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Fox Reportedly Courting Daniel Craig For Villain Role In Gambit

Splash Report brings word that Daniel Craig has entered talks to assume the villain role in Channing Tatum's Gambit movie.

From 007 to Fox’s X-Men universe?

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Splash Report has unearthed a new rumor claiming Bond 25 actor Daniel Craig is circling the villain role in Gambit. He’s said to be up for the part of Mr. Sinister (real name: Nathaniel Essex) opposite Channing Tatum as the titular mutant, who goes by the name of Remy LeBeau when he’s not slinging cards around the joint.

Sinister, on the other hand, is a classic villain pulled from the X-Men archives. Sources close to Splash Report merely suggest that Fox is hosting “conversations” about possibly securing Daniel Craig to be Essex (Sinister) in Gambit as well as future X-Men movies. Remember, the studio recently staked out a total of six release dates for upcoming Marvel films, so there’s a very good chance it’s already reserved a slot for Gambit, even if the pic itself is a long way from the finish line.

The jury’s still out on that one – ditto for Craig’s potential involvement – but Gambit has been showing signs of life in recent weeks. Late last month, for instance, a smattering of alleged story details pertaining to Fox’s long-in-development spinoff surfaced online. Also of note, that same piece of intel name-dropped Mr. Sinister as the film’s primary villain, so we’re inclined to believe that Fox will soon pit Remy and Essex against one another, which ought to leave X-Men fans weak at the knees.

Gambit is hired to do a job in Paris in which he has to steal something from the Louvre Museum. 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…

As was previously reported, 20th Century Fox recently ordered Gambit back to the drawing board following the back-to-back success of Deadpool and Logan. That doesn’t necessarily mean the studio will slap an R rating onto the Remy LeBeau origin pic, simply that everyone involved has been imbued with a renewed sense of confidence ahead of their long-gestating standalone film.

As for the potential casting of Daniel Craig, tell us, do you believe the four-time Bond actor would be a good fit to play Mr. Sinister? Or would you rather the role go to someone else? You can, as always, drop your thoughts in the usual place. Bond 25, meanwhile, will make a beeline for theaters in November of 2019.