Warning: Spoilers follow for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine is chock full of superhero cameos, but Ryan Reynolds was over the moon to share the screen with one actor in particular.
Reynolds, who stars in the title role of Deadpool & Wolverine alongside Hugh Jackman's clawed X-Man, celebrated Channing Tatum finally getting his MCU debut and portraying Gambit on the big screen. Tatum took to X/Twitter first to thank Reynolds for making the cameo happen, saying he owes him "probably forever."
Imagine having a front row seat to this guy. He’s not only a once in a generation talent but a genuinely GOOD man. I know what it feels like to WILL a character into existence and Chan did just that. Then he put the most vivid/authentic version of the character onscreen. This was… https://t.co/soFKdOe2Bv
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) July 30, 2024
Tatum posted two near-identical photos of him and Reynolds standing side-by-side at San Diego Comic-Con, taken nearly 10 years apart. The second snap came from this year's event, where a gaggle of stars who made guest appearances in the film joined Reynolds and Jackman on-stage with director Shawn Levy and more.
"These pictures are almost 10 years apart to the day," Tatum wrote in the post. "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**t you did it man. It's perfect. 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. 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."
Tatum also shouted out Levy for being "a brilliant creator" before sharing his gratitude for being part of a movie that, in his opinion, is "a masterpiece." Reynolds shared and quoted the post with a message of his own acknowledging Tatum's determination and talent (specifically, the authenticity he brought to the role).
"Imagine having a front row seat to this guy," Reynolds wrote in response to Tatum's gushing social media post. "He's not only a once in a generation talent but a genuinely GOOD man. I know what it feels like to WILL a character into existence and Chan did just that. Then he put the most vivid/authentic version of the character onscreen. This was our second San Diego Comic Con. Two of the best days of my life happened while Channing wore this shirt. Coincidence or conspiracy?"
Tatum has been gunning to play Gambit since X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006. He was originally cast in the role of the Ragin' Cajun before it was cut from the script. And for well over a decade, he's been trying — and failing — to make a Gambit spinoff film, which was killed when Disney bought Fox, leaving him "traumatized."
He finally got to make his long-anticipated arrival as the deadly card-dealer in Deadpool & Wolverine — a movie that achieved the largest R-rated global box office opening ever with a staggering $438.3 million and the eighth-biggest domestic weekend box office debut of all time, with ticket sales reaching $205 million.
IGN's review of Deadpool & Wolverine called the MCU blockbuster "an outrageous, consistently funny superhero comedy that succeeds largely thanks to the contagious enthusiasm of leads Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and a surprisingly classy perspective on superhero movie history." But it left us with some questions.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
