At present, fans are waiting to see Channing Tatum return as Gambit when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters. In the meantime, though, Josh Holloway is reminding the world that he was once in the running to play the popular X-Men character. It's news to me that the Lost star was in the mix, but now that I'm caught up, I'm pretty bummed out we never got to see it happen. Holloway mentioned that he was up to play Gambit in X-Men Origins, but "lost" out on the role because he was deemed too old. An Instagram video was recently shared by journalist Joseph Deckelmeier, and in it, Holloway shows the shuffling tricks he learned, though he admitted he was a bit rusty: I'm doing it badly. I could do it cool before, while I was talking and being sassy. Now I can't do it. The Origins role ultimately went to Taylor Kitsch, who, in turn, later lost the gig to Channing Tatum when X-Men: Days of Future Past came around. After all that, though Tatum's role was ultimately cut from the movie, and the spinoff pitch for the character was shelved, leaving Tatum feeling "traumatized." Ten years later, however, Tatum finally got to play the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, and he performance was praised by leading man Ryan Reynolds.More On The X-MenX-Men ‘97 EPs Have Advice For The MCU’s Reboot (And I Hope The Creative Team Is Listening)Josh Holloway has kept busy in the meantime, with a handful of appearances across film and TV via a few notable productions. Sure, playing Gambit would've been great, but in the same amount of time Taylor Kitsch and Channing Tatum were not playing the mutant, the former Lost star was in Yellowstone and the Mission: Impossible franchise along with projects like J.J. Abrams' short-lived, but underrated, Dusker.All this to say, the fact that Holloway's not an adept card shuffler in 2026 implies he hasn't spent a ton of time thinking about the role that could've been. Still, I do sympathize with him losing out on the role due to his age, especially since there was no long-term plan for the character. He could've easily played Gambit once and then passed the role along to Channing Tatum. Now, is there a chance we could see Josh Holloway as Gambit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? I would say anything is possible, especially if there are a lot of people out there who want to see it. The good thing about a multiverse is that it can allow for any actor to play any hero, but we'll just have to wait and see. We're still in the midst of seeing the OG X-Men in the MCU, and I'm excited to see several of them in Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in theaters on December 18 amid the 2026 movie schedule. In the meantime, fans can revisit the classic X-Men films by streaming them with a Disney+ subscription.