For 15 years, Gambit was a character snubbed in the live-action X-Men franchise, with now being the perfect tine for the MCU to resolve this.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 1.

X-Men ’97‘s treatment of Gambit gives the MCU the perfect opportunity to rectify Fox’s 15-year snub of the character in live-action. Since the ending of X-Men ’97 episode 5, the character of Remy LeBeau/Gambit has been fresh in the minds of superhero movie audiences. Gambit’s heroic sacrifice made for an emotionally impactful and incredibly exciting ending to a major installment of the show, one that solidified X-Men ’97 as one of the best MCU Disney+ TV shows.

While Gambit’s sacrifice and X-Men ’97 episode 5’s character deaths solidified the installment as an affecting story in its own right, it brought to light some mistakes of the live-action X-Men movies by 20th Century Fox. Despite many of Fox’s X-Men movies being high-ranked among the plethora of superhero movies, there is no denying the franchise had some issues with characterization. One such character that suffered from this was Gambit, with X-Men ’97‘s story proving now to be the perfect time for Marvel Studios to put right these mistakes in the MCU.

Gambit Appeared Once In The Fox X-Men Franchise & Never Again

Gambit’s appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine does not make up for Fox’s treatment of the character.

In the mainline X-Men movies under 20th Century Fox’s guidance, Gambit only appeared once. This appearance came in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where Gambit was part of the film’s ensemble rather than a major character. Played by Taylor Kitsch, Gambit was first introduced to the live-action X-Men franchise in an admittedly poor film, as Origins: Wolverine faced terrible critical and fan reception. While Kitsch was an up-and-coming star at that time in Hollywood, many agreed that his version of Gambit was either too inaccurate to the comic book version of the character or simply wasted in a bad movie.

After the failure of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 20th Century Fox course-corrected the franchise by moving to an entirely new cast with the prequel trilogy, beginning with X-Men: First Class in 2011. This meant that Kitsch’s Gambit never appeared again in the X-Men live-action franchise, though there were extensive plans for another version of the character. For years, Channing Tatum was said to be taking on the role of Gambit in the X-Men franchise. Tatum was initially in consideration for the role before Hitsch for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, meaning he almost played a part in Wolverine’s early X-Men movie timeline.

After the change in direction for the X-Men franchise, Fox expressed willingness to create a Gambit solo movie starring Tatum. The film was eventually announced in 2014, though was stuck in development hell after going through the likes of Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski as potential directors. Gambit was eventually announced as having a 2020 release date, before being officially canceled once Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019. This all means that Gambit appeared once in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, never to be seen again in live-action.

X-Men ’97 Is Proving The Value Of Exploring Under-Used Characters

Gambit and several other X-Men are being explored in more detail through X-Men ’97.

Luckily for Gambit, X-Men ’97 is proving how best to explore previously underutilized characters. Gambit’s storyline in X-Men ’97 is evidently fantastic and proves how characters that have previously been sidelined can offer a lot in the way of storytelling. Aside from Gambit though, the animated show has many other characters who are given a spotlight that proves how misused they were in the 20th Century Fox live-action X-Men movies.

Bishop’s character has been lacking in X-Men ’97 thus far, though his inclusion in the film’s opening promises he will receive the same treatment as the following characters.

One character who has proven this is Jubilee. Jubilee has had several compelling storylines in X-Men ’97 season 1 thus far, including a dedicated story in episode 4 that served as one of the show’s most fun plot points to date. In the X-Men live-action movies, Jubilee was missing from the core team. Many thought this would change when Lana Condor was cast as the character for X-Nen: Apocalypse, yet most of Jubilee’s scenes were cut from the final film.

Cyclops is another X-Man whose character was sidelined in the X-Men movies, being reduced from the pseudo-leader of the team to simply the antagonist of Wolverine via their relationship with Jean Grey. Conversely, X-Men ’97 is allowing Cyclops to shine, giving him a compelling leadership role and stronger character dynamics. Jean Grey is the same in X-Men ’97, dealing with storylines completely absent from the movies, like her clone, Madelyne Pryor. Jean’s Phoenix Force storyline was done well in the animated show also, after being poorly handled twice in live-action.

Gambit Deserves To Be A Full-Fledged Member Of The X-Men

X-Men ’97 proves that Gambit deserves the proper live-action treatment.

If anything, X-Men ’97 proves that Gambit deserves to be a properly fleshed-out member of the X-Men. Despite the Fox live-action movies failing the character over 15 years, Marvel Animation proves that underutilized characters can still make for good stories. Gambit is one such character, with his charm, wit, power set, and emotional story in X-Men ’97 reinforcing this. All of these attributes contribute to making Gambit a beloved character, just as they did in Marvel Comics. With these traits in mind, it is more clear than ever that Gambit deserves to be a mainstay in a live-action X-Men roster.

Gambit’s X-Men ’97 Reaction Bodes Well For The MCU’s Future

Gambit’s reaction, and other factors, could see him revived in the MCU.

With all this in mind, the MCU has the opportunity to fix Fox’s mistake going forward. This could be spurred by the reaction to Gambit in X-Men ’97. Audiences have clearly resonated with Gambit in the show, as proven by the reaction to his death in episode 5. This reaction proves above all else how well Gambit can work in an X-Men story when utilized correctly. The Fox live-action franchise did not realize this potential, but the MCU’s upcoming X-Men movies could.

Furthermore, the MCU could finally see Channing Tatum’s Gambit come to the fore. The movie failed to get off the ground under 20th Century Fox, though it is clear the film was intended to take place within the core X-Men continuity. With The Marvels‘ X-Men universe seemingly being similar to the one from Fox’s franchise, Tatum’s Gambit could already exist in the multiverse. If Tatum is keen on still taking the role, the MCU’s future could fix Fox’s mistakes.

When combining the star power of Channing Tatum with X-Men ’97‘s version of Gambit, the MCU’s future sounds promising. X-Men ’97 shows how well the character can work either as part of an ensemble or in terms of heroic solo stories. As evident by the reaction to this, now is the perfect time for the MCU to capitalize on Gambit’s success in X-Men ’97 by finally bringing him to live-action, fixing 15 years of 20th Century Fox mistakes in the process.