X-Men’s Original Gambit Actor Picks Austin Butler to Play the MCU Version of Remy LeBeau

The MCU’s X-Men are taking shape, and one actor with a long history playing Gambit already knows who he’d like to see throwing cards and charming his way through Marvel’s mutant universe.

Chris Potter, who originally voiced Remy LeBeau in X-Men: The Animated Series, has pickedAustin Butleras his choice to play the Cajun mutant in Marvel Studios’ upcoming live-action X-Men reboot.

Potter shared his pick during a Tampa Bay Comic Con panel with Alyson Court and Adrian Hough, moderated by Collider’s Maggie Lovitt.

He said: “I really like Austin Butler, though. I could see him play a good Gambit. And I could play his grandfather.”

Butler would be an interesting choice. He’s got the charisma, swagger, and screen presence needed for Remy, and it would be fun to see what he could bring to the character once the cards start flying.

Potter’s connection to Gambit also stretches beyond the animated series. He revealed that he actually auditioned for Cyclops in the first live-action X-Men movie, although Scott Summers wasn’t exactly the mutant he wanted to play.

“I was thinking: ‘I don’t even want to play this guy. I want to play Gambit,'” he shared. At the time, Potter figured Gambit showing up in the movies was practically inevitable. “It just seemed like a slam dunk that Gambit would be in the second movie.”

That didn’t happen. Gambit was left out of Fox’s original X-Men trilogy before Taylor Kitsch eventually played Remy in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Channing Tatum finally got his long-awaited shot at the character years later in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Tatum isn’t finished with Gambit yet, either. Marvel Studios has confirmed that he’ll return as Remy in Avengers: Doomsday, and we got to see him in action in the film’s trailer.

As for the future of Marvel’s mutants, the studio has already revealed a major portion of its new X-Men cast. Inde Navarette will play Rogue, Samara Weaving is Emma Frost, Sadie Sink takes on Jean Grey, and Maya Boyd will play Storm. Christopher Abbott has been cast as Professor X, Kit Connor is Cyclops, and Adam Driver will play Mister Sinister.

That still leaves the MCU’s long-term Gambit question hanging in the air. Tatum clearly has more Remy LeBeau ahead of him, but Marvel will eventually introduce another version of the character as part of its new X-Men lineup.

If that happens, would you want to see Austin Butler as Gambit? Or is there someone else you’d like to see in the role?

Via: Collider