Channing Tatum has been trying to get his Gambit movie off the ground for quite some time now, but Disney's acquisition of Fox and bringing Gambit and the X-Men into the MCU represents the perfect opportunity for Tatum to finally get his shot at the charming Cajun card-dealer. Having been attached to the role since January 2014 alongside Lauren Shuler Donner, Tatum has long expressed a desire to bring Gambit to the big screen, and with his movie being canceled following Disney's successful takeover of Fox, there is now the chance for fans to see the smooth-talking, fast-dealing, ruggedly handsome superhero make his debut in the MCU.
Gambit, otherwise known as Remy LeBeau, is a mutant with the ability to mentally create, control, and manipulate pure kinetic energy. Often seen with his trademark deck of cards and bō staff, Gambit has been known to charge playing cards and other objects with his kinetic energy before using them as explosive projectiles. Fiercely proud of his Louisiana heritage and Cajun accent, Gambit is also a former member of a thieves' guild and has connections to the villain Mister Sinister. This sweet-talking Southern charmer is also depicted as something of a ladies' man, often landing him in hot water with his on-again, off-again love affair with his eventual wife, Rogue. However, his various appearances in both comic books and animated television shows have shown him to be a character that earnestly seeks redemption, maintaining his place in the X-Men's ranks.
For the last seven years, Tatum has tried relentlessly to get his solo Gambit movie off the ground, but to no success. Following Disney's acquisition of Fox, the project was finally put out of its misery and canceled for good. However, this does not need to be the end of Tatum's aspirations to see the character come to life on the big screen once more. Marvel and Disney executives would be hard-pressed to find someone more suited to the role of Gambit than Tatum himself, and he could prove to be the easiest bit of casting for the X-Men making their eventual, and seemingly inevitable, debut in the MCU's Phase 4.
Tatum has expressed a desire to play Gambit above many other superhero roles, even singling out the Cajun charmer for praise during a press event for White House Down back in 2013. After being asked about superhero films and whether he might want to get in on the act, Tatum replied, "I would like to play Gambit. Gambit’s my favorite. I’m from New Orleans, around that area. My dad’s from New Orleans, and I like to do a Cajun accent. I could do it for real. No knock on Taylor Kitsch, though, ’cause I actually like his Gambit, but I’ve always lived around Cajun people. […] Gambit was always like the woman-loving, cigarette-smoking, drinking [guy]. He was the punk rock of all the superheroes. He’s a thief. He kind of rode the line."
Aside from his extensive acting credit list in some truly outstanding movies, Tatum sounds like the best fit for the role based on his upbringing. In comparison to Tatum being born and raised around New Orleans, Taylor Kitsch is a Canadian native. Having an actor from the same area as a character may not necessarily guarantee a stronger performance, but Tatum may understand the character of Remy LeBeau that much better than Kitsch ever could. Despite the fact that Tatum may have missed out on the Gambit solo movie, he now deserves a shot at bringing the hero to life in X-Men team-up movies based on his ion for the role, but more importantly, his ion for the character.
Bringing new characters into the MCU has proven to be an area of strength within the MCU, with the introduction of Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and others being major successes. With star power like Tatum already keen to jump in and get started on the X-Men, the future of the mutant race in the MCU could hardly be in better hands should Marvel and Disney choose to go that way. If they choose otherwise, it will be incredibly interesting and intriguing to see who is chosen to fulfill the role of Gambit, if anyone is.
