Deadpool & Wolverine finally gave Channing Tatum the chance to play Gambit on the big screen, but Ryan Reynolds doesn’t want the fun to stop there. As Deadpool (Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) navigate their way through The Void, they find unexpected allies in Blade (Wesley Snipes), Elektra (Jennifer Garner), Laura/X23 (Dafne Keen), and Gambit. Tatum has been attached to a potential Gambit movie for years, but the film couldn’t escape production purgatory. Thankfully, Reynolds gave the character redemption, as Tatum’s cameo was among the best in the movie.
Ryan Reynolds took to Instagram to share his love for Channing Tatum’s performance in the film. Sharing some BTS photos of Tatum playing Gambit, Reynolds likened his co-star’s time trying to get an accurate Gambit film greenlit to his own experience working on the first Deadpool. Reynolds praised his co-star’s perseverance and said that Tatum was born to play Gambit. After such a heartfelt message, Reynolds informally petitioned for Tatum to finally get his Gambit movie:
“Gambit is a guy Chan was born to play. His story is similar to my road on Deadpool — in that Chan spent a decade trying to put the most comic-accurate version of Gambit on the big screen. Remy LeBeau is grafted to his soul and needs to come out and deal. Some characters can only exist with a one in a billion pairing and this is it. Gambit found his author in Chan. He’s one of the coolest, smartest characters in Comics and still largely unexplored.
I want more — and from what I saw in theaters, you do too…
Why Channing Tatum’s Gambit Movie Never Happened
Channing Tatum’s ties to the card-flinging X-Men hero go back over 15 years. The actor was considered to play the character in X-Men: The Last Stand. However, Gambit was cut from the film’s script. The Cajun hero actually made his live-action debut before Tatum’s cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. Gambit, played by Taylor Kitsch, made his big screen debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, alongside Ryan Reynolds as a rough version of Deadpool.
Channing Tatum officially signed on to star in a Gambit movie in 2014. However, the production saw setback after setback as various directors, including Doug Liman, Gore Verbinski, and Rupert Wyatt, joined and left the project. Following Disney’s acquisition of the X-Men characters from 21st Century Fox, the Gambit movie was considered to be officially dead and buried.
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There hasn’t been any official confirmation about Channing Tatum returning to play Gambit in the future of the MCU. Kevin Feige has addressed the subject following the release of Deadpool & Wolverine but didn’t give a definitive answer. While the Marvel Studios president didn’t rule out the possibility, it will likely be a long wait before anything is announced. Feige said:
“I can’t [confirm Gambit is coming in a future live-action project]! [laughs] But I’m glad that you were so touched.”
Deadpool & Wolverine
is currently screening in theaters.