Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ Is a Love Letter to Blake Lively: Every Reference Explained

In case you didn’t know Ryan Reynolds loves wife Blake Lively, he took every (adorable) opportunity he could to remind the world of that during Deadpool and Wolverine. (Spoiler Alert: Deadpool and Wolverine plot details ahead!)

The first reference to Lively, 36, in the Marvel Studios film, which hit theaters Friday, July 26, came in the form of a Gossip Girl joke in the opening sequence.

After digging up Wolverine/Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) body and discovering his skeleton, Deadpool/Wade Wilson (Reynolds) attracts the attention of the TVA, who are prepared to stop him from saving his world. Wade decides that Wolverine’s skeleton — complete with adamantium claws — is the perfect weapon.

Deadpool turns to the camera and quips, “There are 206 bones in my body — 207 if I’m watching Gossip Girl.”

The boner joke about Lively’s TV show, which aired on The CW from 2007 to 2012, comes just before Deadpool starts killing TVA officers while dancing to NSYNC’s “Bye, Bye, Bye” — with the complete original choreography.

While subtler, Lively’s Instagram followers know that the iconic boy band joining the soundtrack is another way Reynolds, 47, saluted his wife of 12 years. The It Ends With Us star gushed over meeting four of the five original members of *NSYNC — Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and JC Chasez — at the premiere of Deadpool and Wolverine in New York City on Monday, July 22.

“No one will ever know what this moment meant to me. No. One. Ever,” Lively wrote via Instagram. “I am living in a simulation. My face knows it. Happiest human ever.”

She continued: “Thank you @lancebass @realjoeyfatone @iamckirkpatrick @jcchasezofficial. And to my husband @vancityreynolds for being the most romantic person on the planet and making all of my dreams come true last night via @deadpoolmovie. 10 year old, and also 36 year old me is sobbing.”

Lest fans think Reynolds was only subtly paying tribute to his wife, he also drops Lively’s name later in the movie.

The villainous Cassandra (Emma Corrin) puts her hand through Deadpool’s skull to telepathically see into his mind and learn who he truly loves — Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).

“Get your mind out of my pants — I’m telling Blake!” Deadpool shouts, breaking the fourth wall for the umpteenth time.

After battling Cassandra, Deadpool finds himself faced with various incarnations of himself from different earths. (This is a Blake Lively reference explainer — we’re not here to get into how sci-fi works. Just roll with it.)

One such variant is Nicepool, played by Reynolds with no prosthetic scarring, a long flowing wig and a heavy Canadian accent.

“Wait ’til you see Ladypool, she is gorgeous!” Nicepool says. “She just had a baby and you can’t even tell.” Fans know that Lively gave birth to their fourth child (whose name was revealed at the premiere as Olin) in early 2023 right before the movie was filmed.

Ladypool later shows up as the leader of a group of variants trying to attack Deadpool. The female variant remains masked, though the audience sees a blonde ponytail. However, her voice is clearly heard when she says, “Uzi time, baby.” In case there was any doubt, Lively is indeed credited at the end of the film as Ladypool (which finally puts those Taylor Swift rumors to rest).

Lively is well aware of all the ways she influenced the film. “It’s so special. It’s, like, there’s so many things in there where I just feel so seen and so loved,” she told Extra on Monday. “He’s able to really, like, not just [make] a movie about men by men for men at all. It’s really beautiful.”

“Brb I’m buying milky pens to write your name on my hand @vancityreynolds,” Lively wrote on Monday. “I should be competitive bc @itendswithusmovie is coming out in 3 weeks BUT when your middle school obsessions, your feelings post baby, or about Nice men who use feminism as a tool, your love of the Wizard of Oz, Succession, Sandy & Danny, driving with Avril blasting, the way the choreography of a certain boy*band song got me, of Baz Luhrmann fireworks to punctuate a moment, even down to the fact that our hair color is determined by seasons and the French method by which it’s painted are all so seen… MY WORD… it’s hard not to encourage my ladies to spot all the ways we’ve influenced @deadpoolmovie I’ve never been more proud. And I’ve given birth 4 times.”

Reynolds thanked his wife for her support at Monday night’s premiere. “I want to start by saying thank you to my wife Blake, who is here,” he shared with the audience at Lincoln Center. “I want to thank my kids James, Inez, Betty, Olin, who are here: I hope that, if I’m lucky, this moment will be the most traumatic thing—that is, the contents of this movie—that happens in your wondrous life.”

Deadpool and Wolverine is in theaters now.