Channing Tatum is speaking out some more about his future as the title character in the upcoming X-Men spinoff Gambit. During a Reddit AMA, Tatum discussed his chances of showing up in the next X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse, and what he thinks of the announcement that Rupert Wyatt would be directing Gambit. Unfortunately for fans of the actor, you’re probably not going to see him as the Cajun mutant until next Fall.
First off, when asked if he’d be appearing as Gambit in X-Men: Apocalypse during the AMA, Tatum’s response was short and sweet, “No ma’am, or sir. I definitely will not.” I’m really happy about this news. Apocalypse takes place in the 80s and having Tatum’s Gambit show up during that time would limit the storyline possibilities of his solo franchise in the future. It’s time we take these characters out of the past and make sure the X-Men franchise has characters that actually exist during the present time.
When Tatum was asked about Rupert Wyatt taking over the directing duties on the film, he says, “We finally found someone that I really do believe wants to make Gambit, it will be the second standalone character. And I just really think because Gambit is not the most popular or the biggest hero, I think there’s a really unique opportunity. Marvel’s done a lot of great movies that have made a ridiculous amount of money, and it’s always good to figure how to change the form.”
While not the most eloquent answer, I can tell Tatum is genuinely excited by the news of Wyatt taking over. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great movie that rejuvenated the franchise, and I’m very interested in seeing what he has planned for Gambit.
When Gambit was announced, my first reaction was “…why?” My appreciation of the character dates back to the 90s X-Men cartoon, but I was just curious why they chose Gambit over a number of other characters that might be more interesting. It does feel they got a huge star who wanted the role, so they built a movie around him. Nothing wrong with that as long as they create a good movie, and help me forget that horrible Gambit appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It still haunts me to this day.
Gambit is set to release October 7, 2016.
