baldoni has been seeking documentation from Disney and Marvel. Specifically, records related to the film and to Reynolds’ characters specifically.
Last week, TMZ reports, Marvel filed a motion to quash his subpoena.
Marvel points out that there is no factual value to its creative properties when it comes to this case.
These are fictional characters and jokes which, they argue, would express opinions and not facts even if they did refer to a real person.
As many have pointed out, you can’t really sue someone for disliking you.
At least, not successfully.
However, Baldoni insists that everything related to Nicepool is relevant to his case.
He asserts that he needs Marvel’s documentation so that he can search through them and find some evidence of Reynolds’ alleged malice towards him.
Is this just about jokes and being ‘thin-skinned’ or is there more to it?
Reynolds’ counter-argument has essentially boiled down to Baldoni being “thin-skinned.” Some on the internet go further than that.
If you see a character in a film who is deeply off-putting and annoying and your immediate reaction is that he’s a hurtful mockery of you … what does that say about the situation?
We don’t know what the court will decide.
It could be anything from granting Baldoni’s request to denying it to appointing a Special Master to review the documents to determine if there is anything substantive. Only time will tell.
