Life is truly hilarious sometimes. For decades, Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, was largely absent from the X-Men movies, save for Taylor Kitsch’s brief portrayal of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Channing Tatum tried with all his might to get a solo Gambit movie off the ground, but every obstacle possible stepped in his way, including the Disney/Fox merger. Further live-action appearances of this Marvel fan-favorite seemed impossible, then Deadpool & Wolverine rolled around. Director Shawn Levy and leading man Ryan Reynolds opted to bring back Tatum for this 2024 MCU movie to finally appear as live-action Gambit.
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In hindsight, there couldn’t have been a better place for Channing Tatum’s Gambit to debut. In a solo film, audiences may have greeted it with a shrug just like their response to The New Mutants and Morbius. In the context of this big multiversal crossover blockbuster, Tatum’s Gambit was the scene-stealer everyone loved. Now, Tatum is set to reprise his mutant character for Avengers: Doomsday, an incredibly worrisome prospect on multiple fronts.
You Can Have Too Much of a Good Thing
Bringing Tatum back as Gambit for Avengers: Doomsday is already a worrisome prospect simply because it feels like an attempt to recapture the character’s lightning-in-a-bottle success in his MCU debut. Just ask Taika Waititi when it comes to Thor: Love and Thunder, trying to recreate MCU comedy successes is not an easy proposition. Plus, returning to Gambit could overstay the character’s welcome. After all, the inherent shock and surprise of seeing Tatum finally suit up as Gambit is gone. The whole point of his appearance was that it was paying off that Tatum never got to play this character in a proper solo feature. The novelty is gone.
That’s why one of the character’s funniest Deadpool & Wolverine moments is a meta-comment about how his universe wasn’t quite as fleshed out or explored as, say, Blade’s or Elektra’s. What else can you do with this character, especially in a feature as crowded as Avengers: Doomsday? It’s hard to see Tatum’s super-arch Gambit working well as a dramatically compelling character beyond the meta confines of Deadpool & Wolverine. The worst case scenario of Doomsday’s script being absolutely crammed with awkward stabs at making “I’m Bout to Make A Name for My Self” 2.0 could present a severe problem.
Gambit’s lack of a pre-existing relationships with the other mutants set to be featured in Doomsday also seems to reinforce how the character, on paper, is only being brought back for a Deadpool & Wolverine encore. So far, the rest of the Avengers: Doomsday mutants are Fox X-Men saga characters from the 2000s who worked together extensively. Gambit, meanwhile, was stuck in The Void and presumably existed in a different universe from Deadpool, Wolverine, X-23, and the other mutant heroes audiences are familiar with. That disconnect might inspire one or two fun comedic beats, but it could also draw attention to how Gambit’s presence sounds like supreme fan-service.
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Not Everything In The MCU Needs to Go On Forever
Channing Tatum was first attached to the role of Gambit as early as the mid-2000s when the script for X-Men: The Last Stand was constantly getting overhauled. More than two decades later, he finally got to take on the role in one of the biggest superhero movies of all time. Tatum received closure for the Gambit role and audiences clearly sparked to what made this Cajun crime-fighter so compelling to the actor in the first place. Does this mean, though, that Tatum’s Gambit must become a MCU fixture?
Sometimes, things in this franchise can be a one-off, like Tony Leung’s Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings or Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man. There was a very specific set of behind-the-scenes circumstances that informed why Gambit’s Deadpool & Wolverine appearance was so special. Removing them for Avengers: Doomsday makes it extra puzzling why we’re returning to this card-flinging well again so soon. On top of all that, the prospect of Doomsday beginning a series of Gambit reprisals for Tatum also sounds disappointing, considering that this could dominate the man’s schedule for years to come.
Anyone who has seen Foxcatcher, Logan Lucky, and Hail, Caesar! knows that Tatum is a genuinely great actor. In recent years, he’s shown a willingness to take on bizarre new roles, including headlining David and Nathan Zellner’s upcoming surreal comedy Alpha Gang, the indie drama Josephine, and Derek Cianfrance’s 2025 drama Roofman. Submerging him in Gambit for years would be a waste of both Tatum’s talent and time. Perhaps that sounds like a dream for Tatum after years of trying to get a Gambit solo movie going. However, there can be quite easily too much of a good thing (just ask Jack Sparrow and his increasing screentime in the Pirates features). Avengers: Doomsday has the potential to lead Gambit down that same trap, and audiences may realize their appetites were already satisfied.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now streaming on Disney+, Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on May 2, 2026.
