Channing Tatum was officially cast as Remy Lebeau and all set to play the Ragin' Cajun when Disney's takeover of 20th Century Fox led to the solo Gambit movie being scrapped, so the actor jumped at the chance to suit-up as the mutant hero when Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy floated the idea of an appearance in Deadpool and Wolverine.
Tatum shows up along with Wesley Snipes (Blade), Jennifer Garner (Elektra) and Dafne Keen (X-23) when Logan (Hugh Jackman) and the Merc With a Mouth (Reynolds) are stranded in the Void, and actually gets a decent amount of screen time as the makeshift Resistance face-off against Cassandra Nova's (Emma Corrin) forces.
During an interview with the New York Times, Levy spoke about working with a "visibly emotional" Tatum, and revealed that he was actually one of the filmmakers in the mix to helm the Gambit movie prior to the Disney/Fox deal.
"Channing was visibly emotional every day on set. Sometimes it was in the form of smiling euphoria and sometimes it was tearful gratitude, but I’ve never seen an actor more grateful to be on set than Channing Tatum. I was one of several dozen directors who interviewed to direct the “Gambit” movie over a decade ago, and the first time Ryan and I pitched Kevin Feige [the Marvel Studios president] the idea, we had to explain it a bit because this isn’t a capstone to legacy: This is a zig when all the other characters were zagging. It also gave an opportunity to cut against the grain of the other characters, because Gambit’s experience is diametrically different than all the other legends."
There's a lot of fan-support for Tatum to play the MCU's Gambit (he does appear to have survived his encounter with Alioth), but there's a good chance this was a one-off opportunity for the actor to make peace with never getting to play the character back in the day.
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The MPAA gave the movie an official R-rating for: "Strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore, and sexual references."
“Marvel Studios presents their most significant mistake to date - Deadpool & Wolverine," reads the new synopsis. "A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life. His days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. When his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctantlier... reluctanter? Reluctantest? He must convince a reluctant Wolverine to - F*ck. Synopses are so f*cking stupid.”
In addition to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the title roles, Deadpool and Wolverine will see Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), Rob Delaney (Peter), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead) And Shioli Kutsuna (Yukio) return as their respective characters, and they'll be joined by franchise newcomers Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), who will play a TV agent and Charles Xavier's evil counterpart, Cassandra Nova.
Shawn Levy directs Deadpool and Wolverine from a script by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells.