Getty Image/Marvel Studios
While there has been a cynical reaction to some of the surprise appearances in Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s important to remember that it’s possible — especially when seeing how clearly committed Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have been to those respective characters — the actors who play these roles have a reverence for them too.
WARNING: The rest of this article will contain major spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine — DO NOT read past this point if you do not want to have any of the cameos in the film spoiled for you.
Among the many surprise supporting characters and cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine — among them being Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Henry Cavill as Wolverine, Wesley Snipes as Blade, and Jennifer Garner as Elektra — perhaps the most surprising was Channing Tatum as Gambit considering that he never actually made it to the big screen prior to now.
A Gambit movie was famously a passion project of Tatum’s that he was trying to get off the ground at 20th Century Fox before it was ultimately canceled after Disney acquired the company.
Having finally been given the chance to bring a character he loves to life, Tatum gushed about Deadpool franchise star Ryan Reynolds on social media, saying that “no one” has had his back more than the Canadian actor.
“These pictures are almost 10 years apart to the day. I sat in the audience when Ryan Reynolds showed his first peek of Deadpool 1 to the world and I think I ran back stage right after and found him and I think I just hugged him and was like holy s— you did it man. It’s perfect,” Tatum wrote on Twitter and Instagram.
“I didn’t know him really at all back then. But since then I can say that there is almost no one that has had my back in this industry more than Ryan Reynolds. I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy. [Director] Shawn Levy as well. Truly such a brilliant creator on every single level. All things happen for a reason. I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure badass joy. I was literally screaming in the theater. LFG!!”
Deadpool & Wolverine, which is smashing all sorts of box office records, including the biggest-ever opening for an R-rated movie, is now playing in theaters.