When 20th Century Fox confirmed its Gambit standalone film starring Channing Tatum a few months ago, we wondered where it would fit within the X-Men film slate. Now that the release date has been announced, we have a better idea of how all three of 2016’s X-Men movies will link into one another. That’s right, all three.
First up in 2016 is the Deadpool solo movie, out February 12. X-Men: Apocalypse follows on May 27. Finally, Gambit rounds out the year on October 7, as Tatum announced on Twitter today:
How do you say October 7, 2016 in Cajun?
— Channing Tatum (@channingtatum) January 6, 2015
As ScreenRant points out, Fox now has more superhero movies planned for 2016 than Disney/Marvel, Warner Bros/DC, or Sony. With X-Men: Apocalypse solidly situated between the two standalone movies, it would make sense for both Deadpool and Gambit to pop up in the big showdown.
It’s unclear if Gambit will be an origin story; the last word from Tatum on the plot was, “We’re obviously going to go to the saving the world superhero movies eventually, but not for the first one.” Perhaps he’ll join in the world-saving against Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse and then spend his own adventure smoking, loving the ladies, and thieving.
