Marvel Studios’ X-Men ’97 continues to deliver, and the animated series has shown more respect for a mutant than the Fox X-Men movies ever did.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97’s episode 5.

Marvel Studios has shown just how great of a character Gambit is through X-Men ’97 after several years of Fox X-Men movies failing to do right by the character. The first live-action film for Marvel Comics’ mutants came in the year 2000, with the original X-Men. Since then, Fox’s X-Men movies have tried out different formats, stories, character lineups, genres, and more. Sadly, the X-Men movies became known for their confusing timelines and being hit-or-miss. That ended up leading to only a handful of Marvel’s esteemed mutants really getting a chance to shine in the 24 years since X-Men.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe began to use X-Men characters after Disney bought Fox, allowing the MCU to include the famous mutants. Still, Marvel Studios has yet to fully move forward with the X-Men, only using the characters through the multiverse in the MCU so far. However, Disney+’s X-Men ’97 is doing a fine job of showing how some of the characters who were underused in the X-Men movies could become major stars if given the chance. X-Men 97‘s episode 5 was a shocking entry that will go down in Marvel history, and it helped show one X-Men character’s true potential.

Gambit’s Big X-Men ‘97 Episode 5 Story Showed His True Potential Power

The Episode Is Among Marvel’s Best

AJ LoCascio’s performance as Gambit has been consistently good week-to-week on X-Men ’97; however, the character’s story reached a high point in the animated series’ fifth episode. The latest episode of the Marvel Studios show was divided into two moments. First, Gambit’s relationship with Rogue was deeply explored after the series showed that she and Magneto had a close bond and could touch one another, something Gambit could not. Gambit and Rogue had an emotional conversation by a fireplace that showed how much they loved one another. The episode made the audience feel for Gambit, a charismatic character to follow.

Then, X-Men ’97 ripped out everyone’s hearts. In order to destroy the powerful “Godzilla Sentinel,” Gambit sacrifices himself. The character uses his powers to charge items to explode throughout the episode, destroying multiple Sentinels that invaded Genosha. However, to stop the biggest threat to the mutants, the character had to get impaled, managing to use the Sentinel’s attack against itself and exploding the gigantic murderous machine. X-Men ’97‘s episode 5 was the perfect showcase of how charismatic and powerful Gambit is, revealing the potential he has if done right in live-action.

Gambit Was Criminally Underused In Live-Action

The Hero’s Solo Movie Was Canceled

Gambit’s excellent animated run in X-Men ’97 serves to show just how badly the character was treated in live-action in comparison. Gambit has only had one live-action appearance in the 24 years since Fox’s first X-Men movie. While the character’s name was included as an Easter egg in X2: X-Men United and multiple actors were considered for the role in X-Men: The Last Stand, Remy LeBeau would not appear in the original X-Men trilogy. Taylor Kitsch played Gambit in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While the actor delivered a decent performance, Gambit’s only live-action appearance comes in the worst X-Men movie.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was so badly received that it led to plans for other origin films for famous mutants getting canceled. However, the movie was not supposed to be the end of Gambit’s live-action exploits in the Fox Marvel universe. In 2014, Channing Tatum was cast as Gambit for a solo movie. The actor had previously been considered for the role, with Tatum passionate about the character. However, despite an official announcement, the Gambit movie ended up stuck in development hell for years, only to be canceled amid the Disney-Fox merger.

How Gambit’s Live-Action Future Could Be Better Than His Past

The MCU Can Do Right By Remy LeBeau

Just one live-action appearance — and in the most controversial X-Men movie at that — is not good enough for a character as exciting as Gambit. There are a couple of ways for Remy to finally get his chance to shine in theaters. The MCU’s first X-Men project will be 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, with the movie being rumored to have some incredible cameos. Among them, Tatum is said to finally debut as Gambit. If that happened, a disappointing chapter in the character’s live-action past would be closed.

Marvel could run with the excitement that a potential Tatum Gambit cameo would generate, as well as Remy’s success in X-Men ’97, and focus on Gambit’s live-action future. While it might still be a few years down the line, the MCU’s X-Men reboot is coming. Marvel will cast its own versions of the team for the MCU, and given how the studio has been nailing Gambit’s character in its one use of the hero so far, there is a good chance that whoever gets cast as Remy — with Dune: Part Two‘s Austin Butler a fan-favorite — would be perfect for Gambit.