2024: “Remember it” as the year of Gambit, who stole fans’ hearts by way of one of the best quotes in “X-Men ’97” before finally being brought to life by Channing Tatum thanks to his role in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” But even with both these highly talked-about turnouts for the character, just how much have casual fans seen of the ragin’ Cajun’s mutant abilities, and how much more is he capable of doing? While his threat to “start dealing” might be enough to put the fear in some folks, there’s more up Remy LaBeau’s sleeve than just explosive playing cards. In fact, if Gambit does ever return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as a deleted scene suggests is possible), we may even get to see some of his other talents.

Gambit has no trouble making his signature weapon turn purple and go boom, but the X-Man in a trench coat has achieved other incredible feats since his Marvel Comics debut in 1990. Pushed to his limits, Remy has played with time and space as well as exhibited a superhuman level of charm that’s won over more than just Rogue. With that in mind, let’s shuffle the deck and break down just what kind of forces the super-powered poker player can dish out and why it makes him one of the most underestimated mutants in the Marvel Universe.

There’s something about Gambit that can make even some of the most powerful mortals swoon; this is thanks to his hypnotic charm, which is part of his mutant abilities. First revealed during Gambit’s debut appearance in “Uncanny X-Men” #266, this power allows Gambit to persuade others into believing and even agreeing with anything he might suggest to them, simply by using his voice. This skill became particularly beneficial to the Cajun before he joined the X-Men, during his time as a member of the Thieves Guild.

Like the many secret organizations riddled throughout the Marvel Universe, the Thieves Guild is a worldwide network that, understandably, allowed Gambit and his gifts to flourish when he was adopted by one of its members, Jean-Luc LeBeau. Remy’s powers of persuasion don’t affect everyone, though. When it comes to the more superior superpowered characters who are familiar with Gambit’s game, his hypnotic talents don’t always work, allowing them to see right through his charm. That being said, even the immensely powerful Shadow King — a villain as old as mankind’s first ever nightmare — struggled to overcome Gambit’s methods of manipulation.

Like many mutants, Gambit’s appearance made his childhood a difficult one. Abandoned by his family at birth because of his burning red eyes and referred to as “le diable blanc” (white devil) by the guild that took him in, the X-Man’s red peepers also come with some extra features that make him a problem for many. His eyes provide enhanced vision, allowing Remy to slice objects with his playing cards from as far as 50 feet away. He was once even able to land a card in the gaps of Magneto’s iconic helmet.

As handy as they are, though, there was one instance where Gambit’s own power quite literally blew up in his face, severely impacting his eyesight after one of his own cards exploded near him. During that time, Remy began using his weapons of choice like they were tarot cards, providing him with the ability to see the future. Shortly after his stint without sight began, however, the mutant known as Sage gave our hero one of her extra-special jump-starts and repaired his vision, getting him right back in the thick of it. In the long history of the super-cool card shark, though, such a severe injury is a rare occurrence, particularly given that besides his enhanced vision, Gambit also possesses some healing capabilities that are not unlike another X-Men legend.

Just as Gambit can work wonders in getting in people’s heads, he’s also able to keep others out of his. Thanks to his kinetic energy powers creating a field of interference, Remy is able to protect himself from varying levels of telepathy, making it an almost painful challenge for even the toughest mind-controlling mutants to get into the master thief’s thoughts.

His defense doesn’t stop there, either; Gambit is gifted with an accelerated regeneration ability not dissimilar to Wolverine’s, though it’s nowhere near as fast. In the event that his powers are accelerated, though, Gambit is able to walk away from near-death experiences. There was one instance where Remy was shot in the head and, thanks to his nifty healing skills being overclocked by Sage, was able to spit out the bullet, charge it up with his other power, and use it to kill his attacker in something that was less of a poker move and more of a reverse Uno.

Additionally, Gambit can apply a form of disruption through his signature energy acceleration to disorientate foes, scrambling their senses to the point that he can knock them out. And yet, even with his superpowered red eyes, mental and physical defenses, and a substantial level of smoothness with which to win an enemy over, these aren’t the true heights of the Cajun mutant’s powers. At one point, Gambit became a being of pure, time-bending, space-shifting energy.

Sometimes, when heroes have the fight of their lives on their hands, it takes more than a couple of playing cards to win the day. During a pivotal moment in Gambit’s history, he was forced to face off against a version of himself from a different reality. Called the New Sun, this doppelganger had perfected and improved his abilities to the point where our favorite Cajun couldn’t compete. At the peak of his power, the alternate Remy became a being of pure energy, no longer required to have physical contact with an object to charge and blow it up; merely looking at it could make it go kablooey. Luckily, Gambit figured out how to level up and become a force to be reckoned with by matching the capabilities of the New Sun. 

After getting such severe upgrades and mastering kinetic energy, Gambit was able to manipulate space and time itself. Pushing his boundaries even further, Gambit was able to fly, fire blasts of energy, and bend reality to his will. Though he burned his new powers out in order to defeat the New Sun, the Cajun had the potential to become an Omega-level mutant like Jean Grey or Magneto. However, he has opted not to do so, turning to Mr. Sinister to partially lobotomize him in order to keep his power level lower. Ultimately, this god-like bag of tricks didn’t last long for Gambit, which might be better for us, and reality as a whole.

In what sounds almost like a plot from a “Goosebumps” book, Gambit can do more than just throw cards like grenades. He was once able to use them to trap his opponents in, thanks to a little help from Apocalypse. Following his debut as En Sabah Nur’s Horsemen of Death in “X-Men” #184, Gambit’s entire powerset got a tune-up in some of the worst ways imaginable. Apocalypse equipped him with a Death Charge, which filled the items he touched with dark energy as opposed to kinetic. The adjustment led to those who were hit with Gambit’s signature playing cards to either be eviscerated rather than stunned, or trapped within the cards themselves.

Gambit’s conversion into the terrifying Horsemen also gave him more control over the playing cards that he was already a pro at throwing. During this time, he was able to guide the direction of the cards after he’d thrown them, turning the legendary hero into a truly horrifying reflection of his former self. It’s this transformation that is most certainly in the cards for his next cartoon appearance, judging by the “X-Men ’97” Season 1 post-credits tease hinting at his return. We’ll just wish “bon chance” to the old friends that will be forced to face him as one of Apocalypse’s horsemen.