Channing Tatum and Gambit: A Marvel Love Story With a Messy Backstory
Few superhero projects have lived in limbo quite like the one built around a card-throwing Cajun mutant. Tatum has been attached to the film since about 2014, long before the current wave of multiverse crossovers made a Gambit return feel possible.
The road there was anything but smooth. Development began in 2014, and the project ultimately had three different directors involved: Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman and Gore Verbinski. The movie sat in development hell for what seemed like ages, which only made fans more curious about what actually went wrong.
Now Tatum is finally pulling back the curtain. In a new interview with Screen Rant, which ComicBook.com highlighted on X, the actor walked through the revolving door of filmmakers. “We had three different directors that were signed up to do it, and the first one, the studio, Fox, they had a fallout, so that one didn’t work out,” he said. He explained that the second collaboration stalled because development dragged on so long that he wanted to move on to actually making the movie.
The third attempt came closest. Tatum said it “almost got going” with Verbinski, and that all three parties, the studio, the director and himself, started in the same creative place before drifting apart as the project developed. It is a surprisingly candid admission from an actor who has spent years championing the character.
The timeline backs up how close it really came. In October 2017, Verbinski began talks to take over directing, and Fox put the film back on the schedule with a February 14, 2019 release date. Verbinski was no small get either, as he directed the first three ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies, the remake of ‘The Ring’ and ‘Rango’.
Then came the exit. According to Deadline, Verbinski left the project, which was set for a February 2019 release, and the split was reportedly amicable. For a movie that had already burned through two directors, losing the biggest name yet felt like a fatal blow.
Tatum also revealed that another notable filmmaker once circled the project. Shawn Levy was interested in directing a previous script, but Tatum and his producing partner Reid Carolin were not ready yet, with the year being around 2014. It is a fascinating what-if, considering where Levy’s career has since gone.
The story took a final turn in 2019. A standalone Gambit movie starring Tatum was greenlit in 2014 and ultimately cancelled in 2019 when Disney acquired Fox. For years, that looked like the end of the road for the character on the big screen.
Marvel Studios had other plans, though. Tatum’s appearance as the card-wielding X-Men member in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ gave fans a taste of what they had missed, and in a deleted scene Gambit escapes the Void. That scene sets him up for a larger role, as he is now set to appear in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’.
That brings the saga full circle. Tatum says he is still fighting for a standalone film, and he is waiting for a very good director to bring it to life. After a decade of false starts, he has not given up on the idea.
The timing could hardly be better for a comeback. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ hits theaters in the UK on December 16 and in the US on December 18. If audiences embrace Gambit on that stage, the long-dormant solo movie might finally get the second chance Tatum has been chasing since 2014.
