Superstars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman were in Toronto this week to promote their forthcoming film, Deadpool & Wolverine, which had its Canadian premiere at the city’s Scotiabank Theatre on Tuesday.
Following the event and an appearance on stage at Bell Media headquarters on Queen Street, Vancouver-born Reynolds took to Instagram to share his thoughts about being back in the nation’s largest city and what the stop meant to him.
@blogto Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman have arrived for the Canadian premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine in Toronto at the Scotiabank Theatre 🔥 @Ryan Reynolds #toronto #ontario #tiktoktoronto #deadpool #wolverine #deadpoolandwolverine #ryanreynolds #hughjackman #shawnlevy #canada #movie #cinema #film #fyp #foryoupage #greenscreen #CapCut ♬ original sound – blogTO
In a lengthy caption on Wednesday, he hailed the city’s energy, thanking it for enlivening him on an exhausting press run.
“The relentless #DeadpoolAndWolverine global tour isn’t always easy. No complaints! But sometimes you show up and it feels like your brain has been lobotomized by a claw hammer… you’re desperately searching for a gas pedal when all you can find are brakes and a reverse gear. I’m grateful to Toronto for putting the paddles to my chest this morning,” the Star wrote.
“A month of sipping sensory input through a firehose sorta warps your normal sense of pace, space and time. You understand you have a job to do. The journalists you’re meeting have a job to do. It’s a simple but important transaction, and I wanna deliver. But I didn’t step up for Toronto. Today, Toronto stepped up for me.”
He also noted that he’d missed being in the metropolis, saying “what a spot” and joking that “one day I’ll have the lazy-lidded confidence to call it ‘The 6ix.’ But that day isn’t today.”
Many locals jumped into the comments to thank the actor for his kind words and for his leading role in the Deadpool/Marvel franchise, which one person wrote is “nice to escape into in a world that doesn’t seem to make sense on most days.”
Others called Reynolds a Canadian treasure, a legend and “pure class,” writing, “Toronto loves you right back” and “you make Canada proud.”
Deadpool & Wolverine will be hitting the screens everywhere on Friday, and both Reynolds and fellow Canuck director Shawn Levy have touted its strong Canadian connections, which include the fact that its title characters’ backstories both started in the Great White North.