The Marvel Cinematic Universe has yet to introduce mutants in its vast roster of heroes and villains, but plans are slowly taking shape to incorporate them into the franchise. While fans wait for their eventual arrival, some of the previous projects from Fox's X-Men universe have been making headlines in the past months, and one of them is the scrapped Gambit movie that would've served as Channing Tatum's Marvel debut.
Back in 2014, the solo spinoff for Gambit starring Tatum was announced; however, the film suffered multiple release date changes that ultimately led to its unfortunate cancellation.
Tatum has since opened up about the scrapped movie plans, admitting that he was devastated over it; the 21 Jump Street actor even pointed out that he'd still be willing to play Gambit if given the opportunity again.
Now, new details about Gambit have been revealed, specifically on its take on Marvel's many mutants.
Scrapped Plans for Gambit's Mutants Revealed
Gambit writer Reid Carolin sat down with The Playlist to talk about the movie's scrapped plans for its mutants.
Carolin first shared how the film would showcase its own iteration of mutants, revealing that they "didn't care about saving the world," but would rather "use their powers to party and hook up:"
“We made this world in New Orleans that was a city of mutants that didn’t care about saving the world. They went there so they could use their powers to party and hook up, and their hands could fry the grease at MacDonald’s and whatever else, and the hardest thing for them to do was to fall in love because they could read each other’s minds, or when they got into a fight, they could turn a table into a grenade and send their partner to the hospital or whatever."
The filmmaker also compared the mutant city to a world of "the Mafia" taking over where it was "almost kind of like a mutant Goodfellas in New Orleans:"
"So, it was all this kind of low-level mutant fights and disagreements and we set in this world of the Mafia—almost kind of like a mutant 'Goodfellas' in New Orleans.”
Carolin then opened up on how the Channing Tatum-led movie was developed, saying that they produced it for more than five years. The Marvel writer shared that he actively worked on the film for two years straight - nearly every day - to polish the script.
Carolin also pointed out that the film went through "multiple versions of the script and finally found the one" that he believed was "going to be really awesome.”
Lastly, the Gambit filmmaker praised former President of Production at 20th Century Fox, Emma Watts, for crafting a universe that works for Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, claiming that a studio can "pop some wheelies and really attract an audience" if given the right creative direction:
“I think it played really well in the ‘Deadpool’ universe at Fox, Emma Watts had really championed it at Fox. They made ‘Deadpool’ at Fox and they understood that when you went a little punk rock with these characters you could pop some wheelies and really attract an audience.”
Will the MCU Adopt Gambit's Scrapped Mutants?
Reid Carolin's latest reveal about the film's plans for the mutants makes sense since it fits the storyline for a solo movie starring a rebel like Gambit.
The setup of a mutant city that didn't care about saving the world would enhance Gambit's transition from being a thief to a full-blown hero. It would also set Gambit's in-movie world apart from the usual themes of how Charles Xavier led his team in the X-Men films.
It remains to be seen if the MCU will take a page from Gambit's plans for New Orleans' mutants. So far, Marvel Studios' lineup for its iteration of X-Men is still unknown, but there's always a possibility of seeing a fresh live-action take on Remy LeBeau - especially if the studio decides to green light a solo spinoff for some members of Xavier's gifted individuals.
Carolin's comments pretty much solidified that he and Tatum were going all-in for Gambit. Unfortunately, their plans didn't push through, but the filmmaker's passionate remarks about the scrapped project could serve as a potential launchpad for a future film to be considered.
For now, MCU fans can soon catch the franchise's first iteration of mutants in an upcoming animated series called X-Men '97 on Disney+.
