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Marvel has sent a letter to the court to try and limit their involvement in the lawsuits between Justin Baldoni and Ryan Reynolds’ wife Blake Lively. And it all has to do with Nicepool.
As viewers of Deadpool & Wolverine know, Reynolds created a character for the film named Nicepool. Justin Baldoni claims that the character was intended to “mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate or bully” him and he wants Marvel, and Disney, to turn over all documents “relating to or reflecting” this alleged bullying. Marvel wants no part of that.
According to legal documents obtained by The Wrap, on April 25, Disney and Marvel filed a letter with federal Judge Lewis J. Liman in a “motion to quash the Wayfarer Parties’ Subpoena and for a protective order.” Wayfarer is a production company co-founded by Justin Baldoni, who starred and directed the film, It Ends With Us, that started this whole mess involving him, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
“The requested documents are particularly sensitive because they relate to the development of a character in an ongoing movie franchise,” Disney’s outside counsel from Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp explained. “Marvel has built the success of the MCU in large part by interconnecting storylines, plots, and characters across its titles, including ‘crossover’ events and sequels. 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.”
So is Marvel admitting that Nicepool is supposed to return in a sequel or something? Spoiler: that might be difficult since he was brutally killed in Deadpool & Wolverine. Oh, right, the multiverse.
“Marvel requests, in the alternative to the primary relief sought, that the Court stay discovery from Marvel pending a determination of Ryan Reynolds’ motion to dismiss,” attorneys for Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios wrote in an April 28 reply to the judge, according to Deadline. “However, Reynolds himself has neither sought nor obtained a stay of discovery in connection with his dismissal motion. Additionally, and as detailed in the Wayfarer Parties’ opposition to Reynolds’ motion there are not substantial grounds for dismissal of the claims against him. And in the unlikely event claims against Reynolds are dismissed with prejudice, the information sought in the Subpoenas remains relevant as to the suit against Lively, as the Wayfarer Parties contend Reynolds was acting as an agent of Lively.”
They went on to add, “The Wayfarer Parties have proposed, in good faith and to avoid any undue burden upon Marvel, to narrow the Subpoena to documents concerning Reynolds’ participation in the development of Nicepool and communications concerning Baldoni. Marvel will not be prejudiced if the Court declines to stay compliance with the Subpoena because the film has already been released, and any non-public documents can be marked ‘confidential’ pursuant to the Protective Order.”
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