Warning: Spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine ahead.
When it comes to playing card games, sometimes you just have to wait for the right hand to be dealt. In the case of Channing Tatum, who has been wanting to play the smooth-talking, kinetic-energy-infused card slinging Cajun and X-Men mainstay Gambit for some time now, Deadpool & Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds were his Pocket Aces.
Reynolds, who went through his own trials and tribulations trying to get his vision of Deadpool off the ground (Reynolds coyly hints that he might have had something to do with the initial leaked Deadpool test footage way back in 2014, whose fanatical reception caught the attention of 20th Century Fox executives and led to the series of Deadpool movies Reynolds is now synonymous with) believes that in similar fashion, his friend Tatum only needed to show what he could do with Gambit to convince people that he’s the right actor for the role.
“I honestly don’t know what goes on behind closed doors in the bookkeeping sessions at Marvel, but I do know that they’re obsessed with him in that role,” Reynolds said of Tatum’s portrayal of Gambit, who makes a cameo appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine. “It’s kind of like the same situation I went through. Once you show that it works well, that’s really what they need. Sometimes they just need to see it in action.”
“And Channing is so singular in how he plays that character,” Reynolds added on Entertainment Weekly’s Awardist podcast, “but also he’s so beautiful physically, the way he moves and the way he can pick up steps.”
Tatum wasn’t shy in thanking Reynolds for helping him achieve one of his dreams. He issued an emotional statement on his social media, saying, “I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But [Reynolds] fought for me and Gambit,” he wrote. “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…I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure bad ass joy. I was literally screaming in the theater.”
If you still haven’t seen Channing Tatum as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine yet, the movie will be available to stream on Disney+ starting November 12th.
What do you think of Channing Tatum as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine, one of the worst kept secrets in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this point? Are you glad that Tatum finally got to realize his Marvel superhero acting dream much like Reynolds playing Deadpool? Let us know in the comments.
