Warning: Major Deadpool & Wolverine spoilers are ahead. Read at your own risk.
True to the movie’s promotions, Deadpool & Wolverine has featured numerous cameos, including some characters who haven’t received their proper endings, like Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Wesley Snipes’ Blade, and Dafne Keen’s X-23, after their stories end up without continuation. These three are seen in The Void, seemingly explaining where they have gone after their characters’ disappearances. However, aside from them, another appearance that excites many is seeing Channing Tatum as Gambit. But Tatum doesn’t only make a brief cameo. He plays a supporting role in helping Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and Logan (Hugh Jackman) battle Cassandra Nova’s (Emma Corrin) army, finally featuring Tatum’s much-awaited debut as a beloved X-Man character after a long cinematic history.
Many are surprised to see Tatum as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine. The movie not only utilizes his comic-accurate costume but also features his indecipherable Louisiana accent. Many may remember Remy LeBeau today for his heroic role in X-Men '97 Season 1. But some may not know that he’s set to have his own movie, led by Tatum himself, only that it ends up being canceled.
When Brett Ratner’s 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand was still filming, X-Men and X-2 director Bryan Singer wanted to give Gambit a bigger role. Unfortunately, he didn’t end up directing the threequel and it went to Ratner. Tatum was supposed to play Gambit in The Last Stand, but the character was written out of the script before he was officially cast.
Come Gavin Hood’s 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine was made, Gambit finally made it on the script, but Tatum was busy filming Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Hence, Taylor Kitsch was given the role. Sadly, the film’s poor performance led to the cancellation of the future plans for more X-Men Origins films, including Kitsch’s Gambit. Finally, 20th Century Fox green-lit a Gambit solo film in 2014, though it ended up in development hell after several years.
What happened to Channing Tatum’s Gambit movie?
In an interview with Empire in 2014, X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner revealed she had started planning a Gambit film with Tatum in the lead. The actor officially signed up to do it, and he was supposed to be introduced as Gambit in Singer’s 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse, after which his franchise would be launched. Tatum even appeared as Gambit at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015. However, his appearance in Apocalypse didn’t happen, as the plan changed to introduce him in a new standalone franchise.
The production continued, though, with Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) supposed to direct the film, only to drop out after due to scheduling conflicts and a sudden budget change. Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) was chosen to replace Wyatt but left the project. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) was then announced as the new director, and the production was set to start in March 2018, but he also dropped out shortly due to scheduling conflicts and creative differences.
In an interview with Variety in 2022, Tatum showed his eagerness to make the Gambit movie by proposing co-directing it with producing partner Reid Carline, but Fox refused. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything,” he said.
Apparently, there was disagreement over the character portrayal being flamboyant, but Tatum stressed he wouldn’t play him that way, describing his role as “just the coolest person.” “He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion,” he explained.
However, all hopes were lost after Disney acquired Fox in 2019, and Gambit was canceled along with Fox’s other planned Marvel films. Tatum told Vanity Fair in 2023 that the film “got swallowed up” by Disney when it bought Fox, adding the tone of the movie they wanted to make was “very far” from what the studio wanted to do.
“You know, maybe they’re waiting to see how they do it with us or without us,” he continued. “We call every once in a while, but we’ve got to spiritually, emotionally, kind of mentally let it go.”
Deadpool & Wolverine finally gave Tatum a chance to play a character he had long wanted to portray on the big screen after almost 20 years. Though Deadpool criticizes him, mocking his accent and calling him an up-close magician, this may finally pave the way for Gambit to have his standalone movie.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters.
