Channing Tatum wanted to play Marvel hero Gambit for 20 years. Now he hopes 'Deadpool & Wolverine' will help him get his own movie: 'I pray to God'

• Channing Tatum has come close to playing the "X-Men" hero Gambit several times since 2005.
• The actor made a surprise cameo as the Cajun mutant in "Deadpool & Wolverine."
• He said he's still hoping to star in solo "Gambit" movie.

Channing Tatum has wanted to play the Marvel hero Gambit since 2005, and he finally got the chance with a surprise cameo in "Deadpool & Wolverine."

Now he hopes that he'll finally get to star in a solo "Gambit" movie.

An early draft of 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand" included Gambit, and Channing Tatum was picked to play the Cajun mutant who can wield kinetic energy. However, the character was written out of the script, and Tatum didn't confirm his brief involvement with the sequel until 2014.

Tatum also missed out on playing Gambit in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" because of scheduling conflicts with "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." He tried numerous times over the years to get a "Gambit" solo movie off the ground with 20th Century Fox, but it never materialized.

Fast-forward to 2024, and Tatum made a memorable (and memeable) appearance in "Deadpool & Wolverine" as Gambit, wearing the character's comic-accurate outfit in several scenes alongside Blade (Wesley Snipes), Elektra (Jennifer Garner), and X-23 (Dafne Keen).

"Deadpool & Wolverine" can feature all this fan service because it takes place in the multiverse. The film weaves different eras of Marvel movies together into a wildly successful summer blockbuster, which made almost $1 billion within the first two weeks of its release, per Box Office Mojo.

Fans went wild for Tatum's tongue-in-cheek role in the film, and now he hopes that it'll give him the chance to star in his long-awaited own solo movie.

Tatum told Variety on Thursday at the "Blink Twice" premiere: "I sure hope so. From your mouth to God's ears. Write it into existence, my friend. Please."

He added: "I've course I've said it. I've been saying I want it for the last 10 years. It's in Bob Iger and Kevin Feige's hands. I pray to God."

It's entirely possible that Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige could give Tatum his "Gambit" movie because Disney owns the rights to the "X-Men" characters after it bought 20th Century Fox in 2019.

Tatum's interest in Gambit mirrors Ryan Reynolds' own journey to playing Deadpool, which started with a misguided version of the foul-mouthed mercenary in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and has since led to a beloved franchise.

On Instagram, Tatum thanked Reynolds for bringing Gambit back to him for "Deadpool & Wolverine."

"I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever," he wrote.