Actor Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) has revealed in a new interview with Variety that he’s been unable to watch Marvel movies because he was “traumatized” by being unable to play Gambit in the franchise.

Tatum, who has lobbied for decades to portray the roles whenever opportunities arose in the past, discussed his deep relationship with the character. As Tatum explains, he was unavailable for the character’s film introduction in 2009 with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. From 2016 through to 2019, Tatum was attached to a long-delayed and eventually canceled standalone film centered on the X-Men character. In the interview, Tatum thinks his desire to also direct the film–which was written by Josh Zetumer (RoboCop, The Infamous) and based on a story by the character’s creator Chris Claremont–was “hubris.”

“Once Gambit went away, I was so traumatized,” said Tatum. “I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the …