Ryan Reynolds praises Channing Tatum's Gambit role after 20-year struggle

Ryan Reynolds is showering praise on Channing Tatum for his portrayal of Gambit/ Remy LeBeau in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Taking to his Instagram on Monday, August 5, Reynolds expressed his admiration for Tatum’s dedication to the character, which has been in the works for nearly two decades since the Magic Mike star was first poised to play the card-throwing hero in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), only to be written out.

“Gambit is a guy Chan was born to play,” Reynolds began the lengthy tribute accompanied by photos of Tatum on set.

He compared Tatum’s journey to his own experience bringing Deadpool to life, noting, “His story is similar to my road on Deadpool — in that Chan spent a decade trying to put the most comic-accurate version on the big screen.”

Reynolds continued, “Remy LeBeau is grafted to his soul and needs to come out and deal. Some characters can only exist with a one in a billion pairing and this is it. Gambit found his author in Chan. He’s one of the coolest, smartest characters in Comics and still largely unexplored.”

Expressing his desire for more of Gambit, Reynolds added, “I want more — and from what I saw in theatres, you do too.” After a nod to Tatum’s work ethic and dedication, Reynolds concluded by saying he “couldn’t be more thrilled” to see Tatum finally bring Gambit to life.