More and more, with each passing day, it looks likelier and likelier that Channing Tatum is the new Gambit.

The "22 Jump Street" actor has been connected to the role of the card-slinging mutant ever since last summer, when he first announced his interest in the role. Since then, "X-Men" producer Lauren Shuler Donner has gone on the record that Tatum is her man to play Gambit — it's just a matter of making things official.

"Creatively, we're starting to chug forward. Obviously there's nothing [official]," Tatum told MTV News about where he stands with the Ragin' Cajun. "There are only conversations and dreams right now, really."

But the dreams are at an all-time high for Tatum, who looks likely to be the second big-screen Gambit; Taylor Kitsch was the first, playing the character in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," a movie that most people would like to forget, and one that was largely eradicated by "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

"I've been pretty vocal about wanting to be the part of Gambit for a very long time," said Tatum. "It's a weird, pinching-myself moment that we're even having the conversation."

Recent rumors have suggested that Tatum's Gambit is part of the design of "X-Men: Apocalypse," the upcoming sequel to "Days of Future Past." But that's not what Tatum has in mind; he wants a full-on standalone "Gambit" movie before ever entering the proper "X-Men" equation.

"We've talked about it being a standalone, first, and actually trying to change the 'hero, superhero movie.' Because Gambit is not your typical hero. He's a thief. He walks on the gray. I'm hoping we can change it a little bit, and then ultimately feather into the other ones."

All of that is easier said than done, of course.

"The machine of the Marvel world is so ginormous that it's literally like climbing a mountain, getting one of these movies made, and all of the pieces that go along with it," Tatum added.

Are you excited to see Tatum play Gambit?