Leaked Gambit Story Details Reveal X-Men Connection

Too often we hear of film projects falling apart when a director/star walks away or, in the more common scenario, a studio pulls the plug altogether. From Fantastic Four 2 to Sony’s fabled Sinister Six crossover, you don’t have to search too far to locate a big-name project that failed to get off the ground. Thankfully, Gambit isn’t one of them.

Yes, the X-Men spinoff has encountered one setback after another since it was first announced, but despite all those frustrating false starts, Channing Tatum remains attached to headline as the ice-cool Remy LeBeau. That’s the real name of the titular hero, a card-playing Cajun who hails from New Orleans. Originally portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in the widely derided X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the torch has since been passed over to Tatum, whose long-time affinity for the character stretches all the way back to childhood.

To date, details on what the film will actually entail have been scarce, and understandably so, but thanks to Splash Report, we now have a boatload of new info. Granted, this should all be taken with a grain of salt until confirmed by an official source, but what we have here is certainly juicy.

According to the outlet, Gambit will be a heist flick, as previously rumored, and is being described as the Ocean’s 11 of the comic book movie genre. Here’s how they detail the plot:

Remy Lebeau (Channing Tatum) is on trial in New Orleans. He’s considered a huge security risk. We flashback to almost 25 years before. Master thief Luke Lebeau runs into eight-year-old Gambit while doing a heist. Impressed by his skills, he offers to take the mutant orphan under his wings.

Raised alongside other strays he calls “cousins”, the teenage Gambit becomes the superstar of the Thief Guild. He encounters Bella Donna Boudreaux while on the run from the police. Sparks immediately fly since Bella is also a fellow mutant. Their love is directly prohibited by both families since the Boudreaux are sworn enemies of the Lebeau clan. Deciding to unite the two sides, Remy offers to have the two clans team up on a HUGE heist to profit both families. Of course, the whole plan goes awry, and in the chaos, Maryanne Boudreaux shoots and kill Luke Lebeau.

We jump to 10 years later; Gambit is hired to do a job in Paris to steal something from the Louvre Museum. It was apparently a test job to see if he still has it. His mysterious employer is revealed to be Nathaniel Essex a.k.a. Mr. Sinister. He offers Gambit 40 million to recover a mysterious trunk that was stolen by the Boudreaux clan. It will be auctioned off during the yearly Thieves Ball where all the criminal organizations in the world meet up. It uses New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebrations as a cover. Gambit decides to enlist a crew of mutants to pull off this seemingly impossible heist…

Sounds pretty exciting, right? Further on in their article, Splash Report also mentions that several X-Men characters (Dani Moonstar, Jamie Madrox, Rictor) will be featured in the film, and there will also be a cameo from a “blue X-Men regular.” As for how it ties into the wider universe, the film will apparently reference the events of both Days of Future Past and Apocalypse and, most importantly, Mr. Sinister is said to be heavily involved.

Again, we caution taking everything here with a grain of salt, but it certainly paints an intriguing picture and has us hopeful that Gambit takes flight sooner rather than later. Sure, it’s had a bit of a rocky road to production thus far, but with Tatum remaining committed to the role, and the script getting a fresh start, it sounds like things may materialize in the not too distant future.

We’ll keep you up to date as more information surfaces, but in the meantime, tell us, if Splash Report’s findings are indeed accurate, do you think Fox is heading in the right direction with the project? Sound off in the comments section and let us know!