What was once a hopeful thought and rumor is now fact. Actor Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe, 21 Jump Street) is officially the X-Men mutant Gambit.
Previously portrayed by actor Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Tatum will take over for Kitsch and be introduced as Gambit in the follow-up to X-Men Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse. Also, per The Hollywood Reporter, Gambit will eventually get his own solo film after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse take place. (So it'll come out sometime after 2016.)
While this may be a surprise to some, long time X-Men producer Lauren Shula Donner has been a fan of Tatum as Gambit for some time and has hinted/teased about it over the past few months. No writer or director is attached to any potential Gambit solo movie yet, but now that it's officially being developed those hires are surely to be announced soon(ish).
Check out the video below, via Total Film, with Donner confirming that Tatum is officially Gambit now.
Related Post: X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Will Recast CYCLOPS, JEAN GREY and Storm; Plus Villain Hints