It’s now looking more and more likely that Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman will be the filmmaker to take on Gambit, the hugely anticipated X-Men spin-off that 20th Century Fox is looking to put into theaters on October 7th, 2016. As The Hollywood Reporter, um, reports, Liman is closing in on a deal with Fox to take the reins of the project from Rupert Wyatt, the man behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the not-half-bad yet forgettable remake of The Gambler, who exited the project due to scheduling issues reportedly.

Liman is a great choice to take on the material, and has made a name for himself as a talented filmmaker who has never quite found the right script to bring out the full breadth of his considerable technical abilities. Gambit, which has been described as a sort of heist film, could very well be that project, as Liman showed newfound verve in Edge of Tomorrow, though the film lacked any potent sense of personal involvement from him or his star, Tom Cruise. Regardless, he has a way of producing viscerally kinetic and entertaining films out of slightly off-kilter premises, and I don’t know how else you would describe a heist movie based around a mutant who throws energized, lethal playing cards at his enemies.

Channing Tatum is attached to star as the titular superhero while recent Spectre standout Lea Seydoux is currently being looked at as the female lead of the film, and the casting certainly makes one excited for what this film could become, not unlike the eye-popping performers set for Doctor Strange, another Marvel property. For the time being, Liman is finishing up work on Mena, yet another collaboration with Cruise, which will likely also see release sometime next year, making for a major year for a director who has been deserving of big action audiences for quite some time now.