Bringing Deadpool & Wolverine home to Canada 'just feels right' for Montreal-born director Shawn Levy

One of the most anticipated blockbusters of the summer made its Canadian premiere in Toronto Tuesday, as Marvel rolledout the red (and yellow) carpet for Deadpool & Wolverine.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, longtime pals and stars of the film, were joined by director Shawn Levy as they took over Scotiabank Theatre to meet fans and unleash their R-rated humour onto Canadian screens for the first time, ahead of the movie'srelease.

Fans of the franchise, who were decked out in costumes, cheered"Thank you!" and screamedas the stars signed autographs and tookselfies.

"Welcome to Toronto, Hugh,"one fan shouted as Jackman crossed the room.

Canadian heroes 'draped in maple syrup'

On the red carpet, both stars and their directorshared why it's so important for the movie'sCanadian identity toshine.

"They're Canadian,"Reynolds told CBC News. "They're Canadian characters!What an opportunity to have two hugely iconic superheroes enter the MCU and do it draped in maple syrup."

According to the characters' origins, both Deadpool and Wolverine are Canadian, with Deadpool, a.k.a. Wade Wilson, hailing from Regina, while Wolverine, a.k.a. Logan, was born in northern Alberta near the town of Cold Lake.

Not only are Reynolds,from Vancouver, and Levy, from Montreal, coming home to Canada for the premiere,but the film also brings Jackman's characterback to his roots by putting him in the iconic blue and yellow suit the characterwears in the comics.

Jackman began playing Wolverine in the 2000 movie X-Men, and heldthe Guinness World Record for "longest career as a live-action Marvel character" until2017's Logan, which he thought was the last time he would play the role.

That is, until he heard Reynolds and Levy were working on a third Deadpool movie. He calledto let them knowhe wanted back in.

WATCH | Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman talk Canadian content:

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman on the Canadian identity of Deadpool & Wolverine

2 months ago

Duration 0:54

Speaking to CBC News' Eli Glasner, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the stars of Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine, share why it was so important to maintain the Canadian moments in the highly-anticipated summer blockbuster.

"I love this character, but I've never loved it more than this," said Jackman, noting thatReynolds, who isalso a writer and producer on the film, is one of the few actors whose advice on how to improve he's genuinely open to.

"As friends, we push each other, so both of us know these characters intimately, we can drop in, but then we can play, we can move and we can go places.It was a dream come true."

Coming to Canada 'just feels right': director

"I don't know that I can think of a mainstream event movie tent-polethat is more Canadian than Deadpool & Wolverine," Levytold CBC News on the red carpet."So it feels great."

He said that from the very beginning, they told Disney and Marvel that they would "travel all over the world talking to this movie, but we're coming to Canada.' "

"And it just feels right."

The director, known for family-friendly films likeNight at the MuseumandCheaper by the Dozen,and who is also the producer of Netflix seriesStranger Things,saysstepping into the Marvel world comes with expectations, but joining the franchise didn't mean he'd lose his personal touch.

Levy said that from the very beginning, Reynolds and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made it clear to himthat they wanted Deadpool & Wolverine to be funny and have spectacle, but that it should also be a Shawn Levy movie.

"There's a big beating heart at the centre of this movie and Ithink that's what makes it a me movie," he said.

Deadpool & Wolverine,the only film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that's set to be released this year, isexpected to break recordsand unseat the original Deadpool's $132.4 million opening. Deadline isprojecting that the filmwill rake in over a billion dollars, with an opening weekend estimate of $160 million.

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to be released in theatres on July 26.