In 2014, he told GQ, “[Gambit is] the only superhero I really followed. He was the most real to me: smoking, drinking, women-loving, thief. He just looked cool to me. I’ve always loved him. And obviously, he’s Cajun.”

He was first considered for the role for 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, but then Gambit was written out of the movie.

Then, in 2009, Gambit was added to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but Channing was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict. So, the role went to Taylor Kitsch.

So, Channing began gunning for a Gambit solo movie. He told GQ, “We’re talking about it. I’m proactively sort of going after it. And I feel bad because I really love Taylor Kitsch as an actor and what he did with the part, but you know, you’ve got the things that you would really love to do and see.”

His dream seemed closer than ever when 20th Century Fox tapped him and Reid Carolin, his producing partner, for a Gambit movie. However, their production spent four years in development hell. Unfortunately for Channing, the project died when the studio merged with Disney in 2019.

In 2022, he told Variety, “Once Gambit went away, I was so traumatized. I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.”