Deadpool & Wolverine: Channing Tatum Says He Was Too Scared to Steal Gambit Costume

Deadpool & Wolverine didn’t just bring back some fan-favorite Marvel movie characters of the ’90s and 2000s – it also gave one actor who never got a shot to finally make good on a lifelong dream role. Channing Tatum’s Gambit had movie theater crowds roaring with joy when he first stepped onscreen in Deadpool & Wolverine – no small feat given that Welsey Snipes’ Blade makes a return appearance onscreen right before him. Tatum didn’t waste his opportunity to play Gambit, becoming a breakout favorite of Wolverine & Deadpool and maybe setting up a larger opportunity to play the role in the future.

However, in a new interview, Channing Tatum reveals that there is one opportunity he did squander while shooting Deadpool & Wolverine: the chance to steal Gambit’s iconic costume!

Tatum and fiancee, actress Zoe Kravitz, have a new thriller movie releasing this week, titled Blink Twice, which was written, directed, and produced by Kravitz, with Tatum starring. Kravitz, Tatum, and Blink Twice co-star Naomi Ackie (The Rise of Skywalker) did a promotional interview with Vanity Fair‘s Lie Detector Test segment – which was certainly a hot seat experience for Tatum. 

At one point, Tatum was asked about playing Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine and whether or not he asked to keep the costume. Here’s what the actor had to say: 

“I was too scared to ask. And usually, I steal the very last outfit that I’m in, in every movie, and I was too scared to do it on this one. “

An additional question about Deadpool & Wolverine (all of which Tatum answered truthfully) included the fact that playing Gambit went “beyond” his long-held anticipation for the role. If you don’t know your fandom history, Tatum was attached to the Gambit role back when Fox’s X-Men Universe was still looking to expand into more solo character spinoffs; he hung on to the project from about 2014-2019, when the Fox-Disney Deal ended all hopes that he would get his shot at a Gambit film and/or a spot in the larger X-Men franchise. In that sense, Deadpool & Wolverine really is the second chance that Tatum never thought he’d get – and he’s been nothing but appreciative to the fans, Ryan Reynolds, and the entire team behind the film.

After the billion-dollar success of Deadpool & Wolverine, and Channing Tatum’s Gambit becoming a viral sensation on socials, the actor may still get that larger Marvel movie future he hoped for. The talks are already happening. 

Deadpool & Wolverine is now in theaters.