Marvel Comics
Although the official title hasn’t been announced, we can start assuming the solo Gambit movie starring Channing Tatum will be called X-Men Origins: Gambit. Unless, of course, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has tarnished that angle. But while we still know very little about this movie, not even who’ll direct, we now know for sure that it’s covering the back story of Remy LeBeau, aka Gamibit. In a recent interview with Empire, Tatum confirmed that the spin-off will indeed be an origin story. As quoted by ComicBookMovie.com:
Josh Zetumer just turned in the first draft of the script, and it’s killer. None of us were sure how he was going to deal with the X-Men world. But we’re going to be changing some of the tropes of these movies. It’s always about saving the world (Laughs), but maybe we’re going to shift things a little bit. There’s so many ways you can take [an origin story]. You could do it like Batman Begins, or a different take and go the Guardians of the Galaxy route. All I can say is, I’m super excited.
Presumably the reason this won’t be like most origin stories, aside from the fact that mutant superheroes don’t have some special “accident” or experiment leading to their powers, is that Gambit was a criminal before he joined the X-Men. Orphaned as a baby, he grew up a pickpocket and wound up a member of the New Orleans Thieves’ Guild. But this wouldn’t be a rarity in having super-powered lead who uses his gift for evil. There are plenty antihero stories, and Jumper and Chronicle come to mind.
Could Gambit go darker, though? As much as I’d love to just see a smaller crime film, that’s not going to be enough for this franchise and its fans, so perhaps they’ll start there and follow the character on to his regretful work with Mister Sinister and the Marauders in their massacre of the Morlocks. Antiheroes are cool and not uncommon, but how often do we see them go so far as to participate in such a slaughter? Plus, it’s about time we see Sinister on the big screen. Here’s more of what Tatum told Empire about his character:
He always felt the most real of the X-Men to me. He’s kind of a tortured soul and he’s not a good guy. But he’s not a bad guy, either. He walks his own path. And of course he plays cards and drinks and is a martial-arts badass!
It’d also be nice to see the new young Storm of X-Men: Apocalypse (Alexandra Shipp) turn up if they want to show how he was introduced to the X-Men. But that would also make this more of a one-off than I think it should be. As long as it’s not another X-Men Origins: Wolverine ‐ and given that Gambit creator and longtime “X-Men” writer Chris Claremont is contributing to this movie, I doubt that’ll be the case ‐ Fox is going to want sequels.
Gambit is scheduled to open on October 7, 2016.
Related Topics: Channing Tatum
