Spoilers ahead for Deadpool & Wolverine.
The MCU has a penchant for constantly releasing new content, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The latest movie to expand the universe is Shawn Levy's at the box office and has quickly become a fan favorite title. The movie featured a ton of wild cameos, including Channing Tatum's Gambit. The Magic Mike actor recently spoke opened up on the origins of his Gambit accent, and "The Night Before Christmas" was not what I expected.
Deadpool 3's cast list was heavily debated prior to its release, including a number of cameos that didn't actually come to fruition. But Channing Tatum finally got to play Gambit, after his announced solo movie sat in development hell and was ultimately a victim of Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. His accent in the movie was a great running joke, although some folks online have offered their own criticism. While appearing The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he spoke about his love for the X-Man, saying:
Like I could cry. I could actually get emotional. Like I've been actively in the industry trying to play that character for the last 20 years. I was like in third grade throwing playing cards at my friends in the living room.
Talk about a long payoff. The Gambit movie never got to happen, despite how long and hard Tatum tried to play that card-throwing mutant. So even if his role was relatively small in Deadpool 3, it's seemingly been an emotional ride for the Hateful Eight actor.
Tatum's accent in Deadpool 3 was played up for laughs, with Wade Wilson poking fun at him and even referencing a dialect coach. But he's got roots in cajun culture, and spoke with Fallon about what it was like growing up in Mississippi. And that includes a very unique take on classic poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" aka "The Night Before Christmas." As he offered:
So I, yeah, my dad's from New Orleans [sic] ... I grew up in Mississippi, so it was all-around just the Bayou in general. People don't really know this, but there's not a lot of cajun people in New Orleans; they're more like in Lafayette, whatnot. But yeah, that culture, that sound kind of marinates all around down there. We'd always read this book called 'The Cajun Night Before Christmas' and it was always like, we'd play around reading it.
While Tatum's accent was exaggerated for comedic affect in Deadpool & Wolverine, he seems to really know his stuff, including where there's more people with Gambit's signature cajun dialect. One can only imagine how he would have used this knowledge and the accent if he got to actually bring a full-fledged Gambit movie to life.
Still, he looked awesome in Deadpool 3, and got to do some really cool battle sequences with Gambit's cards. Some fans are hoping to see him back in the role for an upcoming Marvel movie, while others are happy with what we got in the Ryan Reynolds movie.
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Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now, and will be followed by Captain America: Brave New World on February 14th. For now, check out the 2025 movie release dates to plan your trips to the theater next year.
Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.
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