Gambit was killed off in season 1 of X-Men ‘97, and now his return in season 2 features an incredible death. The latest episode of the animated show sees Apocalypse, the big baddie of the season, dead, with a Queen of Hearts card next to him. This is shocking to fans, who are wondering if Apocalypse can even be killed, and that too by Gambit.
Remy LaBeau is no joke, and while his powers seem magical, he is actually quite strong. In season 2 of X-Men ‘97, he is resurrected as the Horseman of Death for Apocalypse. Cards are his signature tool, but the ability scales to nearly anything he can hold.
Add in Cajun street skills, thief-guild training, and an empathic charm that borders on mind control, and Gambit becomes a walking demolition unit. Here are his five most powerful abilities.
| Show Name | X-Men ‘97 |
| Created By | Beau DeMayo |
| Streaming On | Disney+ |
| Rotten Tomatoes – Tomatometer | Popcornmeter (as of July 29, 2026) | 100% | 91% |
1. Gambit’s Kinetic Charging Powers Are a Self-Contained WMD
Gambit’s core power lets him funnel potential energy into any object, causing it to explode with force proportional to its mass and his concentration. A single playing card becomes a grenade; a full deck becomes a barrage. Unlike most explosive-based characters, he needs no external power source, ammunition, or cooldown beyond his own stamina.
Now that the X-Men will enter the MCU with Doomsday, there are plenty of energy-blasting superheroes. However, Gambit’s powers are organic and not tied to a gadget. He will not be dependent on any device to blast enemies.
2. X-Men ‘97’s Gambit is the Agent of Death and Uses His Death Charge
The second season of X-Men ‘97 sees Gambit return as one of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen, specifically the Horseman of Death. As Apocalypse’s Horseman of Death, his charged touch reportedly shifts from explosive kinetics to outright disintegration of living matter, turning a person to ash or husk on contact.
The transformation swapped his charged cards for a deck of tarot, reflecting that Remy was no longer simply Gambit but Apocalypse’s enforcer. This death charge power is what many fans speculate is the way he killed Apocalypse in X-Men ‘97, though there might be a possibility of resurrection for Apocalypse.
3. His Kinetic Blast Can Be Shaped and Pointed at the Enemy
Gambit doesn’t just make things explode. He controls exactly how much energy goes in and when it releases, letting him fine-tune blasts from a gentle nudge to a wall-leveling detonation. This precision means he can disable a vehicle, blow a hole in reinforced steel, or pop a lock without killing bystanders standing a few feet away.
4. Gambit Uses His Empathy and Charm to Manipulate
Beyond his kinetic energy and death charge, the most important ability that Gambit has is his charm. We saw glimpses of it in Deadpool and Wolverine, and every iteration, live-action or animation, has shown it. His supernatural charisma is almost vampire-like, and he can convince almost anyone to do his bidding.
He talks his way past guards, cons hardened villains, and reads a room’s intentions instantly. It’s never framed as full telepathy, but it consistently gets him out of situations that raw combat power would not solve.
5. His Thieves Guild Background Gives Him an Incredible Set of Skills
Raised by the Thieves Guild, Gambit fights with an acrobatic, improvisational combat sense that treats every environment as a toolkit. He vaults, throws, and repositions constantly, using his bo staff and charged debris interchangeably.
This isn’t superhuman in the way Wolverine’s healing or Cyclops’s optic blasts are, but it’s what makes his kinetic power lethal in practice rather than theoretical. A fighter this adaptable, wielding an ability that turns anything literally into a bomb, is exactly the kind of character whose power ceiling is limited only by imagination.
What do you think about Gambit’s involvement in X-Men ‘97? Comment below.
