Channing Tatum is slated to make his directorial debut with his upcoming movie Dog, which he helmed alongside Reid Carolin, and in a new Variety cover story the actor revealed why he has trouble watching Marvel movies.
When discussing the milestone of co-directing a film, Tatum recalled trying to convince 20th Century Fox to direct a solo movie for the X-Men character Gambit. The studio liked the idea, but not with Tatum directing it, which ultimately left a big impact on him.
“The studio really didn’t want us to direct it,” he said. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
Tatum and Carolin co-wrote a script and planned to have it feel similarly to what the Deadpool films ended up being—a raunchy, R-rated take on a classic comic book character. Tatum said that since Gambit fell apart, he can’t watch Marvel movies anymore.
“Once Gambit went away, I was so traumatized,” Tatum said. “I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.”
Carolin—who co-penned the Magic Mike movies—added that the reason Gambit fell through was largely because of the Fox and Disney merger that happened in 2019. He said the film was at “the one-yard line,” and they had even picked actors. “We had cast the film. We’d opened up a production office. We were on our way to shoot in New Orleans,” he said.
Carolin added that he believes Disney wanted to “redesign the X-Men from the ground up,” which is another reason why Gambit couldn’t materialize.
As for Tatum’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he said he would gladly take on the role of Gambit if he were ever approached with the opportunity. “Uh, yeah, I would love to play Gambit,” Tatum said. “I don’t think we should direct it. I think that was hubris on our part.”
Of his Variety cover, Tatum wrote on social media, “It’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these. … Also got to reminisce about the past few years, my 18-year-old self, and my last road trip with one of my favorite souls in the world.”
