Rumors that Channing Tatum would take over the role of Gambit were confirmed on Monday night when an X-Men: Days of Future Past producer revealed that the Magic Mike actor had been cast as the popular mutant.
“He’s a rascal, just like Remy LeBeau, and he can handle the action — we all know that,” Lauren Shuler Donner said at the Days of Future Past premiere in London. “He’s not from New Orleans, but he is a Southerner and he understands that world.”
Tatum had expressed interest in the role last month, saying, “Gambit’s really the only X-Men I’ve ever loved.” Gambit was previously played by Friday Night Lights actor Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but Kitsch’s star has faded somewhat in the last two years, thanks to poor showings at the box office by John Carter and Battleship.
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