Channing Tatum Briefly Talks New Gambit Role

News broke recently that 22 Jump Street star Channing Tatum would portray Gambit in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016 and then a solo movie. Now, the actor has made his first brief comments on the character since the announcement.

GQ Magazine asked Tatum why he loved the card-throwing character so much, and he responded with the following:

"[Gambit was] the only superhero I really followed...He was the most real to me: smoking, drinking, women-loving, thief. He just looked cool to me. I've always loved him. And obviously he's Cajun."

X-Men Days of Future Past producer Lauren Shuler Donner (who has actually produced every X-Men movie to date) confirmed that Tatum would play Gambit, the card-throwing Cajun mutant. The Hollywood Reporter then stated the following:

"Multiple sources say that Tatum will get a stand-alone spinoff, with his version of Gambit being introduced in X-Men: Apocalypse. The stand-alone film is still in development, however, and no director has been attached."

Apocalypse is the sequel to Days of Future Past and does not hit theaters until May 2016. It would make sense to introduce Gambit in this movie, as he was one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen for a bit.

Tatum said the following to MTV about possibly starring as Gambit before the announcement:

"I met with Lauren Shuler Donner. And I would love it. Gambit is really the only X-Man I've ever loved. I mean I've loved them all, they're all great, but I guess from being down south - my dad's from Louisiana, I'm from Mississippi, Alabama, Florida - I don't know. I just related to him. He's just kind of suave... He's the most un X-Men X-Man that's ever been in X-Men. Other than maybe Wolverine, who's like the anti-hero. He's a thief. He's not even a hero. He's kind of walking the line of grey...He loves women and drinking and smoking and stuff so he's just a cool guy who happens to have a moral center....I hope it [comes together]. You never know it's a weird industry. If the stars align, I would die to play it. I'm already working on the accent. It's crappy at the moment."

Are you excited to see Tatum as Gambit? Let us know in the comments below.