Had the scrapped Gambit movie moved forward at Fox, it would have been one of the most mature Marvel films of all time. 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine brought Channing Tatum into the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, after his initial casting as the iconic X-Men hero didn’t come to fruition during the Fox-Marvel era.
In a new interview with Variety, Tatum discussed the cancelled Gambit project that got stuck in development hell prior to Disney acquiring Fox. As he was directly asked if the film could get re-developed under the MCU banner, Tatum stated, “Look…if we’d made our Fox version, that script would’ve never gotten made — ever. It was an R-rated romantic comedy.”
He elaborated on the rating, “When I say R-rated, I mean we went for it. We made Gambit the kind of character who could only exist in a movie with Deadpool.” The film would also have “had mutants having sex! It was wild — full-on.”
According to Tatum, “That’s something Marvel and Disney would never do.” He stressed that, “You don’t always know what Disney will be, but you definitely know what it’s not going to be. It’s not gonna be horror. It’s not gonna be sex. But I think Marvel needs that kind of tonal diversity; something to balance the other side.”
Outside of the cancelled Gambit movie, the Roofman lead called “Gambit is a great opportunity for that. There’s so much you can do with him, and he’s slowly being built into the Marvel psyche.” Even if a solo project isn’t being planned, he is hopeful for the future, “It’s fascinating, and I think one day they’ll figure it out.”
After his introduction in Phase 5, Marvel Studios is bringing back Remy LeBeau for one of their upcoming MCU movies, as the 45-year-old star is set to appear in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. He will star alongside other returning X-Men stars, including Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen.
Directed by the Russo brothers, the Avengers: Doomsday cast wrapped principal photography on September 19, 2025. The Phase 6 entry will see the MCU tackling the return of Robert Downey Jr., who will be portraying Marvel’s Victor von Doom, a.k.a. Doctor Doom.
It’s unknown at this point if Tatum will be back as part of the Avengers: Secret Wars cast, as production has yet to begin on The Multiverse Saga finale. With the X-Men characters set to be a huge factor in Phase 7, a Gambit film may get its due in the future.
- Cast
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Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.