FewX-Mencharacters have developed such an immense cult following asGambit. For many, Remy Etienne LeBeau is a fan-favorite member of the X-Men. Debuting in 1990, Gambit originally had a rogue’s past that linked him to the villainous Mister Sinister, but as his teammates would later recognize, Remy had made a genuine effort to redeem himself into the hero he is today.
There is plenty to love about Gambit, and for someone with 35 years' worth of history to his name, there is a lot to learn about the Cajun badass. That being said, there is also plenty to learn about the character that even the most devoted fans don’t know about Gambit. Some of the most hardcore fans would be shocked to know certain things that transpired revolving around the character in under-read gems of comic book issues - and there are even behind-the-scenes facts about what could’ve been for the character.
10Gambit’s Original Codename Wasn’t “Gambit”
Established inGambit#1 by Fabian Nicieza, Steve Skroce, Rob Hunter, Shannon Blanchard, Richard Starkings, and Comicraft’s Emerson Miranda
Remy LeBeau is best known forhis pseudonym of Gambit, but it’s not his only codename, nor is it his first. Originally, as a baby, he was shunned for being born with crimson-red eyes, which resembled those of a demon. His neglect made it easy for the Thieves Guild to kidnap young Remy. His red eyes and pale skin earned him the nickname Le Diable Blanc, which translates to the White Devil.
X-Men: 10 Gambit Quotes That Prove He’s the Ultimate Charmer
From lines that show Gambit’s unflappable sense of humor to when he tries to woo Rogue, the thief turned superhero has had many charming quotes.
The name stuck as his captors trained him to become a master thief from a young age. The nickname was especially apropos around the age of ten, when Gambit was bold and dastardly enough to attempt to pickpocket the leader of the LeBeau Clan’s Thieves Guild. Rather than reprimand him, Jean-Luc LeBeau adopted Remy - and the rest is history.
9Gambit Was There for an Iconic Wolverine Moment
“The Job” by Marc Sumeral, Tim Seeley, Katie DeSouza, and Dave Sharpe fromWeapon X: First Class#3
One of the most vital moments of Wolverine’s origin story was his experimentation and inevitable escape from Department K. One often overlooked facet of that moment was that Gambit was front and center during it, long before he’d been formally introduced to the Canuck. The revelation comes in a flashback revealing that,the night that Wolverine escaped, Remy was trying to steal a diary belonging to Nathaniel Essex (Mister Sinister) on orders from an anonymous client.
A routine theft becomes complicated when Remy stumbles upon the poor unfortunate souls that this facility harbors. He’s distracted long enough to get caught by security guards, but lucky for teenage Gambit, the security guards receive an alert that they need to prioritize an escape subject: Weapon X.
8Gambit Can Destroy Galactus
Marvel Zombies: Resurrection#4 by Philip Kennedy Johnson, Leonard Kirk, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham
Gambit isn’t an obvious choice to be someone capable of toppling the cosmic giant, but his powers prove instrumental in an apocalyptic battle at the Galactus Hive. Valeria Richards is among the survivors of a zombie apocalypse, and the only resources in her hands are - well, the hands of Gambit. She uses the decapitated remains of fallen X-Men at her disposal, and when faced down against the reanimated husk of Galactus, she charges Gambit’s hands to wipe out everything in sight.
In a one-on-one battle against Galactus, the Cajun Cupid probably wouldn’t stand a chance, but this encounter shows that Gambit at least wields the power to take out Galactus. If anything, if Galactus were distracted, defenseless, or even outsmarted long enough for Gambit to get close enough for a devastating charge, thenGambit could really hurt Galactus.
7Gambit Doesn’t Use His Full Potential
Gambit#7 by Fabian Nicieza, Steve Skroce, Rob Hunter, Shannon Blanchard, RIchard Starkings, and Comicraft
Gambit wields far more power than some may expect him to harbor. A prime example of Gambit’s power comes in the form of the New Sun, an alternate version of Gambit from Earth-9921. In this world, rather than being raised by the Thieves Guild, Gambit was raised and trained by a government facility called Alpha-1. He was trained to perfect his powers before they even manifested, all based on the genetic potential of his mutant abilities.
As an adult member of the X-Men, Gambit proved powerful enough to kill the Phoenix,Marvel’s most powerful entity in existence. Had the Gambit of Earth-616 lived a little differently and been trained sooner on how to hone his powers, his power would have reached his full potential, making him of the X-Men’s true powerhouses on par with Jean and Storm. Then again, that power would have made him a villain as it does the New Sun, so perhaps Gambit restraining his true potential is for the best.
6Gambit Was Briefly Captain Britain (Along with Others)
Excalibur#10 by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit
In 2020, Marvelrebooted the Captain Britain Corps. The formation of Krakoa in the Marvel world plunged the Otherworld into chaos, with Betsy Braddock’s brother, Jamie, attempting to break reality into an image better suited to his wants and needs. His madness leads him to kill Captain Britain and, as such, new heroes are granted her powers until her inevitable return.
The members of Excalibur are each gifted an individual Amulet of Right, thus gifting them the powers of Captain Britain. Those granted the power were Jubilee, Rictor, Rogue, and of course, Gambit. What is most interesting is that none of these members of the Captain Britain Corps are actually British. In fact, all of them are as American as one could get, especially the Southern-bred, cornbred-fed Gambit.
X-Men / Fantastic Four#2 by Akira Yoshida, Pat Lee, Edwin Garcia, Rob Armstrong, Stuart Ng, Alan Wang, Pierre Theriault, Rob Ruffolo, and Dave Sharpe
During a team-up with the Fantastic Four,the X-Men get trapped in a cosmic ray storm that forces their powers to mutate into something similar to Reed Richards' crew. Wolverine can suddenly stretch his body to strange proportions like Mister Fantastic, Emma Frost adopts a rigid diamond external skin like the Thing, Nightcrawler can turn invisible like Sue Storm, and Gambit can “flame on” like the Human Torch.
Fantastic Four’s Thing Steals Nightcrawler’s Powers, Giving Him a Wild New Mutant Form
An upcoming Marvel variant cover reimagines the Thing as the mutant Nightcrawler, as part of a series celebrating the iconic Marvel strongman.
The change in powers also drastically alters the affected X-Men’s mindset, prompting them to start attacking the Fantastic Four. In the melee, Gambit surprisingly does an apt job of using his newfound flame powers. He’s just as much of a natural as Johnny Storm, flinging flame balls at his opponents in the next issue as he flies through the air. The affected mutants are eventually cured, but it was a fun sight while it lasted.
4Gambit Has Three Cats Named After Disney Characters
Astonishing X-Men#62 by Marjorie Liu, Gabriel Hernandez Waita, Cris Peter, and Joe Caramagna
InAstonishing X-Men#62, Mystique stumbles onto Sabretooth with three cats in a small cage. When she asks what they’re for, he answers"a snack.“Not tolerating her friend devouring kittens in her presence, she confiscates them and takes them to Gambit’s apartment. Since then, the trio of cats has been an essential staple of Gambit’s environment.
Gambit went on to name those cats Oliver, Lucifer, and Figaro, and some readers may not realize that these names are Disney references. Oliver is the title character and orange kitten of Disney’sOliver and Company;Lucifer shares a name with the black cat antagonist ofCinderella;and finally, Figaro is a reference to the tuxedo cat inPinocchio. Few fans, no matter how dedicated, would peg Gambit as a Disney nerd. He continues to raise the cats with Rogue.
3Gambit Was Originally Meant to Be Mister Sinister’s Counterpart
X-Men: The Endby Chris Claremont, Sean Chen, Greg Land, Gene Ha, and More
Much of Gambit’s lore is tied to Mister Sinister, but they were originally meant to be closer. Chris Claremont’sThe Endminiseries depicts an alternate future reality where Gambit is revealed to be a cloned hybrid of both Mister Sinister and Cyclops' DNA. The story foretells that Nathaniel Essex would decipher that although he himself was no match for Apocalypse, he could create someone who was using his access to cell samples and blood vials.
Not a Fan of Gambit? The Marvel Hero’s 10 Strongest Powers Will Change Your Mind
Gambit is a woefully underrated character in X-Men canon who more than deserves A-List status - and these top 10 amazing powers absolutely prove it.
In this strange future, Mister Sinister created a baby that compiled the powers of those he met along the way (including Scott Summers) along with his own DNA. His feud with Apocalypse, though, saw his agents steal the infant from under Nate’s nose, raising him in conjunction with the Assassins and Thieves Guild. From there, Gambit’s origins remain the same, now with the caveat of being Cyclops' half-brother as his powers come from Scott’s optic blasts. This alt-future story isn’t part of continuity, but it is an intriguing possibility for Gambit’s character.
2Gambit Has Telepathic Charisma Powers Readers Almost Never See
It’s easy to underestimate the kind of powerhouse Gambit really is. His creative use of playing cards has become such an iconic staple of Gambit’s arsenal that it’s easy to forget that he has powers outside of those tools. It’s especially easy to forget when his underused power is tied to one of his most defining features: being charming.
Gambit has always been a snakecharmer and a silver-tongued devil, but it’s not just an endless amount of natural charisma - it’s an actual superpower.Remy literally has a magnetic personality that allows him to practically hypnotize anyone using his words through a kind of telepathy. He was once seen doing this to the Shadow King and his hounds, and more recently, the long-forgotten powerreturns to canon for Gambitin the new “From the Ashes"Uncanny X-Mentitle.
1Gambit Was Intended to Be Bisexual
Gambitby James Asmus, Clay Mann, Seth Mann, and Rachelle Rosenberg
In 2012, James Asmus was the lead writer of that year’sGambitseries. During this run, Asmus had plans to redefine Gambit as a character by revealing him to be bisexual. Alas,he was not allowedto incorporate bisexuality into the X-Man’s character, per his words in an interview withBleeding Cool:
It’s true that I was interested in revealing Gambit to be bisexual in our series – with us first seeing him seduce a man on one of his missions, and soon thereafter meeting a member of the thieves guild Gambit previously had a more significant relationship with in his pre-X-Men debut. I never got past pitching the first part, though, as word came down we wouldn’t be redefining the character as such.
Asmus expands by saying that he’s not sure where the decision to nix the idea came from, especially when his editor Daniel Ketcham was an out member of the LGBTQ+ community and admits that his pitch may have been “too half-baked.” On the other hand, he does say that nothing in his series goes against the idea that he’s bisexual, so in theory, there could still be a futureX-Mencomic story that unveilsGambitas a bisexual man.
Source:Bleeding Cool
Gambit
Remy Etienne LeBeau is a card-wielding mutant from the X-Men who exudes immense power through those same cards. The Cajun romantic is notably played by Channing Tatum in Deadpool & Wolverine. In the comics, he is frequently paired as Rogue’s lover.
X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
