Where Do 2018's X-Men Movies Leave The Long-Awaited 'Gambit' Movie?

As probably one of the biggest announcements to be made by Fox this year, the studio just confirmed the release date of three films: X-Men: The New Mutants, Deadpool 2, and finally culminating with X-Men: The Dark Phoenix.

Before this announcement, the studio had been keeping quiet on the development of these movies, so this reveal is definitely something fans are going to be excited about. But, there's one movie long rumored to be in development which hasn't been talked about much: Gambit.

#Gambit was reportedly in development back in 2015, with Channing Tatum starring, but little has been said since. We know that Gambit lost its director, Doug Liman back in 2016, so that could be one reason why the movie has still to enter production.

What's interesting about Gambit is that Simon Kinberg commented on the matter and — from the sound of his comments — it seems like Gambit is being prepped for 2019 instead of 2018. Here are Kinberg's full comments from February:

"It's a movie that we hope will be ready to go by the end of this year and shoot next year. We have two or three X-Men related movies this year so it can wait for a moment. The process has been that Channing (Tatum) is as determined about getting the character right as Ryan Reynolds was about Deadpool and Hugh (Jackman) was about his Logan movie."

Kinberg's comments aside, the notion of waiting on #ChanningTatum to get the role right seems like the studio is investing a lot in Tatum's ability. That said, the studio's reasoning for waiting patiently is that Gambit is expected to set up a new franchise.

Kinberg: "We know that when we (Fox) get those right, the movie succeeds, so we want to make sure we get Gambit right because we want him to be the beginning of a whole new franchise.”

With that knowledge, Gambit's outlook appears positive. Though, if Tatum is taking this long to work on one character, it may be a sign that he's having difficulty with the role. We don't know that with a certainty, but if that's the case, the studio could easily fast-track Gambit with another actor in the lead role.

To be fair, there are a few other actors who would be better for the role of Remy Lebeau a.k.a. Gambit. Some would even say that Taylor Kitsch portrayed a loyal enough depiction of Gambit back in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so he could be brought back into the fold in the scenario of Tatum backing out. Although, so many fans were critical of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that the general fan base might not be accepting of Kitsch, regardless of what he could bring to the character.

The Gambit movie will likely be delayed until late 2019, if nothing else puts a hold on production. On top of that, not many fans are driving very hard for this film. It may be a topic of discussion at the moment, but not many people seem too excited about this upcoming release. With the plot remaining a mystery as well, there isn't enough information out there for fans to get behind, which may be why the movie is getting much attention.

What do you think about Gambit? Should the movie be delayed indefinitely or does Fox need to fast-track the movie before:

New Mutants opens in theaters on April 13, 2018

Deadpool 2 opens on June 1, 2018.

X-Men: The Dark Phoenix opens on November 2, 2018.

(Source: Uproxx)