Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds has been sharing plenty of clips of the movie on social media since its release, but none have felt as pointed as today’s 20-second deleted scene. A decade ago, leaked test footage of Deadpool’s effects reel garnered such fan excitement that 20th Century Fox decided to reverse course and greenlight the movie, and with this clip, Reynolds and co. might be hoping for a similar outcome.
[Ed. Note: The rest of this piece contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.]
The footage is of Channing Tatum’s Gambit, revealing that he survived that final battle at Cassandra Nova’s compound — which wouldn’t seem like that much, if not for Reynold’s tweet text “Marvel Sparkle Circle” (i.e., Doctor Strange’s magic portal ring), and the clear reflection of that sparkle circle in Tatum’s soulful peepers. Implying, of course, that some force might have plucked Gambit from the Void and brought him to a timeline where it might actually be possible to see him again.
While technically “deleted,” the shot is also sorta visible in the movie on a “blink or you’ll miss it” standpoint — on one of the monitors in the background of a shot in the TVA. Tatum even referenced the clip in a recent interview with Collider, saying “There’s something that’s happening in that moment that maybe no one knows yet.” The actor clearly hasn’t given up all hope of playing Gambit again.
This would be another dime-a-dozen tease, if not for Tatum and Reynolds’ parallel history with Gambit and Deadpool. Both are actors who felt personally invested in their characters — Tatum’s affection may have been a bit swallowed by history, but for a decade he’s been saying to anyone who’ll listen that he loves Remy LeBeau and wants to give him a true Cajun accent. He and Reynolds were both up for potential solo films in 2014, but while Deadpool went ahead after its leaked footage went viral, Gambit languished in development until it was finally, officially, shelved in 2022.
Are Reynolds and Tatum (whose camp reposted Reynolds’ X post) pushing for a Gambit movie? Sure looks like they wouldn’t mind it. Will they get one? That’s anyone’s guess. But given how Reynolds went from a hail mary revival from cancellation to his blockbuster Deadpool trilogy, it makes all the sense in the world that he’d push for — or at least wink at — it happening for another actor’s favorite superhero.
