Of all the characters in the X-Men canon, none has been so beloved for so long a time and so underserved since the ’90s cartoon as Gambit, the Cajun charmer who can charge any inanimate object with energy and throw it, creating a small but powerful explosive. After his appearance in the ill-fated X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, where he was played by Taylor Kitsch, it looked for years like he might finally get a proper movie, with Channing Tatum assaying the role.

Talk about a project nigh-willing itself into existence, because after several starts and stops, Deadline is reporting Gambit has a release date…again.

Mark your calendars (in mechanical pencil, maybe, rather thank ink) for February 14, 2019 as the date to see Remy Le Beau step up to movie lead. The February area of the calendar has been quite successful for Fox’s X-Men properties of late, following Deadpool‘s record-breaking debut in 2016 and Logan in early March this year. Whether the Gambit movie actually does get made and makes this release date is another story, though; a February 2019 release would put it nearly two and a half years after its initial October 2016 projected release date.

As of now, Rango and Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is set to direct from Josh Zetumer’s script. The character of Gambit was created in 1990 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee and grew to prominence due to the 1992 cartoon series, where his fraught romance with Rogue was a major plot point. Whether Rogue — played by Anna Paquin or otherwise — will be in this new movie is not known, but we’d probably bet not, at least for this first go-round.

But this sounds promising for a movie that seemed as dead as Darwin not long ago. Do you think it’ll finally hit theaters or is it doomed to a fate worse than The Last Stand‘s continuity? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Marvel; Fox

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