In a letter last week, Disney’s outside counsel declared (via Deadline), “The requested documents are particularly sensitive because they relate to the development of a character in an ongoing movie franchise. 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.” The letter adds, “The discovery sought from Marvel is broad, disclosure of these confidential documents would prejudice Marvel, and Reynolds’ motion presents ‘substantial grounds for dismissal.’ At the same time, the Wayfarer Parties would not be prejudiced by a stay.”
Much as Disney may want to protect proprietary Marvel secrets (they do have some pretty infamous and extreme security measures in place around their movies), this move is just as likely about protecting Reynolds, who has proven a major moneymaker for the studio. Reynolds is, also unsurprisingly, seeking to get Baldoni’s lawsuit against him dismissed. But Baldoni’s camp argues that Reynolds’ “has neither sought nor obtained a stay of discovery” (meaning, nothing in Reynolds’ dismissal motion would block the subpoena). Plus, Baldoni’s team doesn’t think the suit will actually get dismissed. Even if it does, they argue, the “Nicepool” evidence is still relevant to the suit against Lively.
“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,” reads a letter from the lawyers representing Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios, sent this week. “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.” Will Justin Baldoni become Marvel’s ultimate spoiler, or will Deadpool defeat his enemies once again? Stay tuned to find out….
