He can’t even watch it yet, but a five-year-old Vancouver Island boy obsessed with the superhero Deadpool has caught the attention of movie star Ryan Reynolds.
Colwood’s Ethan Hagel has never watched the adult-oriented flick and has only seen trailers, but he’s still so enamoured with the character that he recently had a Deadpool-themed birthday party.
“I like him because he’s awesome and he is amazing and he can’t die,” said the youngster.
He was even gifted the hero’s signature black-and-red suit – a pint-sized version of the same one Reynolds wore in the 2016 box-office smash.
“He slept in it that whole night and didn’t take it off for about a week,” said his mother Cheryl Hagel.
But last month, Ethan decided to put the suit to work – just like his favourite hero did.
Reynolds was spotted filming scenes for the upcoming Deadpool sequel at Hatley Castle in Colwood, which functions as the X-Mansion in the popular X-Men film series.
The superstar posted a photo to Instagram, costume on, lying in front of the castle.
Ethan, who lives nearby, recently decided to do a retake.
“He wanted to get it just right and we took a whole bunch of shots and when we got it just right he said ‘I want you to send that to Deadpool,’” said Cheryl.
A family friend was able to get the photo into the hands of Reynolds’ publicist and days ago, the Vancouver-born actor posted the two pictures together.
“All 5 yr old Ethan Hagel wanted for his birthday was a mini Deadpool costume. First, his parents delivered. Then… it was his turn,” the caption read.
The photo has been liked more than 950,000 times on the social media app.
The shout-out was a once-in-a-lifetime one for young Ethan, who didn’t mince words on his newfound viral fame.
“We’re both like, super famous,” he said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Bhinder Sajan
