Bambi Eloriaga-Amago
In an interview with InqPOP!—Inquirer.net’s section which focuses on pop culture, Ryan Reynolds (in character as Deadpool, Marvel Comics’s Merc with a Mouth, an anti-hero mercenary known for being extremely talkative) apparently advised Filipino voters to vote for Duterte.
The interview, conducted by InqPOP! writer AJT Santos on location, as they state, on the Deadpool movie set, began routinely enough; with Deadpool sharing some background information on his superhero origins. But it’s his parting words to his Filipino fans that makes one sit up and take notice.
“Go and watch my movie tomorrow so the producers will have enough money to produce a sequel!” Deadpool began. “And keep reading InqPOP! This is the most awesomesauce pop culture website on the planet! And vote for Duterte!”
Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte is running for Philippine president in the upcoming May 2016 elections
When asked by InqPOP! why he was endorsing Duterte, Deadpool merely answered, “Let’s just say me likey his ‘methods.’ Interpret that however you want.”
Fans and netizens, however, are highly skeptical, even opining that the picture of the InqPOP! writer with Deadpool on set was created using Photoshop.
“Geezus,” exclaimed Chukee Ledesma. “Do journalists stoop so low just to get traffic to their articles? Sorry but it just appears like a desperate move for hype/traffic. Image is a lie coz it’s taken from mario lopez’s interview making the transcript a whole damn lie as well. Just riding on Deadpool’s openning hype. Troll/prank or not. It just looks like a pathetic attempt (sic).”
Duterte supporters were quick to say that anti-Duterte people were just feeling butt-hurt over the endorsement.
“I like Duterte,” argued a netizen with the username Radj, “pero (but) I don’t believe everything on the internet right away.”
A couple of other netizens, such as Alan Ang, pointed viewers to Extra‘s exclusive on-set interview with Ryan Reynolds as the source of InqPOP‘s alleged doctored photo. The interview, as conducted by Mario Lopez, can be viewed below:
“tingnan nyo yung chair nila (Look at their chair),” said user tryndamere, “wag agad maniwala nagpapataas lng ng traffic to sa website nila (Don’t be too quick to believe, they just want to increase traffic to their site).”
Eldrin Go, on the other hand, called for a “video or it didn’t happen.”
In case you want to judge for yourself if the interview is legit or not, the transcript can be read here.
