Despite Fox tentatively pencilling in a release date for October 2016 back in January for their upcoming X-Men spin off movie Gambit, lead star Channing Tatum has been unsure as to whether the movie would actually ever get made. Thankfully the ball has started to roll with the recent announcement that Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) has signed on to direct.

During his promotional duties for Magic Mike XXL, Tatum took part in a Reddit AMA and the topic of Gambit came up. He couldn’t divulge too much information about the movie but Tatum expressed how relieved and happy he was to finally be heading in the right direction now:

“We finally found someone that I really do believe wants to make Gambit, it will be the second standalone character. And I just really think because Gambit is not the most popular or the biggest hero, I think there’s a really unique opportunity.” Tatum continued, “Marvel’s done a lot of great movies that have made a ridiculous amount of money, and it’s always good to figure how to change the form”.

During the AMA one user specifically asked that now with the movie definitely up and running would there be any chance that Gambit might make a cameo appearance in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse, due out a few months prior. Despite rumours Tatum was quick to squash any hope that Gambit might show up alongside the likes of McAvoy’s Professor X:

“No ma’am or sir…I definitely will not.”

Oh well, it would’ve been nice to see Tatum’s Gambit a little bit sooner but I guess that means that the movie will be set in the present rather than the 80’s. 2016 looks set to be a huge year for FOX. As well as Gambit, they have the long awaited Deadpool flick dropping in February and of course the much anticipated X-Men: Apocalypse in May.

The Channing Tatum casting has divided fans about the expectations of the Gambit movie, some love him, some loath him. Either way you can’t deny his passion for the character and drive to get the movie made, which was highly evident during an interview with Empire earlier this year.

Who’s excited to see Gambit back on the big screen?

Gavin Logan