For Channing Tatum, his Gambit movie is the one that got away. And he still pines for the role. Who can blame him? Gambit is one of the best X-Men characters out there. And fans still wait for an on-screen adaptation to do him justice. Could fans have found solace in Tatum’s vision of Gambit? We’ll never know. And that does feel sad. But for Tatum, the loss of Gambit goes deeper than that. He did spend four years developing it, after all.
In an interview with Variety, Channing Tatum really bares his soul about the Gambit movie that never came to pass. The interview notes that Tatum felt very strongly about the script. Reid Carolin, Magic Mike‘s screenwriter, also penned Gambit. And in tone, the movie resembled Deadpool.
Tatum shares a bit more about the character:
They would call him ‘flamboyant’ in his description. 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.
Flamboyant, we’ll note, should not be an insult. But Tatum’s determined protectiveness of the character, even now, has us charmed.
Gambit was slated as a “raunchy stand-alone superhero movie about the X-Men” mutant.” The film was being developed by 20th Century Fox. But after Disney merged with Fox, the Gambit movie was lost… A casualty to the merger.
“Once Gambit went away, I was so traumatized,” Tatum reveals. He could no longer watch the MCU’s films. “I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies.” For Tatum, it was just too much. “I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.”
Now we feel sad. We have to admit, Channing Tatum’s take on Gambit probably wouldn’t fit into Marvel’s agenda. But hey, Deadpool has joined the MCU. So perhaps anything is possible. Maybe one day, Channing Tatum will get to play Gambit. And he won’t have to feel so sad about it. Someone give Channing Tatum a hug… And a trenchcoat. Stat.