Channing Tatum admits canceled Gambit film made him avoid Marvel movies

Channing Tatum attends MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Aerosmith on Jan. 24, 2020, in California. Image: Getty Images via AFP/Frazer Harrison

Channing Tatum confessed that he has been unable to watch any Marvel movies after he was “traumatized” by his canceled film based on X-Men’s Gambit.

The actor looked back at developing the supposed stand-alone film on the “X-Men” mutant in his interview with Variety yesterday, Feb. 2. The movie was set up at 20th Century Fox in 2016, and Tatum planned to helm the project alongside producer Reid Carolin.

Tatum revealed that he and Carolin wanted to create a Gambit film resembling the tone of the 2016 movie “Deadpool,” but the studio did not want them to take the director’s chair.

“The studio really didn’t want us to direct it. They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything,” he was quoted as saying.

Despite this, Tatum was “so in love” with the script that he was willing to let go of directing. Carolin and Tatum were very close to shooting the Gambit film, but it was eventually canceled when Disney merged with 20th Century Fox.

“We were right on the one-yard line,” Carolin was quoted as saying. “We had cast the film. We’d opened up a production office. We were on our way to shoot in New Orleans.”

Meanwhile, Tatum admitted he was devastated when the movie fell apart and he has since avoided any Marvel movie.

“Once ‘Gambit’ went away, I was so traumatized… I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies,” he said in the interview. “I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.”

Tatum then went on to defend the character, describing him as 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 was quoted as saying. “He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion.”

Tatum added that he is still willing to portray the character if given another chance, though he would not want to direct the Gambit film anymore. For the actor, his initial plan to be the movie’s director was “hubris on our part.”

Tatum’s attachment to the Gambit film dates back to 2014, when it was reported that he was going to star in a solo film about the character. He was supposed to debut his version of Gambit in the 2016 movie “X-Men: Apocalypse,” but it did not end up happening. The movie was handled by multiple directors until it was eventually canceled, alongside other X-Men projects, during the Disney-Fox merge. Dana Cruz /ra

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