Is Channing Tatum Done as Gambit?

After almost two decades of waiting, fans finally got to see Channing Tatum’s portrayal of Gambit, the smooth-talking and sometimes difficult-to-understand mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). However, as Marvel Studios plans toward the conclusion of its multiverse saga, it seems the deck has been reshuffled, and the future might no longer include Tatum’s card slinger at the table.

Marvel Studios sent fans into a frenzy last week with a live-streamed cast rollout for Avengers: Doomsday, officially kicking off production on what’s shaping up to be the studio’s most ambitious crossover yet. In true Marvel fashion, the announcement came with a twist, every few minutes (which felt more like hours), a new actor’s name appeared on the back of a director’s chair, fueling wild speculation across the internet.

By the end of the event, a total of 27 names were unveiled, promising the newest Avengers film to be packed with A-listers, among which were some serious blasts from the mutant past: Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Alan Cumming, and Kelsey Grammer all veterans of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men universe.

Joining the list of mutant alumn names was also Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Channing Tatum, but here’s where it gets interesting. During a recent interview at this year’s CinemaCon, the actor suggested he might, in fact, be portraying a completely different character.

“Personally, all I was guaranteed was a chair.” Tatum told Extra’s Roqui Theus, “They said that I have a chair, and I can at least watch the movie from the chair. You know, and it was just my name; it wasn’t exactly Gambit. So, I work in the world of just like, of binary yes or no’s, and I’ve only been guaranteed so far a chair to watch the movie in, so that’s where I’m at.”

While fans expected these actors to reprise their iconic roles, Marvel kept things vague. The chairs displayed only the actors’ names, no character titles or hints. That’s all it took for the rumor mill to spin into overdrive: Could these stars be stepping into entirely new roles within the MCU?

With one of the MCU’s original Avengers, Robert Downey Jr., stepping away from his iconic role as Iron Man and into the role of Doctor Doom, we might see these stars take on the roles of completely different superheroes.

After all, anything is possible in the multiverse.

Do you think Channing Tatum will reprise his role as Gambit? Or are we set for something completely unexpected?