Deadpool & Wolverine Director Almost Made Channing Tatum’s Gambit Movie

Deadpool & Wolverine Director Almost Made Channing Tatum's Gambit Movie

As a movie enthusiast with over three decades of watching and analyzing films under my belt, I must say that Channing Tatum’s surprise appearance as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine has been nothing short of a delightful twist of fate. The character’s long-standing development hell finally finding solace within the confines of this action-packed Marvel extravaganza is a testament to the enduring spirit of filmmakers and actors alike.


Channing Tatum’s unexpected appearance as Gambit in Deadpool and Wolverine has validated the character, following years of development challenges for a standalone film. Interestingly, this cameo also reconnected Tatum with one of the directors who had been involved in pitching for the Gambit movie many years prior. In 2014, Tatum was indeed cast for a solo Gambit film. However, the project became trapped in production limbo and eventually got cancelled when Disney regained control over the X-Men characters in 2019. Several directors had reportedly been attached to and then detached from the movie, including Shawn Levy, who is part of Deadpool and Wolverine’s team.

Shawn Levy recently spoke candidly with Variety about Deadpool and Wolverine, discussing Channing Tatum’s shocking cameo as Gambit. During their conversation, Levy disclosed that his connection to the character is longstanding. When it was announced that a Gambit movie was in production, various directors were asked to present their concepts for the film. It turns out that Levy was one of those directors and had a meeting with Channing Tatum to discuss the project.

It’s clear that the discussion didn’t lead to Levy securing the job, and despite multiple directors being hired and departing from the project, the Gambit movie continued to be an unrealized dream for Marvel enthusiasts. Looking back on the meeting, Levy reflected by saying:

“For years, Channing has been passionate about playing the role of Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine, coming close multiple times at Fox. In fact, I was among the 25 directors who discussed directing a Gambit film with Channing, but it never materialized. So when we chose to include Gambit in this movie, it was immensely satisfying for him as he had long waited for this opportunity.”

Channing Tatum Was too Funny as Gambit on the Set of Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine Director Almost Made Channing Tatum's Gambit MovieDeadpool & Wolverine Director Almost Made Channing Tatum's Gambit MovieDeadpool & Wolverine Director Almost Made Channing Tatum's Gambit MovieDeadpool & Wolverine Director Almost Made Channing Tatum's Gambit Movie

In addition to being one of the most enjoyable scenes in Deadpool and Wolverine, Channing Tatum’s appearance as Gambit was also one of the funniest. This is largely due to Tatum’s dedication to using an exaggerated Cajun accent, making many of his lines difficult to understand. Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool often jokes about this. Already, a leaked clip from the movie has made Tatum’s memorable line, “Whoo, I’m about to make a name for myself here!”, go viral as a meme, even before the film is released on home video.

It appears that not only were audiences finding Channing Tatum’s performance hysterical, but even Daphne Keen (Laura/X23) found it difficult to maintain a serious demeanor during their scenes together. In an interview with the Phase Zero podcast, Keen admitted that filming scenes with Tatum was quite challenging because she would frequently burst out laughing at his humor. To make matters worse, whenever he delivered his lines, she would “corpse,” or break character and laugh uncontrollably. As a result, Keen had to ask Tatum to stay quiet while they were shooting her coverage to help her keep a straight face.

In our scene, I had to clarify that he couldn’t deliver his lines while I was shooting. He persisted, and every time he did, I found myself breaking character. To set the mood for Wolverine, I adopted a brooding tone, saying something like, “Let’s get going,” only to be met with Gambit’s impersonation of him, “I’m putting my money where my mouth is.” I had to ask him to stop because it was disrupting my performance.

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2024-08-08 02:33