Thank you Ryan Reynolds for not making Lady Deadpool a Swiftie nightmare

There’s no Bad Blood, but it would have been a Cruel Summer for us all if Taylor Swift was actually Lady Deadpool. Thankfully, Ryan Reynolds doesn’t have Karma coming his way.

Frankly, it’s only good manners to start any Taylor Swift piece with as many song puns as you can fit in. But here’s the important bit – Taylor is not, I repeat not, Lady Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine. After weeks of speculation, that honor has fallen to Reynolds’ real-life wifey Blake Lively. 

That doesn’t mean the new Marvel movie isn’t making the most of her. The singer – famed for her reluctance to speak out about anything – has weighed in on the Deadpool threequel, telling fans to see the creation made by her “godkids’ sperm donor.” Let’s not forget, she was first seen dressed up as Deadpool back in 2016, borrowing the suit from Reynolds himself. 

That’s where her relationship with the MCU ends (at least for now), and if I’m honest, Deadpool & Wolverine is all the better for it. Sure, Swift already has a presence on screen – who can forget her Cats debut and being shoved under a moving car in Amsterdam – but a full-on Lady Deadpool reveal would have been one star-filled cameo too many… for one specific reason.

Fans are Down Bad for chaos

Instagram/@taylorswift

In the Venn diagram of Western pop culture, Marvel and Taylor Swift fans share a lot of overlap, and not just because they can both be absolutely ridiculous. They forever demand more content, search for hidden Easter eggs that probably don’t mean anything, and are never shy about venting their many criticisms online.

It can be a thankless environment to be in. I’m neither a diehard Marvelhead nor Swiftie, partly because of the infamous fan culture around these pop culture juggernauts. When you’re merely trying to enjoy a good superhero flick or fairly innocuous pop song on Spotify, nothing is ever that deep. You want to be in the moment, not bogged down by decades of lore you may or may not have understood properly. 

Both fandoms have put this pressure not only on themselves, but also the bodies of work they claim to adore so much. As a result, the art itself is less loving and more corporate. In Marvel, that translates to endless post-credit scenes, more cameos than make sense, and cranking out projects faster than you can get a ticket to San Diego Comic-Con.

Tay Tay has a similar issue. She’s released a mind-boggling eight albums in the past four years, and it’s getting to the point where even her peers have had enough (cast your minds back to the infamous eye-rolling sesh at the 2024 Grammys). Her latest release, surprise double album The Tortured Poets Department, has over 40 songs on it… and honestly, who has the time?

It’s All Too Well Taylor Swift isn’t a Deadpool (sorry, last one)

Marvel Studios

You can see what I’m getting at: I think we’ve seen this film before, and we didn’t like the ending. The pair are one and the same, and they never need to join forces. Hell will truly be a place on Earth if the fandoms converge, and perhaps we really would see a fate worse than death.

If you think the internet is a cesspit of trolls spouting unnecessary opinions now, I dare you to imagine this. It would be like the Targaryen Civil War, except the only dragons are fans spewing venom in 140 characters or less. Swift would likely be immortalized in an absurd popcorn bucket, while Marvel fans would struggle to get tickets thanks to Swifties who have survived many nasty Ticketmaster Wars.

Fingers crossed it won’t ever happen, but we can’t rule it out. Swift has been tipped to appear as Dazzler in the MCU for a while, though the character has yet to make it to the silver screen. While we have no real reason to believe this will happen (Swift is allegedly already planning another world tour for 2026), we shouldn’t let our guard down.

In the meantime, we should be thanking Ryan Reynolds endlessly. The Deadpool & Wolverine star has effectively stopped the world from imploding at a time when we really couldn’t handle it.

Fans might not agree with every decision made in the superhero movie, but he’s undoubtedly fallen short of creating pure fandemonium by making the Deadpool Corps a nepo affair. We stay largely untroubled and blessed, and we appreciate it, peanut.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in cinemas now. Taylor Swift isn’t a Deadpool, but check out actual Deadpool variants, Wolverine’s origins, and the post-credits scene explained. You can also check out new movies streaming this month.