It’s no secret that Channing Tatum was once in line to star as Gambit in a standalone movie. But now, in a new profile in Vanity Fair, Tatum is speaking in depth about why the project fell apart and was ultimately abandoned.
On Gambit, Channing Tatum said, “It got swallowed up into Disney by way of Marvel when they bought Fox, and ultimately I just think that the tone of the movie we wanted to make was very far from what they wanted to do—or, you know, maybe they’re waiting to see how they do it with us or without us.” With such studio power will undoubtedly come interference and thus it may have been best for the movie overall that it didn’t move forward.
Still, Channing Tatum does have the itch to somehow see the Gambit movie through, saying, “We call every once in a while, but we’ve got to spiritually, emotionally, kind of mentally let it go.”
At the same time, Channing Tatum knows he may have also been too busy to properly focus on Gambit. “I was working a lot [at the time]. I had gotten to work with some of my favorite directors. I had checked boxes that I would never have hoped to dream about.”
Gambit had been on the table for years, even before Channing Tatum expressed interest in playing the famed X-Men character. Of note, at different times, a scene with the character was shot for 2003’s X2 (but was ultimately cut), Keanu Reeves was once considered and Taylor Kitsch gave Gambit his first big-screen appearance. Perhaps unexpectedly, it faced numerous setbacks from the time it was announced to when it was ultimately canceled in 2019.
Channing Tatum spoke out about the loss of the standalone Gambit movie last year as well, saying it had a major impact on him. “Once Gambit went away, I was so traumatized…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.”
What do you think? Would Channing Tatum have made a good Gambit? Let us know your take in the comments section below!