Channing Tatum is having the time of his life as Gambit: “I thought I had lost the character forever!”

The most playful of the mutants in Deadpool and Wolverine, “it didn't really fit, did it?” Still, Shawn Levy and the star loved the idea.

Warning, spoilers : the following article goes into detail on a key scene from Deadpool & Wolverine.

Channing Tatum in Gambit, it's a long story… which almost never made it to the screen. Courted to play this superhero of the X-Men 3in 2006, the actor had seen the character removed from the film while it was being written. No matter, he was ready to wait, but when this mutant adept at deadly card tricks finally appeared on screen, in X-Men Origins: Wolverinein 2009, it was in the guise of Taylor Kitsch: the future star of Magic Mike was then held on GI Joe 2 !

So when Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds approached him again to play Remy LaBeau/Gambit once and for all in a movie, Tatum jumped at the chance. The actor can't thank the duo enough for his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine:

“I thought I had lost Gambit forever, he wrote in a long post illustrated by two photos of him with the actor who plays Deadpool at Comic-Con, almost ten years apart. Ryan fought for me and Gambit. I don't know how I can repay him, it means so much to me. I love you, man. And you too, Shawn.”

Channing Tatum Opens Up About How Gambit's Fail Left Him “Traumatized”

Channing Tatum clearly had a blast in the role, even if his appearance is quite short alongside the two heroes played by Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, but also Wesley Snipes (Blade), Dafne Keen (X-23) and Elektra (Jennifer Garner). It also required a certain amount of physical preparation, which he accepted without flinching: with his training as a dancer, learning a fight choreography seems almost “easy” for him.

Very involved in this comeback, the 44-year-old actor shared this behind-the-scenes video of his preparation:

Jennifer Garner on her training for Elektra: “I was muscular, but not enough for Marvel” [vidéo]

Shawn Levy, himself, detailed in the podcast Happy Sad Confused how this incarnation of Gambit had fitted into the story of Deadpool & Wolverine :

“Gambit in this movie, it came to us very early on. Even if it didn't really fit, right? We had this idea of ​​bringing back heroes, like Elektra and Blade, to talk about their legacy, but here, we have a character who never really had a beginning, who didn't really enter the game. Which is what we actually really liked with the writing team, because we could afford to do what we wanted with Gambit. When everyone else was going in one direction, he could afford to do the opposite. These characters talk about their contribution, their history, and Gambit is there: 'Well, for me it hasn't really started yet.'“

In 2015, when Gambit's Solo Movie almost happened with Channing Tatum (“We were one meter from the goal”recalls producer Reid Carolin), Shawn Levy was one of the (many) directors courted by Fox to direct it. Alongside Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Shane Black (Iron Man 3) or Doug Liman (The memory in the skin).

“A few years ago, I was one of 70 directors approached about this project of making Channing the hero of a Fox Gambit film, remembers the director of Night at the Museumstill in the same podcast. We had met, but it never happened. So I knew that this character lived inside him in a deep way, and Ryan knew it too, since Channing had told us about it at the time of Free Guy. You know, in my entire career, I've never seen anyone be as grateful and overjoyed to play a hero as Channing was when he played Gambit.”

The question now is whether this mutant will return in an upcoming MCU blockbuster? Will Kevin Feige recast the character for his upcoming X-Men blockbuster? Or will Tatum finally get to play him for a longer period of time? As of yet, nothing official has been announced beyond this cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Here is the trailer for the film which is currently a hit in cinemas:

Everything you need to know about Deadpool & Wolverine's Easter eggs