Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. have been grabbing all the headlines in recent weeks. Their bold announcements of multiple films combining to create cinematic universes is revolutionary and a testament to the faith that the studios have in their comic book properties.
Meanwhile Fox Studios has been covertly carving out their own version of the Marvel universe. This summer they took a gamble with X-Men: Days of Future Past, by making it their largest budgeted comic book film ever. It paid off. The movie is regarded as one of the best movies of the year and was a huge box-office success. Casting is already underway for the sequel, X-Men: Apocalypse. They also have a reboot of the Fantastic Four in post-production. Expectations are low for the movie and this will probably play to their favor. Fantastic Four has a very gifted director and collection of actors, it will most certainly surprise people when it’s released. Add to the mix that a Deadpool movie has been announced and will be in theaters Spring 2016 and suddenly it’s clear that Fox is building a universe, without announcing it formally.
Fan Art by MetalBlackFae
The next X-Men character to get a solo film is the Cajun thief, Gambit. Channing Tatum is now officially attached to star as Remy Lebeau, also known by his codename. Tatum has talked about the role a lot in the past, however this news means that the film has the greenlight and will probably be in theaters in a matter of years. Here are the exciting details via Deadline:
Fox has set Robocop scribe Josh Zetumer to write the screenplay. The studio has officially attached Tatum as star, and to produce with his Free Association partner Reid Carolin, The Donners Company’s Lauren Shuler Donner, and Genre Films’ Simon Kinberg…The screenplay will be based on a treatment penned by legendary Marvel Comics writer Chris Claremont, who with Jim Lee created the character for Marvel in 1990. The storyline is being kept under wraps.
Gambit is a character created in the early 1990’s, Claremont who also wrote the original X-Men comic series, “Days of Future Past,” so this being his story is significant. It means that we should be getting a faithful reinterpretation of Gambit.
Lebeau is an interesting character and a complicated anti-hero. He is a proud Louisiana native, who has a known past as a professional thief and womanizer. He then goes on to have one of the X-Men’s greatest love stories with Rogue, while becoming a member of the team. Gambit is an agile and dynamic mutant who has the ability to manipulate kinetic energy, which essentially means that he can touch things and make them blow up. His weapons of choice are a volatile deck of cards and a bo staff, which can hold kinetic energy without exploding.
Fan Art by David Igo
Tatum has family ties to Louisiana and has not been shy in sharing his excitement for the role. It stands to reason that he will be in introduced in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse movie. This is based on past comments from director Bryan Singer explicitly saying he would like to include the character in the movie. He is a large part of the “Age of Apocalypse” story line in the comics and he would be a great addition to the team or as a potential nemesis. The possibilities for the character are wide open at this point, but fans of X-Men should hold their heads high as the universe continues to expand.
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