X-Men ’97: Is Gambit Dead?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 5, “Remember It” and Episode 6, “Lifedeath – Part 2.”

X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 5, “Remember It,” ends with Gambit dying – but is the roguish Cajun really dead? And has he ever died in Marvel’s X-Men comics?

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Does Gambit Die in X-Men ’97?

It sure looks that way, based on the injuries Gambit sustains in “Remember It.” Not only is the fan-favorite X-Man impaled on one of the Wild Sentinel’s tentacles, but he’s then burned to a crisp by a massive explosion of his own making. As if to drive the point home, X-Men ’97 Episode 5 ends with Rogue cradling Gambit’s broken body and her life-force absorbing powers don’t activate – seemingly confirming Gambit has no life left to give. Even so, X-Men ’97 still hasn’t officially confirmed Gambit is gone for good. Season 1, Episode 6, “Lifedeath – Part 2,” largely overlaps with Episode 5 timeline-wise, so we don’t see much of the Genosha massacre’s aftermath.

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“Lifedeath – Part 2” does include some additional hints that Gambit is indeed dead, though. For starters, he’s missing from the team line-up in Episode 6’s opening credits. What’s more, Professor X’s psychic reaction to the Genosha massacre features a gigantic, skeletal version of Gambit. Oh, and if that’s not enough, X-Men ’97 supervising director Jake Castorena recently insisted that Gambit and X-Men leader Magneto didn’t survive in an interview with Screen Rant. “[A]t the end of the day, Gambit and Magneto are dead,” Castorena said.

Does Gambit Die in Marvel’s X-Men Comics?

Yep – but never in the Marvel main timeline. While X-Men heroes and villains are (in)famous for dying and returning from the grave, only alternate universe variants of Gambit have ever kicked the bucket. Notable extra-canonical stories in which Gambit dies (or has already died) include Age of Apocalypse, Earth X, and Marvel Zombies. Interestingly, Earth X‘s first sequel series, Universe X, describes Gambit’s demise very differently than its predecessor. Earth X has him lose his life after kissing Rogue, whereas Universe X depicts him as the victim of an assassin’s bullet.

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Meanwhile, the Gambit of the Marvel Universe’s core Earth-616 continuity actually becomes death – sort of. In the mid-2000s, Gambit joins the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, taking on the mantle of Death. He eventually exits Apocalypse’s service and renounces the Death persona, although it still occasionally manifests itself. Whether Gambit will undergo a similar transformation as a form of dark resurrection in future episodes of X-Men ’97 remains to be seen.

X-Men ’97 is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Wednesdays.