Fans Think This ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Scene Was Ryan Reynolds’ Way of Trolling Justin Baldoni

Even though most of the world has only recently become fully aware of the issues between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni that began on the set of their movie, It Ends With Us, those close to them would obviously have known about the tensions as they were happening.

One of those people, obviously, would have been Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, who was working on Deadpool & Wolverine during roughly the same time period that Lively was filming It Ends With Us with Baldoni, who co-starred in and directed the drama. Reynolds hasn't commented directly on the lawsuit, but did hint at the toll the issues between Baldoni and Lively took on him while he was working on the latest Deadpool film.

Now, some fans are convinced that Deadpool & Wolverine actually includes a moment trolling Baldoni in a reference that went right over viewers' heads when the movie premiered in theaters in July 2024, but that seems clear now as Lively's allegations about her experiences working on the film have come to light.

In the scene in question, Deadpool and Wolverine (played by Reynolds and co-star Hugh Jackman), encounter a Deadpool variant known as "Nicepool" (also played by Reynolds), who wears his hair in a man bun (a style that E! Online notes Baldoni famously wore his hair in for years until 2023).

Beyond the potential visual reference to Baldoni, Nicepool, offers some questionable commentary about a female variant called Ladypool (who Lively actually played in a cameo in the movie), saying, "Oh my goodness, wait til you’ve seen Ladypool. She is gorgeous. She just had a baby too and [you] can’t even tell."

When Deadpool reacts to the commentary on Ladypool's post-baby body by telling him, "I don’t think you’re supposed to say that," Nicepool puts a hand on his own chest and assures Deadpool, "That’s OK. I identify as a feminist."

The dialogue seems pointed in light of allegations in Lively's complaint, in which she describes an incident that she says occurred four months after she gave birth to her fourth child, when Baldoni asked a trainer on the film's set how much she weighed. She went on to say in legal filings, according to People, that she was "humiliated to learn" that he had "secretly called her fitness trainer, without her knowledge or permission, and implied that he wanted her to lose weight in two weeks. Mr. Baldoni told the trainer that he had asked because he was concerned about having to pick Ms. Lively up in a scene for the movie, but there was no such scene."

Following Lively's lawsuit, the scene took on new significance for many fans, who went online to share their theories about the Nicepool/Baldoni link.

This isn't the first time Reynolds has been pulled into coverage of the legal battle between Lively and Baldoni. In response to Lively's complaint, Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times for its reporting on what he says are Lively's "false" allegations, and his legal filings included claims that Reynolds "aggressively berated" him over the incident in which he asked about Lively's weight.

While Reynolds has yet to issue any formal comment on the legal battle, a source close to the couple said he's been a pillar of support for his wife behind-the-scenes.

"Ryan is always her rock," the source told People two days after news of Lively's lawsuit against Baldoni broke. "They have such a special relationship. He's very proud of her in so many ways."