Justin Baldoni’s lawyers want Marvel to join his lawsuit against Blake Lively

After social media latched onto the theory that It ends with us director and co-lead Justin Baldoni inspired “Nicepool” in Deadpool and Wolverine– so much so that the actor’s legal team, led by Brian Friedman, addressed it directly— now there’s another backlash against Ryan Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, who was starred in the film as Ladypool. This time, Baldoni’s team includes Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Disney’s Bob Iger in the fray.

According to DiversityBaldoni’s lawyers are using the allegation as grounds for issuing a litigation hold letter that calls on Disney and Marvel Studios to preserve “documents and data” regarding Baldoni and Nispool.

In the course of Deadpool and Wolverine and It ends with us precast, the rift between Baldoni and Lively (who co-starred with Baldoni in the Baldoni-directed film) became fraught with public shots at each other over apparent creative differences. All of this led to Lively suing Baldoni last December over allegations of misconduct on the set of their drama; then, Baldoni countersued both Lively and the New York Times claiming that the actress and the newspaper deliberately misrepresented the leaked texts to support Lively’s case.

The specific moments in Deadpool and Wolverine which echo Lively’s claims against Baldoni, include Nicepool’s lines about Ladypool “getting back” into shape after having a baby and following that up with “It’s okay, I identify as a feminist” – as Baldoni touts her status of a feminist on her podcast. Deleted scene in Deadpool and Wolverine also saw Nicepool refer to a feminist podcast; that last scene in particular helped the “Baldoni is Nicepool?” theory go viral.

The lawsuit, filed by Baldoni’s team, asks Marvel and Disney to retain “all documents related to the development of the character ‘Nispool'” in addition to “communications related to the development, writing and filming of storylines and scenes involving “Nispool”” and “all documents relating to or reflecting an intentional attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate or bully Baldoni through the character of “Nispool.” Variety notes that the letter it has seen is dated January 7; amid the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, there hasn’t been much movement on that front as neither side has commented on the case since.

Want more io9 news? See when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Warsand Star Trek releases, what’s next for DC Universe on film and televisionand everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.