Fox has just announced the release date for its first X-Men spinoff movie, Gambit. The movie, which stars Channing Tatum, will be released in October 2016.
Tatum seemed like a rather bizarre casting choice at first, with disgruntled fans commenting on the #Chambit hashtag when the news broke last year. However, the recent release of Foxcatcher may have won over some more support for Tatum, as it proved he had more range than his work in bro-comedy films like 21 Jump Street suggested.
How do you say October 7, 2016 in Cajun?
— Channing Tatum (@channingtatum) January 6, 2015
Gambit is a beloved character from the X-Men comics, but so far he’s only had a brief cameo role in the live-action movies, played by Taylor Kitsch.
A mutant with the ability to manipulate kinetic energy, Gambit’s most recognizable move is imbuing inanimate objects like playing cards with explosive power, which is represented by glowing pink light. If the movie sticks to Gambit’s comic-book origins and appearance, Channing Tatum will have to adopt a New Orleans Cajun accent and probably lose some weight—a rare case of an actor actually having to be less muscular to star in a superhero movie.
One of Gambit’s most popular ongoing storylines is his relationship with Rogue, which opens up some interesting questions about future X-Men movies. Rogue had a prominent role in the original trilogy, but her return was cut from X-Men: Days of Future Past. Fox will presumably want to bring Channing Tatum in for other films after the Gambit solo movie, but will that lead to another comeback for Rogue? We can only hope.
H/T Comicbook.com | Photo via X-Men: Origins/Marvel Wikia