We’ve known for a while now that Channing Tatum will play the mutant-with-Southern-charm Gambit in a solo movie due out on Oct. 7, 2016. There’s even a rumor that the character will cameo in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse, which will hit theaters a few months earlier on May 27, 2016. But if the Magic Mike XXL actor’s recent comments in Empire Magazine are true, then that cameo rumor might not be true. That, or 20th Century Fox doesn’t care all that much about continuity.
As ComicBook.com reports, C-Tates told Empire about the solo film’s development, which — if true — has already hit a milestone with a completed first draft of the script:
“Josh Zetumer just turned in the first draft of the script, and it’s killer. None of us were sure how he was going to deal with the X-Men world. But we’re going to be changing some of the tropes of these movies. It’s always about saving the world (Laughs), but maybe we’re going to shift things a little bit. There’s so many ways you can take [an origin story]. You could do it like Batman Begins, or a different take and go the Guardians of the Galaxy route. All I can say is, I’m super excited.”
So, Gambit will be “an origin story,” and Tatum et al. are knowledgeable enough of current trends in comic book movies to realize what their storytelling options are. That’s great news (i.e. they’re actually paying attention), but how will Gambit fit into Apocalypse if audiences don’t already know the character?
Only time will tell, I guess. Until then, Tatum has plenty more to say about the card-throwing mutant and his southern sensibilities:
“I love Gambit….I grew up in the South; my father’s from Louisiana. We’d go to New Orleans and I heard all the dialects. It felt so different from the rest of America; it has its own ancient culture. So I identified with that. And he always felt the most real of the X-Men to me. He’s kind of a tortured soul and he’s not a good guy. But he’s not a bad guy, either. He walks his own path. And of course he plays cards and drinks and is a martial-arts badass!”
Aww, Chère! You’re making me swoon already, C-Tates.
(ComicBook.com via Empire Magazine)
