Deadpool & Wolverine's best cameo is a missed X-Men opportunity (2024)

spoilers follow.

We always knew we could expect the unexpected when it came to the long-awaited , especially as both characters were making their MCU debuts.

The trailers had already revealed a succession of cameos from the past 24 years of X-Men movies. Now that the movie is out, it's clear Aaron Stanford's Pyro, Tyler Mane's Sabretooth and Dafne Keen's Laura/X-23 were the tip of the cameo iceberg.

One very unexpected big name is stealing the show as Deadpool & Wolverine's best cameo and if you weren't up on your X-Men history, you might not realise that it feels like a missed opportunity from the depths of development hell.

Before we go into why that star appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine, a final warning that major spoilers lie ahead.

Why is Channing Tatum playing Gambit?

Alongside Henry Cavill's Wolverine variant, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm and Wesley Snipes returning as Blade, one of the biggest shocks was Channing Tatum finally joining the X-Men universe (kind of) as Gambit.

Although the Magic Mike star's first time playing the Ragin' Cajun, Tatum has been linked to the role since way back in X-Men: The Last Stand. It's taken 18 years to pull off the cameo, and while it was well worth the wait, it's a shame it took so long.

The card-throwing mutant is known for his Louisiana twang thanks to appearances in X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97, while Taylor Kitsch played him in live-action for the divisive X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Tatum chews the scenery with his own Cajun drawl, outshining the rest of his resistance crew which includes Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Blade and Laura. Even though his fate is left in the air thanks to the arrival of the all-consuming Alioth, the fact we see Laura at the closing dinner suggests that, maybe, he could return.

It's no secret that Tatum has lobbied hard to play Gambit, with his involvement going all the way back to the early days of X-Men movies under 20th Century Fox.

Bryan Singer originally filmed scenes with stunt actor James Bamford for 2003's X2, and while Bamford suggested a bigger name for future appearances, the cameo ended up on the cutting room floor. Gambit was then pitched for the third movie, with Singer reportedly imagining Keanu Reeves until he stepped away as director.

Tatum was busy filming GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra around the time of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, meaning Taylor Kitsch took the role. Kitsch previously said he wouldn't feel bad if Tatum had nabbed Gambit, and returning the favour, Tatum said he was at peace with Kitsch playing Gambit in the maligned Wolverine prequel.

It was clear that Tatum still had a lot of love for the character, telling GQ in 2014: "I feel bad, because I really love Taylor Kitsch as an actor and what he did with the part, but you know, you've got the things that you would really love to do and see."

Kitsch's Gambit was killed off and the X-Men movies eventually rebooted with X-Men: First Class, but away from this, Tatum was officially attached to play Gambit in his own standalone movie.

The original plan was to introduce Gambit in X-Men: Apocalypse, with Rupert Wyatt signing on to direct the Gambit spin-off in 2015. The Apocalypse introduction was nixed, and Gambit was hyped as a more intimate affair that would focus on mobsters and thieves over end-of-the-world stakes.

Filming was supposed to kick off in New Orleans by the end of 2015, with Léa Seydoux eventually cast as the female lead of Bella Donna Boudreaux. It won't be a surprise to know that filming for Gambit didn't start in 2015, and to this day, the cameras have never rolled.

Wyatt eventually left the project, later telling The Beat how the box-office bombing of Fant4stic led to the studio dramatically slashing Gambit's budget. Doug Liman then took the reins as producer Simon Kinberg referred to Gambit as a "heist movie and a sexy thriller in a way".

Liman had started from scratch and discarded Seydoux, but as he was repeatedly unhappy with the script, a mutual split happened in August 2016. Hoping to make it third time lucky, Gore Verbinski was set to direct around October 2017 but was out by December that year due to scheduling conflicts and rumours of "creative differences."

Elsewhere, Fox was reportedly keen to make Gambit one of the X-Men's anchor characters and possible MVP following Jackman retiring Wolverine, which was thought to be too much of a commitment for Tatum.

Having torn through three directors and shakily holding onto Tatum as its lead, Gambit was pushed all the way back to a 2020 release and – without a director – reworked as a romantic comedy akin to Mr & Mrs Smith.

The final nail in the coffin came when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in March 2019 and Gambit became one of the many axed projects alongside standalones for Kitty Pryde and Multiple Man. Kinberg gave a tantalising tease of what could have been to IGN, suggesting a payoff from Apocalypse's Essex Corporation tease with Mister Sinister appearing.

Tatum seems somewhat traumatised by the whole sordid saga, explaining in February 2022 that he can't watch Marvel movies because they remind him what could have been. Still, he was openly discussing Gambit as recently as 2023 and admitted he'd "spiritually, emotionally, kind of mentally let it go".

Whether this was some clever misdirection away from his role in Deadpool & Wolverine or his cameo was a last-minute casting, the fact he's perfectly at home in the role makes it even more heartbreaking that we'll likely never see how good a Gambit standalone could have been.

While it could be a one-and-done for Tatum's time as Remy LeBeau, remember that "Gambit always knows the odds" and this could (hopefully) be the start of his time in the trench coat.

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Deadpool & Wolverine is out now in cinemas.