![\"deadpool-shocked\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/deadpool-shocked-300x169.jpeg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n20th Century Fox<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
There have been very few times I\u2019ve encountered something in life that feels like it was absolutely made specifically for me. The\u00a0Deadpool<\/em>\u00a0movie series is one of those few things. For my sensibilities, they\u2019re just about perfect. And one of my favorite aspects of the films is the fourth-wall-breaking nature of the main character. Deadpool will often look into the camera and talk to the audience in a way that acknowledges that he\u2019s in a movie. Examples of this are legion: Deadpool referring to the X-Men house smelling like Patrick Stewart, complaints in movie about licensing restrictions preventing cool cameos by other Marvel characters, or the narration in the 2nd film\u2019s opener about how the entire movie was in a fact a \u201cfamily movie.\u201d<\/p>\n The point here is that cultural references that would normally have no place in a superhero movie abound. Some of those references even revolve around lead actor Ryan Reynold\u2019s personal life. For instance, in\u00a0Deadpool & Wolverine<\/em>, a multiverse version of Deadpool that is female, Ladypool, was played by Reynolds\u2019 wife, Blake Lively.\u00a0Lively recently sued<\/a>\u00a0a director and co-star of a film she was in, Justin Baldoni, and while Baldoni had threatened to sue her back, instead he\u2026\u00a0sued the NY Times<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0reporting on Lively\u2019s accusations<\/a>. Lively sued over accusations of some very gross workplace behavior, among other things, whereas Baldoni is arguing, um, that the NY Times reporting on Lively\u2019s accusations is defamation and\u2026 fraud?<\/p>\n Those accusations included, for instance, Baldoni attempting to pressure Lively over her physique in the movie shortly after she had a child, sharing inappropriate content with castmembers, and talking openly about sexual topics. Baldoni, meanwhile, has been quite famous for portraying himself as a really nice guy and talking openly about how he\u2019s a \u201cfeminist.\u201d<\/p>\n What does any of this have to do with\u00a0Deadpool<\/em>? Well, another multiverse character that shows up is Nicepool, an unmasked, long-haired version of the titular character. And fans noticed some similarities to the details surrounding\u00a0the accusations Lively has made against Baldoni<\/a>.<\/p>\n The particular moments in\u00a0Deadpool & Wolverine\u00a0that echo Lively\u2019s claims against Baldoni include Nicepool\u2019s lines about Ladypool \u201csnapping back\u201d into shape after having a baby and following that up with \u201cIt\u2019s okay, I identify as a feminist\u201d\u2014since Baldoni touts his status as a feminist in his podcast. A deleted scene in\u00a0Deadpool & Wolverine\u00a0also saw Nicepool making reference to a feminist podcast; that latter scene in particular helped the \u201cBaldoni is Nicepool?\u201d theory go viral.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And viral it went, indeed. Major entertainment media sources even picked this up and ran with it.<\/p>\n\n