Well this is surprising. Like, this is seriously shocking. There hadn’t been weeks of rumored behind the scenes difficulties on the Gambit movie, why, just two weeks ago Channing Tatum made a surprise appearance at 20th Century Fox’s Comic-Con panel to promote his future turn as Gambit. He had been spearheading the project for a while now, and frankly, it did feel like he was the only reason it was getting made.

Now, The Wrap is reporting that Tatum has left the project, which puts the projects entire existence in peril. Will they get a new actor to play Gambit or will they settle for scrapping the standalone movie and putting Gambit as a supporting actor in future X-Men movies? What a peculiar turn of events, and there will certainly be more details about the film (namely whether it’s even happening anymore) in the future. I for one would love to know why exactly Tatum left the project, but I doubt we’ll ever get more detailed concrete information beyond “creative differences”.

I’m not a huge Gambit fan, but I was interested in seeing how he’d be adapted into the ever expanding X-Men universe. I have no idea who could play the suave mutant now, but I do have numerous ideas for who Channing Tatum could now play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe if he ever felt so inclined.