It has been revealed today that Gambit has found a director in the form of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Gambler’s Rupert Wyatt. Channing Tatum is playing the fan-favourite character who is expected to first appear in X-Men: Apocalypse. Taylor Kitsch (John Carter) played the anti-hero in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Tatum (22 Jump Street) will also produce the X-Men movie with his Free Association partner Reid Carolin, and franchise regulars The Donners Company’s Lauren Shuler Donner, and Genre Films’ Simon Kinberg.
In exciting news for comic book fans, the screenplay is actually based on a treatment from Chris Claremont. He’s one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed X-Men writers of all-time, and actually created Gambit alongside artist Jim Lee in 1990. There are no specific plot details for the movie as of right now however. We do at least know that the spinoff is set to be released October 7th, 2016, the third X-Men movie of next year.
Gambit (also known as Remy LeBeau) is a charming master thief turned X-Man. He possesses the mutant ability to charge inanimate objects with kinetic energy, causing them to explode, he is also extremely agile because of his powers. Gambit’s signature move is of course throwing charged playing cards.
Tatum has received rave reviews for his performance in Foxcatcher and will soon be seen in Magic Mike XXL.
