Channing Tatum recalls near miss for Thor, Gambit linked to Doomsday

Channing Tatum revealed that he once auditioned to play Thor in Kenneth Branagh's 2011 film but says the tryout went badly and left him with an unexpected lesson about stillness. Tatum, now 45 and recently introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Gambit, recounted the episode in a cover story published by Variety, saying he sought the audition largely to perform for Branagh rather than out of a desire to play the God of Thunder.

After a single take, Branagh allegedly told him, "Youre not allowed to move. Put your hands on this chair." Tatum said he froze. "He nailed my crutch," Tatum told Variety. "I spent the next five years really trying to learn stillness." Chris Hemsworth ultimately won the role and has since been a central figure in the MCU.

Tatum said his heart was set on another Marvel character: Gambit from the X-Men universe. He spent years developing a standalone Gambit movie at 20th Century Fox, a project that was at times slated for an October 2016 release and later reported to have cast Lizzy Caplan as the female lead. The project stalled amid rewrites and logistical setbacks and was eventually abandoned after Disney acquired Fox. In a 2022 interview, Tatum...