X-Men ’97 Hints At Return Of Beloved Character

The fact that the next season of X-Men ‘97 will heavily feature Apocalypse isn’t really in dispute. In addition to seeing the present-day Apocalypse at the end of the finale, we also see how everyone aboard Asteroid M (except for Cyclops and Jean Grey) was transported to ancient Egypt where they encounter En Sabah Nur, which is the real name for this ancient villain. Why, though, are we so confident that Gambit will be resurrected as a Horseman of the Apocalypse?

The most direct answer to this question is that it already happened in the comics. While Apocalypse first had original characters as his evil sidekicks, it eventually became something of a recurring story beat to have some of our favorite heroes and villains become his Horsemen. Several X-Men in the comics have been Horsemen of Death, including Storm, Wolverine, Professor X, and Gambit.

While we don’t know exactly how X-Men ‘97 will tackle this story (the show has been remarkably creative in remixing comic storylines into unpredictable new adventures), we hope it will take its cues from the earliest tale of Gambit joining Apocalypse. In the comics, this took place shortly after the events of M-Day, when a guilt-ridden Scarlet Witch tried to rid the world of mutants by taking away their powers. She was mostly successful, and with three little words (“no more mutants”), a little over 91 percent of mutants around the world lost their powers.

X-Men ‘97 likely won’t do this storyline anytime soon (interestingly, Scarlet Witch is recorded as being “off world” in the finale), but the combination of the Genoshan genocide and the X-Men getting time-displaced means that this cartoon world is similarly without many of its best and brightest mutants.

That is significant because, in the comics, Gambit willingly joined Apocalypse because he thought the villain was the leader that mutants needed during this time. Historically, most heroes who become Horsemen have to be mentally manipulated by Apocalypse.

At this point, you might think that X-Men ‘97 can’t have Gambit willingly join Apocalypse because the Cajun is officially dead and buried. However, the villain has access to special alien technology that, in the comics, has allowed him to come back to life after being killed multiple times.

It’s not much of a stretch to imagine that he will use that tech to bring Gambit back to life, giving the fallen X-Man that much more of a reason to become the Horsemen of Death.

Again, X-Men ‘97 probably won’t draw from the original comics too strictly, but we hope the show includes some of the more jaw-dropping moments, including Gambit trying to kill Rogue. Incidentally, the person who originally restored Gambit after he was Apocalypse’s Horseman was Mr. Sinister, someone who has already played a prominent role in the show. All of this adds up to one heck of a season two storyline, and while we don’t know exactly what the cards hold for these mighty Marvel mutants, we are fully confident that Gambit will come back as Apocalypse’s own personal Ace of Spades.