Gambit, the third X-Men movie of 2016 (after the much awaited Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse), is expected to begin production in the next couple of weeks, with the shooting scheduled for this fall (read the updates, because Gambit has problems). However, despite already having announced the budget, there are still quite a few things to take care of.

Speaking of which, Gambit's costs are around $150 million, which is quite a big investment for a movie about a rather unknown character, from a studio which proved quite a few times that it can fail when it comes to superhero movies"¦

But let's not digress"¦

The casting call was just made and it may have revealed quite a few roles and plot points.

Fan favorite character for Gambit?

The first and most important (for us, anyway) role waiting to be cast in Gambit is the one of Louis. Sure enough, the name doesn't say anything - as it is supposed to, after all. However, the character's description says that he is elegant and intelligent, an entrepreneur in his mid-40's with a dark side.

Why does it sound so interesting? Because more and more websites are speculating that this Louis is in fact Mr. Sinister, the human empowered by Apocalypse himself.

Gambit and Mr. Sinister do have a history together, on one occasion the thief being hired to steal Weapon X files. This isn't all, since their history also includes some other events, such as the time when Sinister removed a part of Gambit's power, in a deal which also saw the hero becoming a mercenary for the villain.

Furthermore, if this character will indeed be introduced, then we might get an idea as to why the budget is so high. If he is established in this movie, than we can expect for some connections to be made to both X-Men: Apocalypse, as well as to other future movies.

On the next page, the love interest!

Bella Donna Boudreaux

According to the casting call, the director wants an actress in her mid-20's, an actress who can portray the role of a beautiful, smart, tough, and overall unpredictable character. In this way, it can be speculated that she will be the lead female character, now named Vera.

And it makes sense, in this way, for this Gambit lady to be Bella Donna Boudreaux, a childhood friend of Remy LeBeau. Despite their friendship, they are the members of two different factions, one being the Thief Guild, while the other the Assassin's Guild.

If we are to look to the comics, we can expect for her to be the love interest - in some way. For the two guilds to unite, these two are set to be married, which doesn't end too well for the couple.

UPDATE: Apparently, the shortlist includes Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation), Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol). The rumor is that Lea Seydoux has already signed. 

Check out on the next page which character will prevent them from finding happiness!

Julien Boudreaux

The next character from the Gambit casting call is Nash, who should be about the same age as the aforementioned Vera. He is described as a threat (although it isn't said to whom, we can presume that he is a threat to the titular character) and as the heir of the family's business (specified as the mother's business). He is also described as being malevolent.

In this way, we can assume that this threat is the brother of the character Vera, in the comics named Julien Boudreaux. Before the marriage is consummated, he challenges Gambit to a duel and has the upper hand for the entire fight.

However, Gambit kills him in the end, with a well-placed empowered knife. And this leads to Remy LeBeau leaving his new wife.

This is when Mr. Sinister may be introduced - in order to take away the power of the titular hero.

On the next page, a potential father-figure!

Jean-Luc LeBeau

The next character, called Fritz, is supposed to be between 40 years of age and 50. He is described as a professional and charismatic thief, with good intentions but definitely not trustworthy. We can assume that he is the adoptive father of Gambit, as well as the leader of the Thief Guild, Jean-Luc LeBeau.

It falls right into place – with him wanting to unite the guilds, but the heir of the Assassins Guild preventing this from happening.

On the next page, what we make of these reveals!

Gambit - how it can go down

From the looks of it (and keeping in mind that Channing Tatum denied appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse even if only in a cameo), Gambit may just be another origin story. Just like Channing Tatum said a while ago. And, pretty much like the first Wolverine film, it will also deal with the character finding his way as a superhero, or at least as an antihero, just like we like our mutants (we even have a mad scientist, so to speak, doing his business on the main character, as well as the tragic love story).

If it is so, then we don't really know what to make of this. We can only hope that it will be way better than the movie from which it apparently takes its cues.

UPDATE: THE WRAP REPORTS THAT THE MOVIE IS IN BIG TROUBLE, WITH CHANNING TATUM MOST LIKELY SET TO LEAVE THE PROJECT, OVER CREATIVE DIFFERENCES (WE’LL CALL THIS THIS WAY FOR THE MOMENTS)

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: CHANNING TATUM HAS FINALLY CLOSED THE DEAL. SO, AFTER ALL, HE WILL PORTRAY GAMBIT!

More troubles for Gambit, on the next page!

More troubles for Gambit

After almost losing its main star, Gambit has now officially lost its director. After Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) was announced, he seemed pretty committed to this project.

However, script complications (which have led to a further increase of an already big budget) determined Fox to delay the production. If the production was supposed to have already started by now, it has been moved to the early 2016. Because this new date conflicted with the director’s prior commitments, he was forced to leave.

Gambit is supposed to be released on the 7th of October 2016. But, with this delay, we are wondering whether or not Fox will actually keep this schedule. Most likely, they won’t – thus Gambit will end up being released in 2017.

Who knows – maybe it will be released instead of the already announced Fantastic Four sequel!