It’s tough to choose your favorite cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. Heck, it’s even tougher to pick the most surprising one. However, one actor we were delighted to see on screen is eternally grateful to Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy for casting him.
Channing Tatum was signed up to play Gambit for years, but it never came to fruition. That is, until Deadpool & Wolverine, where Channing Tatum finally put on the purple suit, and got to flex his Cajun skills. Gambit lived up to the billing, wiping out Cassandra Nova’s henchmen with his cards and staff left and right. Channing appeared to be having the time of his life, but if you finally had the chance to fulfill a role you wanted to play for years, you’d be having a blast too.
On July 30, Tatum posted an emotional post on X in which he thanked Reynolds and Levy. It shows two pictures of one of our favorite Canadians, 10 years apart. The first is from the first sneak peek screening of the first Deadpool movie, and the second one is from last weekend, where Tatum took the San Diego Comic Con 2024 stage alongside other stars of Deadpool & Wolverine.
“I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy,” Tatum wrote. He added he didn’t know Reynolds much back in the day, that he’d supported him ever since their first meeting.
Channing also confessed to being a massive nerd admitting he was “literally screaming in the theater.” We get it, Channing, we also lost our minds when we saw our favorite mutant-magician on the big screen. And also during Wesley Snipes’ return. And Jennifer Garner’s and Dafne Keen’s. Yeah, we were losing our minds for the entire two hours.
To be fair, maybe not all is lost for Tatum and his portrayal of Gambit. Deadpool & Wolverine was named “just the beginning” of mutants coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Kevin Feige. With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, slated to release in 2026 and 2027, respectively, Gambit could appear in the MCU once again.
Then again, the cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine were arguably a way to honor the characters and more importantly, their actors. Still, with Doomsday and Secret Wars set to be the biggest superhero ensemble in MCU history, we’re sure the Russo brothers can make space for a few additional characters.
Gambit is finally here. Let’s let him escape the Void and have some fun.