Deadpool & Wolverine is chock full of cameos. Brilliantly, the film reintroduces several characters who have been forgotten or abandoned in various Marvel movies and explains that they have been banished to The Void, essentially the MCU’s version of a cosmic trash heap.
After being sent into The Void themselves, Deadpool and Wolverine meet Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Wesley Snipes’ Blade, Dafne Keen’s X-23 from Logan, and even Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm from the original Fantastic Four films, before Evans took on the mantle of Captain America. These characters never got true endings—their franchises ended abruptly. So they team up with Deadpool and Wolverine in hopes of getting an epic, noble conclusion.
But perhaps the most curious cameo is a character played by Channing Tatum who never got his own live-action movie—despite the actor’s best efforts. When Tatum waltzes in, you would be forgiven for wondering, “Who is this dude with an incomprehensible New Orleans accent slinging 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 film that never materialized—perhaps with good reason based on how ridiculous the character is in Deadpool & Wolverine. Here’s everything you need to know about Tatum’s Gambit.
Who is Gambit?
Gambit, otherwise known as the 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 projectiles of choice are, intriguingly, playing cards.
The New Orleans-based mutant worked as a pickpocket before joining the crimefighting team of the X-Men. He became a breakout favorite character in X-Men: The Animated Series and returned to the small screen in Disney+’s animated X-Men ’97 earlier this year.
Has Gambit appeared on the big screen?
Gambit has actually appeared on the big screen before in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He was played by Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch since Tatum was busy filming G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. But it’s Tatum, not Kitsch, who has spent the last decade trying and failing to get a Gambit solo movie made. The fact that he finally makes his debut as the character in this fourth-wall-breaking movie is a sly commentary on Hollywood superhero movie making.
Neither the character nor X-Men Origins were well received. Ryan Reynolds also made his debut as Deadpool in that movie. For inexplicable reasons, a character so loquacious he’s called “the Merc With a Mouth” had his lip sewn shut in the film. Reynolds was so unhappy with Deadpool’s portrayal in X-Men Origins that he became determined to do right by the character, eventually launching the Deadpool franchise in 2016.
Gambit, by contrast, never found his way to the big screen again…until Deadpool & Wolverine.
What happened to the Gambit movie?
Coming off the success of 21 Jump Street, Tatum was determined to make a Gambit solo flick, and in 2014, 20th Century Fox officially green lit the film. Tatum then spent years in development hell.
Several directors, including Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), joined and then departed the production. Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright recently revealed in an interview with SlashFilm that X-Men producer Simon Kinberg offered him the Gambit movie, but he turned it down. Tatum even proposed that he co-direct with producing partner Reid Carolin. “The studio really didn’t want us to direct it,” Tatum told Variety. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
There was also apparently disagreement over the portrayal of the character. “They would call him ‘flamboyant’ in his description,” Tatum said. “I wouldn’t — he was just the coolest person. He could pull anything off. Most superheroes, their outfits are utilitarian. Batman’s got his belt. Gambit’s like, ‘No, this sh—t’s just fly, bro! This sh—t walked down the Paris runway last year.’ He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion.”
Tatum compared the tone of his Gambit film to Deadpool, in fact, and said it aimed 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 gave up hope the film would ever be made. Carolin says they were ready to start shooting in New Orleans when the production was shut down.
Tatum toldVanity Fair in 2023, “It got swallowed up into Disney by way of Marvel when they bought Fox, and ultimately I just think that the tone of the movie we wanted to make was very far from what they wanted to do—or, you know, maybe they’re waiting to see how they do it with us or without us. We call every once in a while, but we’ve got to spiritually, emotionally, kind of mentally let it go.”
Is the Gambit movie still dead after Deadpool & Wolverine?
Probably. Tatum claimed in the interview with Variety that he was “so traumatized” by the deal falling apart that he couldn’t watch other Marvel movies. “I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies,” he said. “I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.”
Presumably, Tatum will make an exception and screen Deadpool & Wolverine. The actor seems to have gotten over the pain of the cursed production process for Gambit: He’s game to be the butt of several jokes. Deadpool criticizes Tatum’s accent work and argues that the audience is missing critical exposition every time Gambit speaks. He refers to him as an up-close magician and mocks his fashion. It’s fun, but not exactly a promising start to a potential spinoff.