Channing Tatum Discusses His ‘Doomsday’ Return As Gambit; Reveals On-Set Injury

by Justin Hermes · September 2, 2025

At one point, it seemed inevitable that Channing Tatum would headline a solo film as the X-Man Gambit.

In May 2014, Tatum officially signed on to bring the fan-favorite mutant to life, with early plans for him to debut in X-Men: Apocalypse. When Fox announced a Gambit stand-alone film for its 2016 release slate, the project appeared to be moving full steam ahead.

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)

Then everything fell apart. Over the next five years, Tatum’s Gambit film would linger in developmental hell. Eventually, the actor gave up hope.

A Shot At Redemption

That’s when Ryan Reynolds came calling.

Photo: Marvel

Finally, in Deadpool & Wolverine, Tatum got to make his long-awaited debut as Gambit. Both the actor and fans were thrilled by the development.

Following his unlikely turn as the beloved X-Man, Gambit is set to reprise his role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

Photo: Marvel

A Different Gambit

This time around, however, the mutant will have a different accent.

“I’m not gonna go full Cajun,” Tatum told Variety. “[Directors Anthony and Joe Russo] want things to be funny, but they don’t want to go full ‘Deadpool.’ They want to keep the drama and keep it tight. When Gambit gets serious — when he drops the Mardi Gras mask — things do matter.”

On-Set Injury

While Tatum was loath to give away anything about Avengers: Doomsday, he did reveal that he injured himself on set and was thus sidelined from some of Gambit’s action scenes.

“It’s not about the pain I feel in the moment,” Tatum said. “It’s knowing I can’t take this back. And now I know what the next six months of my life will be like.. I just hate getting old… In my mind, I’m literally still 30 years old — 26, if I’m honest,” he explained.