Gambit: Channing Tatum reveals new details on his X-Men character and shares production updates

Channing Tatum's last release Jupiter Ascending might have failed to set the box office on fire but the actor seems quite excited about his next big sci-fi comic book film — Gambit.

The actor landed the role of the titular character after he expressed a strong desire, in several interviews, to play the popular X-Men superhero. In the latest issue of Empire Magazine, Tatum sheds some light on the Cajun character and the production status of the film. (via ComicBookMovie)

"I love Gambit," Tatum told Empire Magazine. "I grew up in the South; my father's from Loiuisiana. We'd go to New Orleans and I heard all the dialects. It felt so different from the rest of America; it has its own ancient culture. So I identified with that."

"And 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 bad--s!"

Regarding the current production status of the film, the actor added: "Josh Zetumer (2014 RoboCop) 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 liittle but. 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."

Gambit is rumoured to make an appearance in Bryan Singer's 27 May 2016 release - X-Men: Apocalypse before the character's standalone film which is slated to release on 7 October 2016.