Contrary to what Anya Taylor-Joy will have you believe, not all Gambits are successful. Take Channing Tatum’s failed Gambit project. The actor was supposed to play the X-Men’s resident street magician in a stand-alone Gambit movie for 20th Century Fox back in 2016. In a recent cover story for Variety, Tatum says he wanted to co-direct with his producing partner, Reid Carolin, in addition to starring, but Fox “wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.” Tatum talks about the character like a 13-year-old boy waiting in line at Stadium Goods: “Gambit’s like, ‘No, this shit’s just fly, bro! This shit walked down the Paris runway last year.’ He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion.” But when Disney acquired Fox in 2019, the film fell through.
Since then, Tatum says he “swore off watching The Avengers.” “I shut off my Marvel machine,” he dares to say. “I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.’” Convenient that he can only get his superhero-movie fix from DC now, considering he’s literally dating Catwoman, alias Zoë Kravitz. A couple that’s brand loyal together stays together.
