Deadpool and Wolverine is full of cameos. Brilliantly, the film reintroduces several characters who have been forgotten or abandoned in various Marvel films and explains that they have been banished to The Void, essentially the MCU’s version of a cosmic trash heap.
After being sent to The Void, Deadpool and Wolverine meet Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Wesley Snipes’ Blade, Dafne Keen’s X-23 Loganand even Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm from the original The Fantastic Four films, before Evans took on the mantle of Captain America. These characters never had true endings – their franchises ended abruptly. So they team up with Deadpool and Wolverine in hopes of reaching a noble and epic conclusion.
But perhaps the most curious cameo is that of a character played by Channing Tatum, who never got his own live-action film – despite the actor’s best efforts. When Tatum walks in, you’d be forgiven for wondering, “Who is this guy with an incomprehensible New Orleans accent who uses playing cards as weapons?”
Well, he’s Gambit, and some of us are (unfortunately) old enough to remember when 20th Century Fox announced a Gambit movie that never materialized – perhaps for good reason, based on how ridiculous the character is. Deadpool and Wolverine. Here’s everything you need to know about Tatum’s Gambit.
Who is Gambit?
Gambit, also known as Ragin’ Cajun or Prince of Thieves, is a lesser-known but beloved mutant in the X-Men universe. Remy LeBeau has the ability to create explosive projectiles using kinetic energy. His favorite projectiles are, oddly enough, playing cards.
The New Orleans-based mutant worked as a pickpocket before joining the X-Men’s crime-fighting team. He became a favorite character in X-Men: The Animated Series and returned to the small screen in Disney+ animation X-Men ’97 earlier this year.
Has Gambit appeared on the big screen?
Gambit has appeared on the big screen before in 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He was played by Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch as Tatum was busy filming GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra. But it was Tatum, not Kitsch, who spent the last decade trying and failing to make a solo Gambit movie. The fact that he finally makes his debut as the character in this fourth-wall-breaking film is a sly commentary on Hollywood superhero filmmaking.
Neither the character nor Origins of the X-Men were well received. Ryan Reynolds also made his debut as Deadpool in this film. For inexplicable reasons, a character so loquacious that he is called “the Mercenary with the Mouth” had his lip sewn in the film. Reynolds was so dissatisfied with Deadpool’s portrayal in Origins of the X-Men that he became determined to do right by the character, eventually launching the Deadpool franchise in 2016.
Gambit, on the other hand, never returned to the big screen… until Deadpool and Wolverine.
What happened to the movie Gambit?
Coming off the success of 21 Jump Street, Tatum was determined to make a Gambit solo film, and in 2014, 20th Century Fox officially greenlit the film. Tatum then spent years in development hell.
Various directors, including Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Doug Liman (Mr. AND MRS. SMITH), entered and then left production. Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright recently revealed in a interview with SlashFilm that X-Men producer Simon Kinberg offered him the Gambit movie, but he turned it down. Tatum even proposed which he co-directs with producing partner Reid Carolin. “The studio didn’t really want us to direct,” Tatum counted Variety. “They wanted anyone but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
Apparently, there was also disagreement over the portrayal of the character. “They would call him ‘flamboyant’ in his description,” Tatum said. “I wouldn’t do that – he was just the nicest person. He could do anything. For most superheroes, their clothes are utilitarian. Batman has his belt. Gambit’s like, ‘No, this shit just fly, bro! This shit walked the catwalk in Paris last year. He’s just wearing things that are so cool because he loves fashion.”
Tatum compared the tone of his film Gambit to Dead Pool, in fact, and said it was intended to be an R-rated romantic comedy. In the comics and animated series, Gambit’s love interest is fan-favorite X-Men character Rogue.
When Disney merged with 20th Century Fox in 2019, Tatum lost hope that the film would ever be made. Carolin says they were ready to start filming in New Orleans when production shut down.
Tatum countedVanity Fair in 2023, “It was swallowed up by Disney through Marvel when they bought Fox, and ultimately I just think the tone of the movie we wanted to make was very far from what they wanted to make — or, you know, maybe they They are waiting to see how they will do this with or without us. We call from time to time, but we need to let go of this spiritually, emotionally and mentally.
The Gambit Movie Is Still Dead After Deadpool and Wolverine?
Probably. Tatum stated in the interview with Variety that he was “so traumatized” by the deal falling apart that he couldn’t watch other Marvel films. “I turned off my Marvel machine. I didn’t get to see any of the films,” he said. “I loved that character. It was really sad. It was like losing a friend because I was ready to play him.”
Presumably Tatum will make an exception and display Deadpool and Wolverine. The actor seems to have overcome the pain of the damned production process for Strategy: He can be the butt of several jokes. Deadpool criticizes Tatum’s accent work and argues that audiences miss critical exposition every time Gambit speaks. He refers to him as a close magician and mocks his fashion. It’s fun, but not exactly a promising start to a possible spin-off.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
