Deadpool may be a sassy, sarcastic character on screen, but Ryan Reynolds (the actor who plays him) is certainly loving and compassionate to fans. In a recent viral Reddit post, he responded to Deadpool cosplayer Jadiant about his incredible cosplay.
Jadiant, who is known on his Instagram as 21-year old Johnny, is a cosplayer who received severe burns when he was around 4 years old. He suffered burns on 95 percent of his body and underwent over 100 operations. Despite his trauma, he has lived life to the fullest and gone on to become a motivational speaker, med student, and an ambassador for the Courageous Faces Foundation: a nonprofit organization that dedicates to “improving the quality of life for those living with rare and severe medical conditions due to genetics, illness or traumatic injury.”
The photo of Jadiant in his Deadpool cosplay was posted back in January, but Reddit user jaketocake posted it to Reddit yesterday to spread some good news throughout the community in these tough times. Jadiant’s Deadpool cosplay debuted at his local convention last year, and then again in January at an anime convention with his sister cosplaying as Inuyasha. He decided to cosplay as Deadpool because he gives him confidence and helps his self-esteem. Deadpool has scars on his body and face, which made Jadiant want to cosplay without a mask. He “wanted to be authentic as possible” so that he could show his true self.
The cosplayer got the attention of Ryan Reynolds on Instagram, who was stunned and so grateful to see his photo. Jadiant had learned how to do the splits for the photo, which Reynolds also commented by saying, “I can do the splits… but only once a year. And it has to be in the lobby of a hospital.”
Fans across Reddit and social media who have seen the photo have commemorated both Jadiant for posting the photo, as well as Reynolds for the kind message. Many users have also gone to Jadiant’s Instagram post and commented on the original post to thank both Jadiant for his photo and confidence and Reynolds for engaging with the cosplayer.
We just hope that once quarantine ends, both Jadiant and Ryan Reynolds can meet in real life and get together for one epic photoshoot, or get a role in the Deadpool 3 movie.