When Channing Tatum does an AMA on Reddit he doesn’t mess around. While promoting a contest to win a trip to the Magic Mike XXL premiere through Omaze to raise money for the Runa Foundation (which preserves Amazonian farm communities), Tatum confirmed his favorite recent video game (Far Cry 3), his favorite ice cream (cookie dough), his favorite Disney character (the broom from Fantasia), and the nickname for his penis (“Gilbert”). Sadly, when asked if his mutant character Gambit would appear in Bryan Singer’s upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse, the answer was not so uplifting.
“No ma’am, or sir. I definitely will not,” Tatum wrote of appearing as the character before his Gambit solo film is released on October 7, 2016.
He also commented about the film in general, alluding to its newfound director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes).
“We finally found someone that I really do believe wants to make Gambit,” Tatum said of Wyatt. “It will be the second standalone character. And I just really think because Gambit is not the most popular or the biggest hero, I think there’s a really unique opportunity. Marvel’s done a lot of great movies that have made a ridiculous amount of money, and it’s always good to figure how to change the form.”
The only odd thing about Tatum’s statement is referring to Gambit as the second standalone in the X-Men universe, thereby discounting the Ryan Reynolds-starrer Deadpool, which is scheduled to open February 12, 2016. It could be that the studio considers Tim Miller’s R-rated, cartoon-inspired actioner a bit too zany to be an official part of their relatively family-friendly X-franchise, despite that character’s comic book and onscreen mutant origins.
With a screenplay by Josh Zetumer (RoboCop), Gambit will be produced by Tatum and his creative partner Reid Carolin, along with “X-Men” franchise stewards Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner.
Meanwhile, the Warner Bros. stripper romp Magic Mike XXL opens in theaters on July 1, and 20th Century Fox’s Channing-less X-Men: Apocalypse will open May 27, 2016.
