Lady Deadpool was one of the Deadpool Variants that Deadpool & Wolverine teased us with even before the movie was released in theaters. After some initial quick glimpses, we got a good look at her strutting her stuff in the final trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine. But the fully masked nature of the lady in question led fans to ask the natural next question. Just who plays Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine? In case you didn’t sit through the credits to find out, here’s the truth about the actress behind the Lady Deadpool mask and ponytail. (And it turns out this Deadpool & Wolverine casting has a surprisingly rich history to it.)
Blake Lively Plays Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine
So, just who is it that plays Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine? Well, as many fans theorized, Lady Deadpool’s actress is Blake Lively. It turns out Lively wasn’t actually wearing the Lady Deadpool costume in the MCU movie but was just giving voice to the role. Stuntwoman Christiaan Bettridge physically played Lady Deadpool. However, Blake Lively is credited as Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Of course, this casting makes sense on a surface level because Blake Lively is married to Deadpool’s actor Ryan Reynolds. But there’s actually an interesting Marvel history to Blake Lively playing Lady Deadpool that extends beyond this real-world connection.
Rob Liefeld Designed Lady Deadpool with Blake Lively in Mind Over a Decade Before Deadpool & Wolverine
In 2010, Deadpool’s creator, Rob Liefeld, first unmasked Lady Deadpool in Marvel Comics. And in 2022, he shared an Instagram post discussing the character at greater length. In it, he noted that Blake Lively served as the inspiration for Lady Deadpool’s unmasked form in the 2010 comic. Liefield shared:
My most bad-ass contribution to Girl Power in comics, LADY DEADPOOL! First introduced 13 years back, we unmasked her in 2010, with her unblemished visage. Based entirely on Blake Lively as Joy and I were crazy Uber Gossip Girl fans (who wasn’t right?), never missing an episode. Yup, I pleaded a strong case that Wanda Wilson was a stunning blonde, no scars and Marvel thought that was a cool idea. Invoked Blake [Lively] on GG and they gave me the thumbs up. Serena Van Der Woodsen forever! Upon meeting Blake [Lively] on the set of Deadpool, I was tongue tied in the most embarrassing fashion. Years later at the Golden Globes I again bothered to the point I think I was speaking in tongues. If ever we are blessed with Lady Deadpool on screen I’m pretty certain Ms. Lively will have some say in the casting.
Yes, it was Liefeld’s great love of Gossip Girl and Blake Lively’s character Serena Van Der Woodsen that inspired the unmasked Lady Deadpool in Marvel Comics. We’ll talk more about Wanda Wilson below, but it seems like she might have been completely different looking without Lively’s influence. The blonde hair, the clear skin, the long blonde ponytail—those Marvel Comics Lady Deadpool features all came right from the actress herself.
Rob Liefeld Had No Idea Blake Lively Would Actually Play Lady Deadpool
What a truly happy accident. And no, Liefeld had no idea that Blake Lively was actually about to play Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine at the time. As he notes in his Instagram share, he never managed to get up the courage to tell the actress about the way she inspired the Marvel Comics character.
Additionally, Lively shares in her own post, “Just before all this in 2010, @robliefeld drew an unmasked Lady Deadpool for the first time, go to the next slide for his words. @deadpoolmovie wasn’t real. And Rob had no idea I was working with @vancityreynolds. 12 years later, I read Rob’s post. A year after that, @deadpoolmovie 3 was filmed… And today it’s in theaters. The universe has such a magical sense of humor sometimes.” It does at that.
Blake Lively also recently revealed, “Rob Liefeld, who drew LadyPool, I had no idea, but in 2010, he drew Lady Deadpool, and at the same time, I was cast in the Green Lantern with my now husband, who was not my husband then. The timeline, I know it gets a little like you need a conspiracy yarn to track it. But, basically, there was no association with Ryan [Reynolds], Ryan [Reynolds] had no association with Deadpool. He was supposed to make this movie. But, it was a pipe dream. It wasn’t ever really going to happen. And Rob Liefeld drew LadyPool, and I guess he and his wife watched Gossip Girl? So, it was just kind of crazy how the world…”
The interviewer then remarks of Blake Lively’s casting as Lady Deadpool, “So he already had you in mind for that?” And Lively replies, “He did. And then you know, my husband and I got married, and Deadpool was made. Then they were looking for a LadyPool, so, you know. I was available”
Who Is Blake Lively’s Character, Lady Deadpool, in Deadpool & Wolverine and Marvel Comics?
Although we know that Blake Lively is the actress behind Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine, Lady Deadpool never actually unmasks in the MCU movie. But in addition to her casting, we know that Lady Deadpool was the fearless leader of “the Deadpool Corps,” the group of Deadpools that Cassandra Nova had amassed in the void. Lady Deadpool and the rest engage in a bloody battle with Deadpool and Wolverine as they try to stop Nova from shredding the universe.
Meanwhile, in Marvel Comics, Lady Deadpool is described as follows, “Motivated by money, television, junk food, and sometimes love, this merc with a mouth packs lipgloss and is known as Lady Deadpool.” In addition, we know Lady Deadpool’s name is Wanda Wilson and she hails from the Earth-3010 reality where she is a female Deadpool counterpart. She’s also a “former mercenary and government test-subject” who fights in a Second American Civil War against a fascistic American government. Lady Deadpool dies in the comics in Deadpool Kills Deadpool #3 in 2013. Like Deadpool, Lady Deadpool has a rapid healing factor, but “regenerating brain cells due to repeated brain injuries leaves her sanity and memories severely damaged.” Additionally, she’s an incredible athlete with “peak human strength, speed and agility.” Lady Deadpool has incredible skill in multiple unarmed combat techniques but also excels with weapons and wields a combination of guns and swords.
Other Blake Lively References in Deadpool & Wolverine
Blake Lively’s Lady Deadpool appearance and credits mention weren’t the only times that Lively played a role in Deadpool & Wolverine, though. Deadpool is a very Meta character and often breaks the fourth wall. And some of those fourth wall breaks invoked Blake Lively as the wife of Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds.
In the movie’s opening sequence, one of Deadpool’s one-liners notes, “There are 206 bones in the human body—207 if I’m watching Gossip Girl.” Blake Lively, of course, starred in Gossip Girl. Later in the movie, Deadpool scolds Wolverine, “Get your mind out of my pants, man, or I’m telling Blake.”
We expected Blake Lively to play Lady Deadpool, but we could not have expected her to be so entrenched in so many aspects of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s world. And who knows, we just might see Lady Deadpool and Blake Lively back again in some other part of the MCU’s world.
Originally published on July 30, 2024.
