As Channing Tatum prepares to launch his Hollywood comeback with projects like The Lost City and Magic Mike 3, he’s ready to exorcise demons from his past, including the delayed Gambit project. Tatum recently spoke to Variety about his bright plans for the future, and during that time, he touched on his defunct superhero project for Fox.
Several years ago, Tatum and his producing partner, Reid Carolin, wanted to shuffle the deck for Fox’s X-Men franchise. The duo worked for four years developing a standalone film featuring the Cajun X-Man Gambit, with Tatum in the lead role. Gambit had been a passion project of Tatum’s for many years, and he was willing to do whatever it would take to bring his version of the character to the silver screen. Unfortunately, he encountered push-back from 20th Century Fox, who had been clinging to the X-Men franchise with an iron grip.
“The studio really didn’t want us to direct it,” Tatum said. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
Tatum was so in love with the script Carolin had co-written that he was willing to forgo the director’s chair if it meant cameras could start rolling. Carolin’s script is said to have had a Deadpool-like tone that would have given Gambit a chance to ham it up for the cameras. “They would call him ‘flamboyant’ in his description,” Tatum says. “I wouldn’t — he was just the coolest person. He could pull anything off. Most superheroes, their outfits are utilitarian. Batman’s got his belt. Gambit’s like, ‘No, this shit’s just fly, bro! This shit walked down the Paris runway last year.’ He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion.”
So, what killed Channing Tatum’s Gambit project, you ask? According to the man himself, it was the 2019 Disney/Fox merger. Feeling dejected after Fox brought the Gambit project down like a house of cards, Tatum walked away from the failed opportunity feeling devastated.
“Once ‘Gambit’ went away, I was so traumatized,” said Tatum, adding that the experience soured him on watching The Avengers. “I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.”
I feel for Tatum in this instance. Imagine working on something for four years, believing in it so completely, only to have it all go up in smoke. Do we blame the merger? Can we point a finger at Tatum’s gamble to assign himself as the project’s director? Whatever the reason, Gambit has been returned to Marvel’s deck, and there’s no telling when he might return.
What do you think about Channing Tatum’s Gambit being dealt a bad hand? Have you enjoyed all the card-related puns I’ve inserted into this article? I certainly hope so. I do it for you. Let us know if you think Marvel should bring Tatum into the MCU in the comments section below.