I Was Totally Wrong! Channing Tatum Will Be Gambit After All!

Earlier in the week, I published an article claiming Channing Tatum would be not playing Gambit in the X-Men franchise, a surprise to many considering his passion for the project. Frankly, I had heard from people the night the news broke that nothing was set in stone and that maybe Tatum would end up staying on the project, but in a rare move of pessimism from yours truly, I chalked that kind of chatter to just wishful thinking.

But now it turns out that Tatum will indeed be playing that Cajun mutant in a solo Gambit feature, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting that Channing Tatum has closed a deal to portray the character. They do confirm that there major tensions between Tatum and 20th Century Fox (the studio in charge of Gambit and all X-Men movies). Interestingly, the report notes that Fox sees Tatums Gambit character as someone who could be a major player in the entire X-Men universe on par with Hugh Jackmans Wolverine, a plan that seemed to cause some sort of tension between the actor and the studio, though the Hollywood Reporter doesn’t confirm if Tatum even signed on for further Gambit movies beyond his solo outing.

Gambit will open in theaters on October 7, 2016. I’ve never been a huge fan of the mutant, but I love Tatum and director Rupert Wyatt majorly impressed me with his 2011 effort Rise of The Planet of The Apes. With the right script, these guys might be able to pull off something special here!