Disclaimer: This story comes from someone who is less than thrilled that Taylor Kitsch wasn't cast as X-Men's Gambit. Sure, the Friday Night Lights star might not have even wanted the role, but we got a couple short minutes of his Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it just wasn't enough! He didn't get enough time to really spread his cards and fly!
So it's Channing Tatum, who we like a lot, who will play the role of Remy LeBeau in future standalone or an ensemble X-Men films. We think he'll do a great job as the mutant from New Orleans, but obviously not everyone agrees with us. If it's one thing comic book fans can do well, it's being outraged over a casting.
How does the fan outrage over Channing as Gambit compare to other "bad" comic casting in recent years? Let's take a little look:
Channing Tatum as Gambit
Rage Scale: 6 out of 10
Response: Gambit isn't as popular as other X-Men characters like, say, Wolverine, so the outrage hasn't been as outrage-y as it could. But he is a fan favorite, and a lot of people wanted Taylor Kitsch to return (it's not just us, we swear). So while the fan backlash isn't that bad, it hasn't been an overwhelmingly positive response either. But most* of the X-Men movies are a mess, so it doesn't matter who is playing what, right?
*X-Men: First Class was awesome as a reboot. But then they rebooted the reboot with X-Men: Days of Future Past. We'll see how that works out.
Ben Affleck as Batman
Rage Scale: 10 out of 10
Response: It was basically this: "No! No! NO! NOPE! NOPE! NO!" While there were definitely people who were excited about Ben slipping on the Batsuit, they were nowhere near as loud and crazed as the people against this casting. Fanboys and fangirls are deep in their boycott of the Superman vs. Batman film just because of Ben getting the role, but maybe director Zack Snyder releasing the first photo of Ben in full Batman getup will soothe the worries of Batman lovers across the world?
Heath Ledger as The Joker
Rage Scale: 9 out of 10
Response: People were mad about this, and for so many reasons. "Who the hell is Heath Ledger?" they cried. "The dude from 10 Things I Hate About You?" they whined. "What a weird choice!" they moaned. "Give him a chance!" said barely anybody. But then The Dark Knight debuted and people shut their damn mouths. For good. Because Heath's performance eclipsed all naysayers, and to this day, you'd be hard pressed to find a more memorable villain. Don't you dare say he got the Oscar just because he was tragically taken from us. We all know that Oscar was his regardless.
Paul Rudd as Ant Man
Rage Scale: 1 out of 10
Response: Does anybody not like Paul Rudd? If you find them, bring them to us so we can have a serious sit-down with them. Ant Man isn't exactly a character that people were dying to see brought to life, so when Paul Rudd was announced as Scott Lang, people were happy at best, confused at worst. Paul Rudd was known as being the funny guy in comedies and rom-coms, so we think more than anything, people are anxious to see him in an action film. Nobody's actually mad about this one.
James Spader as Ultron
Rage Scale: 2 out of 10
Response: Usually casting choices leak before official announcements are made, but this one came out of nowhere. No one even knew James Spader was being considered as the big bad in the Avengers sequel. But we all know Spader can play evil, cunning and creepy, so most fans just shrugged and went, "OK, sounds good, Joss Whedon." Of course, there are people who don't think Spader can pull it off, but since almost all humans trust Joss Whedon, no one is really causing an uproar.
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
Rage Scale: 4 out of 10
Response: Most people were too shocked at the notion that Wonder Woman was finally getting to the big screen to really react to the casting. But there were tons of fans gunning for Thor's Jaimie Alexander to get the part, so there were some rumblings of disdain when Gal was announced as the one who would hold the lasso of truth.
Andrew Garfield as Spider Man
Rage Scale: 5 out of 10
Response: Half of the fans were happy to see a talented young actor taking over after the mess that was Spiderman 3, while the other half thought it was too soon to reboot the franchise, regardless of the casting. Thankfully, Andrew makes a wonderful Peter Parker so people worried for naught.
Henry Cavill as Superman
Rage Scale: 5 out of 10
Response: The Brit's casting as the man of steel got the epitome of a "mixed" reaction. People were either over the moon about it or they didn't really know what to make of it. Few people were legitimately mad about this choice. The reaction to Henry's casting was basically the exact opposite to the reaction to Ben's casting. After seeing Man of Steel, however, people started to think Henry was almost "too handsome" to play Clark Kent. Which is just a weird criticism. If we're going to sit through a drawn-out final fight, we'd better be looking at some nice cheekbones.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Rage Scale: .5 out of 10
Response: Almost everyone agreed that Chris Hemsworth was born to play Thor. But there are always critics so that's where we go the half a point. Math.
Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern
Rage Scale: 3 out of 10
Response: Most people reacted positively to this casting, as Ryan Reynolds is handsome and charming just like Hal Jordan. And he could play up arrogance mixed with emotion easily. Unfortunately, after the movie came out, fans had different things to say about Green Lantern, but nobody really blamed Reynolds. At least, we don't blame him. We could never blame that body acting.
Seth Rogen as The Green Hornet
Rage Scale: 7 out of 10
Response: Basically this: "Huh? Why?!"
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
Rage Scale: 10 out of 10
Response: On par with Ben's casting as Bruce Wayne. It was bad. It seems that everyone assumed that the rumors that Bryan Cranston would play Lex Luthor would come to fruition, and everyone was way onboard with that decision. And suddenly, Jesse comes out of nowhere to nab the part. Once people got over the shock, the outrage was quick and fierce. People are still bitter about this after all these months and unless Jesse really knocks it out of the park (we're optimistic), then people will be bitter about this for years to come.