The idea that Channing Tatum is still attempting to get his “X-Men” spin-off film, “Gambit,” made, even after years of development and the recent Disney/Fox merger, is a running joke amongst film fans. However, every time we think it’s safe to throw “Gambit” in the trash can and attempt to erase it from our minds, someone pops up to remind us that the film is still ready to go and could be a reality…someday.
The latest person to tease the possibility of a “Gambit” film is producer Simon Kinberg. The man behind pretty much every Fox ‘X-Men’ film is out and about promoting the Fox swansong “Dark Phoenix,” and is constantly being hit with questions about the future of the franchise, now that the Mouse House has control.
Speaking to Variety, Kinberg gave the company line about the future of the Fox franchises under Disney rule, saying, “All of the movies at Fox are being evaluated.”
Well, of course, they are. Disney is now knee deep in films that Fox was attempting to get off the ground. Now, Disney has to decide which are worthwhile and which should be scrapped. And yes, that even includes the remnants of the ‘X-Men’ film franchise, such as “The New Mutants” and “Gambit.”
While the future of “The New Mutants” is clearly undecided (as the stars don’t even have a clue what’s going on), we all just assumed that Channing Tatum’s “Gambit” was an easy project for Disney to chuck into the garbage. Apparently not.
“I love the idea of Channing playing Gambit. I think we have a great script for it and I think it’s a role he was born to play,” Kinberg said. “It’s a character I grew up loving and I know the fans love. So I suspect, I hope it will happen.”
Now, let’s put on our optimistic cap for a second. Let’s say that the script that Tatum has been working on with a variety of collaborators is as good as Kinberg says. It wouldn’t be absurd for Disney to want to move forward with it, as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s follow studio logic for a second.
First, you have an A-list star in Tatum. There’s a fan-favorite character (no matter how silly he might seem to many, he’s still beloved). And the X-Men are surely going to be introduced into the MCU relatively soon, because the brand is too strong to pass up. Now, why wouldn’t they use “Gambit” as one of those early X-films? It could happen. And I can’t believe I just typed that.
Obviously, the odds of this happening seem to be 1,000,000 to 1. Stranger things have happened.
I imagine the pitch meeting between Channing Tatum and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige goes something like this:
