Channing Tatum’s cursed Gambit movie explained: Can Deadpool 3 cameo fix it all?

For years now, Channing Tatum has tried and failed to get a Gambit movie to happen, but things keep getting in the way. Here’s why, plus a little glimmer of hope, perhaps.

The X-Men movie timeline has never been the easiest to navigate, and that’s just the projects that have made it to the big screen. Behind the scenes, it’s been even messier at times.

Now, with the Disney-Fox merger, it seems all cards are back on the table and anything can happen. Judging by the range of cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine, that’s certainly true for some forgotten faces.

So, will Tatum ever achieve his dream of a solo Gambit movie? What went wrong in the first place? And how does Deadpool & Wolverine change everything? Warning: spoilers ahead!

Gambit movie is shelved

Right now, there are no longer any plans for a Gambit movie to be made. The project was in development under 20th Century Fox, but Disney canceled it in 2019.

Taylor Kitsch had previously played the role as a supporting character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009. Despite the poor critical reception for that superhero movie, Fox wanted to give the character another try.

20th Century Fox

Channing Tatum never actually appeared as Gambit, but he was cast in the role in May 2014. After years of development hell, the film was slated to release in 2020, but it never came to pass.

Disney officially acquired Fox in 2019 and subsequently shelved Gambit indefinitely in May of that year, five years after Tatum had signed on.

What went wrong?

Put simply, Disney didn’t want the Gambit movie to interfere with its plans for introducing the X-Men into the MCU. The House of Mouse wanted to start fresh and lay new foundations for the mutants.

Marvel Comics

The journey of Gambit was cursed from the very beginning, in truth. A brief cameo as the character was filmed by Bryan Singer for X2, but it was ultimately cut from the 2003 movie so that he could have a bigger role in the next movie.

However, Singer was replaced for The Last Stand and a reported Keanu Reeves Gambit never came to be.

Years later, the plan was for Taylor Kitsch to get his own solo movie off the back of Origins, but that obviously didn’t happen. And that’s where Tatum came in. The actor expressed his interest in playing the X-Men character to Slash Film in 2013, claiming Gambit had always been his favorite.

In 2014, X-Men producer, Lauren Shuler Donner revealed to Ali Plumb she had begun planning the movie, stating, “It doesn’t have to be a great big movie… it’s a whole different story. [Tatum’s] on board, and I have to get the studio on board.”

So close, yet so far

Eventually, the plan was that Tatum’s Gambit would be introduced in 2016’s X-Men Apocalypse, before getting his solo outing. But, finding someone to take charge of the film was difficult.

Tatum personally asked Bennett Miller, Darren Aronofsky, Gareth Evans, and J.C. Chandor to helm the project, but they all turned it down.

Over the next few years, Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski all signed on to direct the Gambit movie, but they all pulled out for various reasons during production. The film also underwent a number of rewrites as it constantly changed its creative direction.

Gambit flipped between a rom-com, a heist movie, and a comedic action movie during its inception period. Regardless, by April 2018, both Tatum and producer, Simon Kinberg, had a script they were happy with. And, at that point, it was thought the project was not at risk from Disney’s takeover.

By January 2019, Tatum was looking to direct the film himself, sharing duties with Reid Carolin. But, Marvel quickly began assessing the various Fox films in development, and two months after the acquisition was complete, they decided Gambit should be removed from the release schedule.

Tatum’s dream came true, sort of

Channing Tatum may not ever get his Gambit movie, but he did show up as the character in the new Deadpool & Wolverine movie.

Disney

Of all the Deadpool & Wolverine Easter eggs and cameos, the fact that Tatum finally got his moment as Remy LeBeau is a really nice touch. From his Cajun accent setting up lots of jokes, to badass fight scenes in a comic book accurate costume, it’s a genuine joy seeing him in action as Gambit.

We won’t say much more for now, as we don’t want to totally spoil his involvement for anyone who’s yet to see the new movie.

Tatum took to social media not long after the release of the film to share his gratitude to Ryan Reynolds for making this happen. He wrote: “I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion.”

It’s very likely the last we’ll see of him in the role, but you never know. Perhaps there’s a place in Phase 6 for Tatum after all, especially with Marvel having big plans for mutantkind.

Speaking of, check out what’s happening with other upcoming Marvel movies like The Fantastic Four, Avengers Doomsday, and Secret Wars.