Deadpool fan Johnny Quinn had his "dream come true" when his incredible cosplay was acknowledged by Ryan Reynolds, though Reynolds himself appears to be just as stoked. A burn survivor, Quinn nearly died in a house fire before he was rescued by his older sister. Feeling a personal connection to the popular Marvel superhero portrayed on the big screen by Reynolds, Quinn has since begun cosplaying as the character, opting to forego wearing Deadpool's trademark red-and-black mask. For extra authenticity, Quinn has also even learned how to do the splits, as seen in a photo posted to Instagram earlier this year with the hopes that Reynolds would see the homage.

In the caption, Quinn had this to say.

"It would make my dream come true if @vancityreynolds got to see this post! I learned to do the splits just for this photo. Deadpool has honestly made me way more confident. Anyone who has read or watched anything about Deadpool, knows his face and body are pretty messed up. So it's only natural that I cosplay him. I wanted to be authentic as possible, and that was to not wear a mask. It's so easy to cover up who I am, and to give In to despair. Deadpool just makes me not care about that stuff and show my true self. This is me, and I'm not Ashamed about it. Deadpool is icy clean, and he's helped my self esteem so much. I'm owning who I am, and cosplaying Deadpool makes it that much easier."

It's taken some time, but the photo finally made its way to Reynolds' eyes, as the actor used his Instagram account to respond to Quinn. Not only does Ryan Reynolds make it clear that he's very impressed, he goes on to praise Quinn for pulling off the splits, admitting that he's not quite so good at doing the move in reality as Quinn has learned to do. "Holy sh*t, Jadiant, this made my YEAR," Reynolds says in his response. "Can't even describe what this post means to me. Also, I can do the splits... but only once a year. And it has to be in the lobby of a hospital."

Of course, Quinn appears to be very happy with Reynolds' response. "I can't believe you've seen it. You've made it so worth it," the cosplayer and real-life superhero said to Reynolds. While Reynolds is clearly a big inspiration, Quinn should also know that his post is helping to do the same for so many others. "Thanks for sharing this and for being who you are, now you get to inspire people too," one fan puts it in the comments of the Instagram post, echoing countless other responses.

After first playing Deadpool on the big screen in 2016, Reynolds would reprise the role of Wade Wilson in 2018's Deadpool 2. Both movies were incredibly successful, and Reynolds has since confirmed that he'll play the role once again in Deadpool 3, but it's still not clear exactly when that sequel will be released. Just days ago, Reynolds agreed with a fan on social media insisting that we need the anticipated movie "right now." Given the year we've had, it's hard to argue with that logic.

Some details of this story come to us from Vancouver Is Awesome, and the image of Quinn in his Deadpool cosplay was originally posted by Jadiant on Instagram.