Julian Dennison's casting in the next Deadpool film has drawn much excitement, including from his Hunt for the Wilderpeople co-stars.
The teen's role of Ricky Baker in the hit 2016 film won him legions of fans around the world, including Ryan Reynolds, who teased that Dennison might be in the superhero sequel in an Instagram post on Wednesday night.
Dennison's NZ agent Jude Lane has confirmed to Newshub he will indeed appear in the next instalment in the series but remained tight-lipped about the details of his role.
She also said Dennison is currently in Canada preparing for the shoot.
Dennison's Wilderpeople director Taika Waititi and co-star Sam Neil have weighed in on the news, both clearly ecstatic over the young Kiwi star's new role.
"Never in my wilderpeoplest dreams would I have imagined this picture existing. But.... Yessss," Waititi wrote.
His tweet was retweeted by Reynolds himself.
Neill joined the Twitter joy, calling the casting "the best".
Reynold's Instagram feed seems to be the chosen avenue for all Deadpool announcements about the production; he confirmed shooting started on the much-anticipated sequel yesterday.
Empire magazine voted Hunt for the Wilderpeople the best film of 2016 and gave Dennison a node for Best Male Newcomer too. The British film bible too was clearly stoked with his casting news.
"In what is probably the best casting news you'll hear all year, Julian Dennison (yes, Ricky Baker himself) has joined the ranks of Deadpool 2," it wrote on its website.
Dennison joins returning co-stars including T.J. Miller and Morena Baccarin, along with new additions Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino.
Directed by John Wick and Atomic Blonde helmer David Leitch, Deadpool 2 is slated for release mid-next year.
Newshub.
