I’m back, ladies and gents.

As you guys know, I wrote an extensive essay (OK, maybe it wasn’t that extensive) on why I wasn’t too thrilled about Channing Tatum channing his Tatum all over Gambit in an X-Men origins movie for the character. Well guys, it’s really happening. That’s right. Channing took to his Facebook this week to confirm that he’ll be bringing his Magic Mike swivel hips to the franchise as Remy Etienne LeBeau.

via: http://www.comicvine.com/profile/street_level_hero/

Initially, Channing teased the news by tweeting,

That was then followed up with the official news from Variety, which said Fox was going forward with the film for the targeted release date of Oct. 7, 2016 and were shifting around all its other movies like like Planet of the Apes sequel and sequel to its Fantastic Four re-boot, blah blah blah. So back to Chambit…

At first, I felt a way. It was kinda like “but why?”or in the immortal words of Cogsworth,

But then I thought about it and said, you know what, Channing’s hot right now — especially from all the steam he’s getting from this Foxcatcher flick that everyone’s talking about, so hey, why not. Furthermore, Fox has been doing a lil’ better with their X-Men films thanks to First Class and  Days of Future Past. So now that it’s all said and done with, the real work begins.

This Gambit flick is not only going to be an origins story, but Channing’s first shot at the comic book universe, which can gain him a new audience of worshipers or a lot of people writing him off. The expectations of Gambit can be moderate to pretty high since Taylor Kitsch didn’t leave a necessarily memorable image of the Cajun in our minds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. To make this film right, here’s what I think we’ll need:

(1) Solid Acting. OK, I understand with most comic book films there isn’t much acting to beginning with because a lot of the films deal with a ton of action that’s geared to somehow save the world, but each since it’s all based in a fictional world, there needs to be something to convince us that the stuff happening is real. With that being said, Channing needs to bring it for Gambit. Gambit’s suave, charming, and has a trademark sound accompanied by beloved phrases. So far, we’ve got a glimpse of what Chambit’s cajun may sound like…

Yeah. He’s gonna need a good deal of dialect training. But he sounds ambitious, and has said that he even wants to put some patois in the mix, so we’ll see. Don’t muck that up, Chambit!

(2) A Good Storyline. Like most people who’ve seen a bunch of comic book genre films, I haven’t read the original source material. I have, however, watched it from the ’90s cartoon. There are so many plot lines in comics (honestly) to try to do them all. This is why I ask that they create one good one that stays close to the source material with regards to the key points in his life making him the lovable thief and slightly tormented rapscallion that he is. I also ask this, because if the rumor is true, we’ll meet Gambit in the X-Men: Apocalypse movie first and if he’s got a crappy storyline from his intro into the movieverse, then no one will give a crap about his origin.

(3) ROGUE! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hoping, praying, and begging that this Gambit movie will somehow include Rogue.

Now I’m not asking for a Rogue-Gambit romance movie. That’s not what I’m saying needs to happen at all. But an easter egg of some sort of with him meeting her when he joins the X-Men or something would be much appreciated. And you know what, it doesn’t have to be Anna Paquin. As far as I’m concerned, as much as I like her as an actress, the Rogue that she came with in those X-Men movies were kinda blasé, and a re-boot for her character is not necessary, but warmly accepted.

What I don’t want is none of that over-the-top, fluffer-nutter action stuff that was in X-Men Origins. They had Remy flying through the air like a helicopter and climbing up the wall like a madman. No, no, no. Remy’s a thief, his fighting style should be sleek and stealthy. It should also have some street qualities to it and pack quite a punch — or should I say, spark?

Any how, that’s all I ask of the movie. I’m gonna let the powers that be handle that.

In other X-Men related news… X-Men: Apocalypse has started casting, with Oscar Issac nabbing the role of titular character Apocalypse. The movie, which will be set in 1983, is said to be shaking things up for noted (yet often downplayed) characters like Storm, Jean Grey, and Scott Summers by re-casting a younger version of the famed mutants. Now, Latino-Review is exclusively dishing the names of a few young hopefuls that have been testing for the roles:

he names of actors Taron Edgerton (Kingsman), Jamie Blackley (If I Stay), and Tye Sheridan (Mud) have been tossed for Scott “Cyclops” Summers,

http://www.latino-review.com/

For Jean Grey, the contenders are Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) and Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) have been mentioned.

http://www.latino-review.com/

And last but not least, the role of Storm has apparently been tested by Zendaya Coleman (Shake It Up) and Alexandra Shipp (Aaliyah: Princess of R&B).

http://www.nydailynews.com

I’ll make up my mind on this casting if any of these guys make it through the ringer. I don’t have enough background on the guys being “tested” for Scott, but I don’t mind the gals being tested for Jean. I’d say go far to say as go for Saiorse. She’s got quite the chops on her. As for Storm… no offense to the ladies, but I’m going to hold out to see who else is being tested other than the two Aaliyahs. I’m hoping that Amandla Sternberg might pop up in the mix, considering she does have some experience doing an action film (Hunger Games, no?) and TV show (Sleepy Hollow much?).

Another reason I’m not putting too much weight into these names is because I figure if Apocalypse is going to be set when they’re all young, they probably won’t have much screen time, lines, presence, etc. It’ll all boil down to the main people who sell the X-Men franchise (Mystique, Wolverine, Prof. X, Magneto, etc.) and then a Gambit cameo to tie in his spin-off.

That’s all the nerding I’ll do for the moment, but I’ll be back to a’ranting and a’raving when more info about either movies comes out. Be sure to let me know all your feelings about Chambit and the young mutants casting test.

Tell me all about it in the comments or on le Twitter!

x Nerd Girl Out x