Channing Tatum Says “Almost No One” Has Had His Back Like Ryan Reynolds: “He Fought for Me”

[This story contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.]

It’s a lovefest for Channing Tatum and Ryan Reynolds.

The Magic Mike star took to Instagram on Monday to share two photos of him and Reynolds at San Diego Comic-Con — one from 10 years ago and one from this weekend. He began his post by recalling that he was in the audience of the convention where Reynolds shared the first peek at Deadpool.

“I ran back stage right after and found him and I think I just hugged him and was like holy shit you did it man,” he wrote in the caption. “It’s perfect. I didn’t know him really at all back then. But since then I can say that there is almost no one that has had my back in this industry more than Ryan.”

Tatum made a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine alongside Reynolds and played Gambit, the superhero he was initially set to portray in a standalone film that got canceled following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

“I thought I had lost Gambit forever,” the Blink Twice star continued his post. “But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy. Shawn Levy as well. Truly such a brilliant creator on every single level. All things happen for a reason. I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure bad ass joy. I was literally screaming in the theater. LFG!!”

And it didn’t stop there.

Reynolds shared Tatum’s post to his Instagram Story on Tuesday and sang the 21 Jump Street star‘s praises in return, calling him not only a “once in a generation talent” but also “a genuinely good man.”

“I know what it feels like to will a character in existence,” the Free Guy star wrote. “Chan did that. And then put the most vivid version of that character on the screen like he was born to play this one guy.”

He then joked about Tatum wearing the same shirt to both conventions they’ve spent together: “We’ve shared two San Diego Comic Con’s. Two of the best days in my life happened while @ChanningTatum wore this shirt. Coincidence or conspiracy?”

On his Twitter on Aug. 5, Reynolds continued to praise Tatum writing, “Gambit is a guy Chan was born to play. His story is similar to mine in that he spent a decade trying to put the most comic-accurate version of Gambit on the big screen. Remy LeBeau is grafted to his soul and needs to come out and deal. And Gambit found his author in Chan. He’s one of the coolest, smartest characters in Comics and still largely unexplored. I want more — and from what I saw in theaters, you do too. Having the chance to say goodbye to some of these heroes is as important as having new characters to root for… and rooting for Gambit is easy. Rooting for Chan is even easier. He’s one of the greatest, hardest working, kindest people in this entire industry. I couldn’t be more thrilled to see @channingtatum pull Gambit from the dead and bring him to life at the perfect time and perfect way.”

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now.

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A post shared by Channing Tatum (@channingtatum)

Gambit is a guy Chan was born to play. His story is similar to mine in that he spent a decade trying to put the most comic-accurate version of Gambit on the big screen. Remy LeBeau is grafted to his soul and needs to come out and deal. And Gambit found his author in Chan. He’s… pic.twitter.com/9Hz7qbZ85S

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 5, 2024

Aug. 5, 1:05 p.m. Updated with Ryan Reynolds’ tweet.