Channing Tatum Talks Almost Playing Gambit, and Why He Can’t Watch Marvel Movies
One of the biggest stars in Hollywood was poised to play the fan-favorite X-Men character, so what happened? Channing Tatum talks about almost playing Gambit, and why he can’t watch Marvel movies anymore.
Channing Tatum has been a name that pop culture has come to easily recognize. A performer who has shown mass appeal to various kinds of film fans, Tatum has starred in everything from the insane and acclaimed comedy 21 Jump Street, to the equally beloved Magic Mike franchise.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: Channing Tatum attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
An actor who has been a consistent presence in the film industry since his debut role as Jason in 2005s Samuel L. Jackson led Coach Carter, he is a performer exposed to audiences for almost two decades.
Yet, with so many films under his belt, it appears that the one that got away is the one that haunts him the most.
Source: Marvel
Long lasting were the rumblings of a potential Gambit solo movie that starred the actor, one that he and his producing partner, Reid Carolin, were developing from the ground up with Fox Studios.
Prior to the Disney merger, the film was nearly green-lit, with production set to begin; all until Disney scrapped the project in the hopes of developing their own version of the beloved X-Men.
Source: Marvel
In promoting their new film, Dog, the duo discussed with Variety just went wrong, as Channing Tatum talks about almost playing Gambit, and why he can’t watch Marvel Movies.
Talking about the scrapped project, Tatum stated, “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.”
Source: Variety
“The studio really didn’t want us to direct it,” Tatum continued, “they wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.” Speaking of Gambit, Tatum never ceased to speak highly of the character that got away; “He was just the coolest person. He could pull anything off.”
Talking about the concept the duo developed, Carolin stated, “We wanted to make a Romantic comedy superhero movie, the thesis was the only thing harder than saving the world is making a relationship work.”
Source: Marvel
“We were right on the one-yard line,” Carolin continued, “We had cast the film. We’d opened up a production office. We were on our way to shoot in New Orleans.”
Yet, it was never meant to be, as Carolin concluded, “Disney had just gotten the X-Men from Fox, I think they needed to redesign the X-Men from the ground up.”
Source: Marvel
Tatum still holds out hope, however, that he could play the character again; “uh, year, I would love to play Gambit. U don’t think we should direct it. I think that was hubris on our part.”
Hopefully, one day, Tatum can pick up the staff, and finally embrace the iconic X-Men character when they make their inevitable MCU debut.
Source: Marvel
