Channing Tatum fangirls over Hugh Jackman: ‘Will always be Marvel daddy to me’

An A-list star has revealed how he had an “existential experience” acting with Hugh Jackman in a recent blockbuster: “I just couldn’t take it.”

Channing Tatum has revealed his unexpected obsession with Australian actor Hugh Jackman, detailing how he was completely starstruck getting to work with him in Marvel’s latest hit.

Tatum scored a cameo in the billion-dollar summer blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine starring Ryan Reynolds, who has played Deadpool/Wade Wilson since 2009, and Jackman, who has appeared as the clawed hero in a whopping 10 movies over 24 years.

The Magic Mike actor, 44, surprised fans by appearing in the film as Gambit, a Marvel Comics character for whom he’s been trying to land a stand-alone film for over a decade. While he came close several times, Disney ultimately canned production in 2019.

Tatum starred as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Tatum was handed the opportunity to finally portray the character in the franchise’s third film. While he was thrilled to bring Gambit to life after several setbacks, he was more fanatic about getting to share the screen with Jackman, who reprised his legendary role of Wolverine after it was retired in 2017’s Logan.

“Hugh will always be Marvel daddy to me,” Tatum told News Corp Australia.

“There’ll never be another Wolverine for me. I had a full on, existential experience just looking over and Wolverine was standing next to me.

“And I know Hugh and have hung out with Hugh as a buddy, but I didn’t realise what it was going to do to me physically to be there. I just couldn’t take it.

“As a nerd, they would be yelling action and I was just like ‘look at him, he’s doing the thing, he’s doing that thing! Oh my god!’. I was freaking out, I was losing my mind. And the fact that he’s just such a class act and is so good at what he does, and he still cares man.”

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the box office smash DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. Picture: Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/MARVEL

Deadpool & Wolverine has sensationally resurrected the superhero genre amid its unsuccessful attempts to maintain interest. 2019’s Avengers: Endgame saw several beloved characters’ stories come to an end, and with them, Marvel Studios’ decade-long stronghold on the box office.

In the five years since, the studio has pushed out more Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) content than it had in the previous 12 years combined, resulting in a series of lacklustre releases and box office flops, notably 2023’s The Marvels.

Deadpool & Wolverine came to the rescuewhen it ticked over $US1 billion just three weeks after it was released in cinemas in July.

In another positive sign for Marvel, the MCU’s undisputed king Robert Downey Jr. (unless, of course, you’re talking to Tatum) is making a triumphant return to the franchise after his beloved character Iron Man/Tony Stark was killed saving the universe in Endgame.

As announced in July at Comic-Con, Downey Jr. will play villain Doctor Doom in two upcoming Avengers movies, Avengers: Doomsday, due out in May 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars, set to be released in May 2027.

“New mask, same task,” Downey told the audience at the time, where he was met with an eruption of cheers and applause.

Originally published as Channing Tatum fangirls over Hugh Jackman: ‘Will always be Marvel daddy to me’