Summary:
- Channing Tatum thanks Ryan Reynolds for helping him finally play Gambit in Deadpool and Wolverine after years of setbacks and cancellations.
- Tatum and Wesley Snipes share their excitement and gratitude for getting to reprise their beloved characters in the film.
Channing Tatum has shared his deep appreciation for Ryan Reynolds after finally getting the chance to play Gambit on the big screen in Deadpool and Wolverine. This opportunity came after years of trying and failing to bring the character to life for 20th Century Fox.
Tatum was initially slated to portray the card-wielding superhero in X-Men Origins: Wolverine but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. The role then went to Taylor Kitsch.
Later, Tatum signed on for a solo Gambit movie in 2014, which ended up in development hell and was officially canceled after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019.
Given this history, the opportunity to play Gambit in Deadpool and Wolverine meant a lot to Tatum. He expressed his gratitude on social media, saying he thought he had “lost” the character forever.
“These pictures are almost 10 years apart to the day,” Tatum wrote in a post featuring photos of himself with Reynolds at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014 and 2024.
I sat in the audience when Ryan Reynolds showed his first peek of Deadpool 1 to the world and I think I ran backstage right after and found him and I think I just hugged him and was like holy s**t you did it man.
It’s perfect. I didn’t know him really at all back then. But since then I can say that there is almost no one that has had my back in this industry more than [Ryan Reynolds].”
These pictures are almost 10 years apart to the day. I sat in the audience when Ryan Reynolds showed his first peek of Deadpool 1 to the world and I think I ran back stage right after and found him and I think I just hugged him and was like holy shit you did it man. It’s perfect.… pic.twitter.com/B5viY2f7nl
— Channing Tatum (@channingtatum) July 30, 2024
He continued, “I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy.”
Tatum also thanked director Shawn Levy for his work on the film, writing: “Truly such a brilliant creator on every single level. All things happen for a reason. I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure bad ass joy. I was literally screaming in the theater. LFG!!”
Tatum wasn’t the only actor given the chance to reprise a beloved character. Wesley Snipes also returned as Blade, a role he thought he would never play again.
1998’s Blade was essentially the first Marvel superhero movie, with Snipes making the vampire hunter iconic over the course of the film and its sequels, 2002’s Blade and 2004’s Blade: Trinity. There was talk of Snipes returning for a fourth movie, but it never materialized. However, Reynolds reached out to Snipes with a new opportunity.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his return, Snipes said, “I did not think it was possible. I didn’t think we would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it, Disney was into it — also because they had Mahershala [Ali] cast for the next upcoming version of it…
I thought it didn’t make sense to me, but [when] you get a call from Ryan Reynolds out of the blue after 20 years, you go, ‘Okay, I got to take this call. Let’s see what this is about.’ He told me the idea…They said ‘yes’ and ‘it’s a go.’ ‘If you’re in, we’re in.’ Here we are.”
‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ is now playing in theaters.
