The ongoing legal battle involving Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively now includes the Marvel universe, specifically connected to Ryan Reynolds’ blockbuster film “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Lively’s husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, finds himself entangled in the escalating legal issues surrounding Baldoni, Lively, and their upcoming romantic film “It Ends with Us.” Baldoni has accused Reynolds of mocking him through the character Nicepool in “Deadpool.”

Baldoni’s legal team issued a litigation hold letter this month to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, insisting on the preservation of all communications related to Reynolds and the “Deadpool” franchise. This step is part of Wayfarer Studios’ impending legal action against Reynolds and Lively, as revealed in a letter obtained by YSL News.

Co-founded by Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios is one of the companies producing “It Ends with Us.” Their forthcoming legal action will allege that Reynolds and Lively have interfered with contracts and engaged in civil extortion. Wayfarer is also involved in the ongoing dispute involving Lively’s complaint against Baldoni.

In the letter, Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, demands that both Disney and Marvel preserve “electronically stored information” and “any documents related to the creation of the ‘Nicepool’ character,” as well as any communications regarding potential threats or demands from Reynolds. Additionally, any reports of “sexual or other harassment” against Reynolds should also be retained.

The letter states, “When a party reasonably anticipates litigation, it must halt its routine document preservation and destruction policies to ensure relevant evidence is kept.”

YSL News contacted representatives for Baldoni, Disney, and Marvel for their responses.

Nicepool, the character portrayed by Reynolds in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” is a variant of Deadpool from an alternate universe who meets his end in battle due to his lack of mutant abilities. The letter advises Marvel to keep all documents that might show attempts to associate the ‘Nicepool’ character with Baldoni or to “mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully” him through this character.

On New Year’s Eve, both Baldoni and Lively filed lawsuits revisiting their past work experiences together. Lively’s federal lawsuit closely mirrors a previous complaint filed in California and referenced in a viral New York Times article titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.”

The “Gossip Girl” actress claims Baldoni engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct both in and out of the workplace and that he led a campaign to tarnish her reputation for speaking out about his alleged behavior.

In contrast, Baldoni’s $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times disputes the publication’s coverage of Lively’s allegations, asserting that the report was based on “cherry-picked” and manipulated communications taken out of context to mislead readers.

Baldoni has also accused Reynolds of having a heated confrontation with him weeks prior to the film’s NYC premiere, stating that Reynolds berated him for allegedly “fat shaming” Lively.

According to Baldoni’s legal team, he has been dealing with back problems and multiple bulging discs. While preparing for a scene in which his character Ryle is supposed to lift Lively’s character Lily, Baldoni inquired with his trainer—who was introduced to him by Lively—about Lively’s weight to ensure he could safely perform the lift. This inquiry reportedly reached Lively, who then informed Reynolds.

Contributions from: KiMi Robinson, Brendan Morrow, Pamela Avila, and Jay Stahl, YSL News