Channing Tatum’s Latest Message to Ryan Reynolds is Touching & Showcases Determination: “I would kill kittens”

Deadpool & Wolverine is the latest release from the MCU and has become a box office hit, in part due to the return of some beloved live-action Marvel characters. We’ve seen Snipes’ Blade, Garner’s Elektra, and Evans’ Human Torch make a comeback, but the film also offered a chance for one character who was meant to have his own movie almost 20 years ago.

If you’ve been keeping up with Channing Tatum or the movie’s marketing, you know that Gambit appears in a smaller role. While it might not seem like a big deal at first, it holds significant weight when you consider the backstory and the long wait for Tatum to finally portray him.

Tatum and Gambit share a long history. The actor and his longtime friend and producer, Reid Carolin, had an idea for a Gambit movie that they pitched to 21st Century Fox.

They envisioned it as a standalone film similar to Deadpool, featuring humor and adult themes. While the Fox team liked the concept, they wouldn’t fully greenlight it if either Tatum or Carolin directed, since neither had experience in that role. Eager to make the movie happen, Tatum accepted their terms.

However, everything changed when Fox merged with Disney, resulting in the cancellation of the Gambit project before it could move forward.

After that, there was no news about Gambit until he made his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine. Following the film’s release, Tatum received widespread praise for his performance, prompting fans to start campaigns for him to have his own MCU movie.

Tatum has been unable to contain his excitement about his recent role, frequently thanking Ryan Reynolds for giving him this incredible opportunity.

In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon, Tatum discussed various topics, from his heritage to how much playing Gambit means to him, sharing that he waited nearly 20 years for the chance to portray the character.

I could cry, actually, I get really emotional ’cause I’ve been trying to, like, actively in the industry play that character for the last 20 years. But I was like, in, I don’t know, third grade throwing playing cards at my friends in, like, the living room.

The actor also noted that the journey to a solo Gambit movie has been challenging and will remain tough until there’s a clear direction for the character within the larger MCU.

It was at Fox at first and we, I worked on it for, like, six years trying to get the standalone to happen. And then right on, like, the one-yard line, we were about to make the movie and then Fox got bought by Disney.

And like, Kevin, actually, he was, Kevin Feige runs Marvel, I love him so much. He literally was like, “Look, I love Gambit, I just don’t know how to do it right now, like I don’t know how he fits into what we’re doing and so I need to, like, I need to have a minute to like, figure it out.”

Now we’ve sort of cracked a little bit of the code and hopefully…Hopefully, I mean […] I would kill kittens to make a… I would do lots of terrible things to make that happen.

Tatum also expressed his gratitude to Ryan Reynolds once again for making his childhood dream a reality.

Ryan, I’ve said this before…Look, this industry is a really interesting thing. And like, I can honestly say that not one single person is just more of a class act and cares more than that man.

Like, he took Gambit out of truly, like, the grave. Like it was just nothing and nowhere, and he was like “No, man, I want this, I want this for you I want this in the movie, and like, I want to see it.” And he made it happen, and I’ll forever be grateful to him. […] He truly is, like, he’s everything you want him to be.

Tatum’s chances of playing Gambit in a solo movie, or at least in the MCU, look promising now that Deadpool & Wolverine has ushered in a new era for mutants. Additionally, there’s a live-action reboot in the works, so let’s keep our fingers crossed!

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