I don’t know if we can necessarily look back at the utter disaster that was Fox’s attempt at a Gambit film that led to the X-Men franchise’s downfall, but it didn’t help. For years there was buzz about the Ragin’ Cajun, one of the most popular X-Men, finally getting his due on the big screen. Channing Tatum was announced for the role, in front of an entire auditorium of rabid fans at Comic-Con, producer Laurn Shuler Donner was all pumped for it. And then…nothing. Well, Tatum still hasn’t totally gotten over it.
Speaking with Variety about his new film Dog, Tatum talked about his experience with Gambit and how not getting it done has impacted him. Turns out one of the major hurdles is that Tatum and his producing partner Reid Carolin wanted to direct it themselves…
“The studio really didn’t want us to direct it,” Tatum explained. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
Tatum and Carolin have been making movies together for years, from 10 Year to Magic Mike, but it’s with Dog that they have finally made their directorial debut. So if they wanted to make Gambit now they’d have some actual directing experience.
Gambit really blew up in popularity in the ’90s, thanks to awesome Jim Lee art in the comics and his appearances in X-Men: The Animated Series. But he was also somewhat divisive for his outlandish gear, which included a long trenchcoat and battle armor, overdone French accent, and more. That said, a lot of people look at his relationship with Rogue as one of the best in all of comics.
“They would call him ‘flamboyant’ in his description. I wouldn’t — he was just the coolest person. He could pull anything off. Most superheroes, their outfits are utilitarian. Batman’s got his belt. 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.”
When Gambit couldn’t get done, Tatum said that was it for him and superhero movies…
“Once ‘Gambit’ went away, I was so traumatized,” he said. “I shut off my Marvel machine. 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.”
And that’s a damn shame. I think Tatum would’ve been great as Remy Lebeau. Tatum adds that the film’s tone was similar to Deadpool. If those two films could have come out around the some time we might still see the X-Men in Fox control.
Dog opens in theaters on February 18th.
