Super Spoilers! All-New X-Factor #3

All-New X-Factor #03. Written by Peter David; art by Carmine di Giandomenico; colors by Lee Loughridge. (Sponsored by Serval Industries.)

The second page of this comic is kinda neat, isn’t it? They’re really going all out with this “Serval Industries proudly presents” thing. And then they talk about the writer in the same text block where they recap last issue. It’s kind of a bizarre amalgamation of real-world/comic-world topics, and I kinda dig it. They’ve still got the three blank faces on there (below the “SEARCH” bar, which is a weird thing to have on a page of a comicbook….), but I get the feeling we’re about to fill one of the faces in! (Hint: It’s Danger!)

We start this issue with the four pages from last week’s preview. Quicksilver is an Avengers spy (vis-à-vis Havok), as revealed over a game of pool where the former pwns the latter. Quicksilver reveals that Gambit suspects him, but then, “Remy suspects everybody. He’s a thief. It’s his nature.”

Mr. Snow is reviewing some video footage he creepily got from Polaris‘s “cybernetic nanobot”, which he installed next to her right eye while she was sleeping (ew). He then reveals that Serval has been hacked.

We then go to Gambit’s corporate apartment, where he’s teasing Oliver, Lucifer, and Figaro (the cats from the cover) with a laser pointer.

So, um, yeah, that just happened.

Oliver the cat scratches at Lorna, who almost loses it and kills the cat by strangling it with its own collar.

Oh, well. Maybe next time….

Mr. Snow gets this 2/3 of his corporate X-Factor and takes them down to his server room, where Gambit tells him he’d like them to bring him “a cheeseburger with everything”. Oh, Gambit, you’re hilarious!

Dr. Wexler chastises the 2/3 of X-Factor for having codenames and not being normal, then tells them he was hacked but shouldn’t have been. (Hint: It was Danger!) He tracks the hack to an island that should be in the Mediterranean… except it’s not.

Yes! Turns out, he didn’t forget about Gambit being the King of Thieves, after all! Thank you, Peter David!

Gambit, Polaris, and Quicksilver then run down the hallway to the hanger like some really excited little kids, for some reason. Gambit lets Quicksilver know he’s on to him, but Quicksilver tries to play it off.

The team goes through some witty banter about their new Raptor having the same name as another plane and also a car, proving that Peter David has WIkipedia. They also talk about a pilot who we don’t meet, but note that he used to fly Air Force One (“I loved that movie.”)

Next, we see Dr. Snow taunting Dr. Hoffman before offering him a job. This is awesome: not only does this issue remember Gambit’s last solo series, but it also remembers what happened last issue! Kudos to you, Peter David.

Back to the team.

In their “Raptor” jet, Gambit informs the half-siblings that the island is his island, and that Nil the Technomancer, with his “magic ability over computers and such”, likely hacked into Dr. Wexler’s servers. But he’s not sure how Serval figured out it was him. (Hint: It wasn’t him, it was Danger!)

We then get the quote from the cover, “Let me go first, Lorna. I’m their freaking king”. Jean Luc Lebeau greets Lorna Dane and Pietro Maximoff before showing Gambit to Nil’s hot tub party.

Nil gets dressed, then takes X-Factor to his secret lair by sticking his hands in a couple of lions’ mouths.

You’ll never guess who helped Nil manipulate his way through Serval’s considerable means of defense!

Was this supposed to be a big surprise or something? If so, thanks a lot, CBR, for ruining it for us months ago!

Gambit then freaks out and tells Nil to let her go right now!

But he doesn’t, so Polaris does. Which… might’ve been a mistake.

Ooooh, cliffhanger!

Next time: Polaris VS. Danger!

Taylor Kitsch reacts to Channing Tatum’s interest in Gambit

From the Chicago Tribune:

Taylor Kitsch as Gambit in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” (Michael Muller)

Channing Tatum wants to play Marvel Comics’ card-throwing Cajun, Gambit. Tatum made his pitch during a press conference for “White House Down” last year, according to Slash Film. “X-Men” producer Lauren Shuler Donner recently told Empire the feeling is mutual. She said she’s “dying” to do a Gambit movie with Tatum and just needs to get the studio on board.

But what about Taylor Kitsch?

The former “Friday Night Lights” actor played Gambit in 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” While switching actors isn’t unusual in the superhero genre (The Incredible Hulk was played by three different actors on the big screen in less than ten years), Kitsch still appears to be interested and fully capable of reprising the role.

“I would under the right circumstances,” Kitsch said over the phone Friday while promoting Lone Survivor Foundation’s Concert for a Cause Feb. 20 at the House of Blues, featuring BoDeans. “But if (Tatum) does it, good on him. He’ll kill it. It’s such a cool character. Whoever plays him will be a lucky guy.”

Kitsch has seen his profile rise significantly in the last two years. He starred in 2012’s “John Carter,” “Battleship” and “Savages” and 2013’s “Lone Survivor.” Still, the laid back British Columbia native said he wouldn’t protest if he was replaced by Tatum.

“It is what is it,” he said. “I’m not going to be like ‘Oh my God, why don’t I get to play him?’ If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. And if not, I’ll move on. If they cast (Tatum), I wish him nothing but the best. I hope he kicks the (crap) out of it.”

Gambit Origins

Don’ get much betta den dis!

But what if he runs out of cards?

Preview! All-New X-Factor #3

Super Spoilers! All-New X-Factor #2

All-New X-Factor #02. Written by Peter David; art by David di Giandomenico; color by Lee Loughridge. (Sponsored by Serval Industries.)

We open again in Dr. Hoffman‘s creepy laboratory, where we learn he’s been torturing Reaper and Abyss (although they’re never named). He’s got them set up in those glass jars, like something straight out of Dragon Ball Z’s Dr. Gero‘s lab where he made the androids.

Gambit then hilariously falls down a trap-door. Quicksilver yells at Polaris, but she can’t help because there’s no metal in it. Quicksilver then gets sucked up a giant pneumatic tube and Polaris freaks out and plays a game called “LET’S BRING THIS PLACE DOWN AROUND YOUR FREAKING EARS!“.

But she’s hit with knockout gas (sorta). She falls through the floor and wakes up in the room with Fatale.

Gambit, being the smooth operator he is, of course finds a way out of his predicament.

He blows up the wall and lands with a “CA-CHUNK”, but is greeted by four A.I.M. henchmen packing giant laser canons. Luckily, Quicksilver disarms the henchies. BUT, they have wrist-guns, which they blast Quicksilver with.

Lucky for Pietro, Gambit tosses the “garcon” his card.

Polaris saves Fatale. She tells her that Dr. Hoffman drained her energy and we see Dr. Hoffman’s assistant charging him up.

Then, the whole dynamic of the comic changes into the super-weird when Dr. Hoffman all of a sudden gets ginormous and bright yellow.

I have no idea what’s going on….

Hoffman blows up Polaris and the gang, but Quicksilver has a sneaky plan.

We get the piggyback ride from the cover! Yipee! No way did I think they would actually do this, but, yep, there it is. Quicksilver runs up the giant energy monster and Gambit quotes Luke Skywalker (!). Quicksilver proves he is a stick-in-the-mud by saying, “I have no use for fantasy films”. SERIOUSLY, Quicksilver, get a life!

Hoffman’s head hilariously explodes.

And then he shrinks back into a naked man.

Reaper starts to smash him with a rock, but Polaris shouts for him to stop and Quicksilver grabs the rock out of his hands.

BTW, how cool is the Quicksilver Effect? Instead of just motion lines, you see the light from his costume zigzagging along his path. Brilliant.

Fatale then freaks out when she realizes Polaris is working with her half-brother (for some reason I don’t know, because I haven’t been reading X-Factor up until now).

We end with a quip from Gambit poking at Quicksilver.

Next time: Gambit and…

Cats? Seriously??

Super Spoilers! All-New X-Factor #1

All-New X-Factor #01. Written by Peter David; art by David di Giandomenico; color by Lee Loughridge. (Sponsored by Serval Industries.)

After a creepy vague laboratory scene with two guys in lab coats taunting an unidentified patient before going to Starbucks, we get our first view of Gambit since his own series concluded last September.

Here we see him in full-on Mission Impossible/Oceans Twelve mode, navigating some pink lasers to steal some sort of winged statue. That is, until Wolverine ruins the day.

After Wolverine explains to Remy that Tony Stark designed the security system and the pink lasers were just for show–Gambit had already tripped the alarm–Logan confronts Remy about his “responsibilities to the students”. He then chastises Gambit for running the Thieves Guild; as far as I can tell, this is one of only two places Peter David pays lip service to the big reveal at the end of Gambit’s last series. Which is so unfortunate… how great would it have been to see Gambit’s adventures as King of Thieves?

We then see a room with a smoldering hole in the middle and Gambit sitting by his lonesome, taking shots. Apparently somebody said that “New Orleans had Katrina comin’ because of its ungodly beliefs”, and the Ragin’ Cajun took none too kindly to them words.

Polaris then shows up and explains she’s not crazy any more, before inviting Remy out for Starbucks (did they co-sponsor this issue with Serval Industries or something? Maybe Peter David just really likes Starbucks….)

Gambit tells Polaris about the ass-chewing he took from Wolverine and then dodges her question about whether he’s going to actually quit the Thieves Guild and stay with the X-Men. This sort of leaves it open for Gambit to return to the Thieves Guild one day, but I don’t really see that happening.

Polaris invites Gambit to Virginia (the state I’ve lived in nearly my entire life), to which he replies, “what’s in Virginia aside from colonial settlements and refugees from Washington, D.C.?” I’d be offended by that statement, if it weren’t true.

Gambit awkwardly explains to the reader that a serval is “like a cat or something” before Lorna nonchalantly blows up a missile with a snap of her fingers and then explains what Serval Industries is.

Remy and Lorna enter Serval Industries, where she introduces Gambit to the security guard, “Teddy”, as “Remy Etienne Lebeau. He’s also known as ‘Gambit’,” for all the new readers out there.

Gambit, being the kleptomaniac that he is, picks the first pocket he sees, inviting the second chastising of the issue for him.

Gambit can’t get no love!

After riding the talking elevator to the top floor, Linda Kwan announces that Polaris and Gambit are now X-Factor. Gambit tells her that Jamie Madrox owns the name, but then Serval Industries CEO and President Harrison Snow A.K.A. The Next Tony Stark walks in and pores himself a drink, informing Remy that Serval Industries bought the name from Madrox.

Harrison creepily explains what he wants X-Factor to be. Remy is understandably hesitant.

Harrison responds to Remy’s questioning if he’s evil by doing the stereotypical evil laugh (“bwwwaaahahahaa”) and explaining he went to Harvard (because no one evil ever went to Harvard…).

Quicksilver pops in and argues with his half-sister. Remy butts in and agrees that Pietro could drive a guy to drinking.

Gambit then accuses Quicksilver of spying on them for the Avengers, but, you know, “whatever”.

Harry sends his new X-Factor team to take out a rogue A.I.M. scientist, Doctor Terrance Hoffman (the guy we saw on page one).

Gambit and the team bust into the secret A.I.M. headquarters in an undisclosed location and start blasting henchmen. Remy questions Snow’s motives, but tells himself that he’s “done far worse things on far less motivation,” so he might as well see this through.

The last page shows Dr. Hoffman just about to cut into a naked Fatale before X-Factor interrupts him.

Next time:

Quicksilver gives Gambit a piggyback ride!

Chris Sims’s Scumbag Gambit

Over at Comics Alliance, writer Chris Sims has been hilariously reviewing each and every episode of that classic ’90’s X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon. After viewing the show we loved so much as kids with his grown-up eyeballs, he noticed that Gambit comes across as the sketchiest scumbag ever. I can’t say I disagree!

Follow along at http://comicsalliance.com/tags/scumbag-gambit/

X-Men Producer Wants to Do a Gambit Movie

From EmpireOnLine.com:

X-Men Producer Lauren Shuler Donner On A Channing Tatum Gambit Movie
‘How can anyone resist Channing?’

30 January 2014 | Written by Ali Plumb | Source: Empire

From recent interviews and press conferences, it’s clear that Channing Tatum is a big X-Men fan. In particular, he loves Gambit, the charming Cajun card-thrower who starred in the comics, the ’90s animated TV series and, unfortunately, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he was mangled by a throwaway role for Taylor Kitsch. Now, in our new X-Men: Days Of Future Past issue, we learned from X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner that a Tatum-led Gambit movie may be closer than you’d think.

“I’m dying to do a Gambit movie with Channing Tatum,” Shuler Donner reveals. “That doesn’t have to be a great big movie. It’s a thief in New Orleans, it’s a whole different story. He’s on board, and I have to get the studio on board. How can anyone resist Channing? He’s such a sweetheart.”

At a White House Down press conference last year, Tatum said, “I would like to play Gambit. Gambit’s my favourite. I’m from New Orleans, around that area. My dad’s from New Orleans, and I like to do a Cajun accent. I could do it for real.”

“No knock on Taylor Kitsch, though, ’cause I actually like his Gambit, but I’ve always lived around Cajun people. Gambit was always like the woman-loving, cigarette-smoking, drinking guy. He was the punk rock of all the superheroes. He’s a thief. He kind of rode the line.”

So it sounds like the star and studio are thinking along the same lines, so all they have to do is make schedules line-up for the in-demand Tatum (also working on 22 Jump Street right now, and appearing later this year in Jupiter Ascending and Foxcatcher) and find the script and director to bring it all together. No problem! It’s also interesting to see Shuler-Donner, and Fox, plan smaller X-outings between the major X-Men films.

Gambit is the Best

Gambit is the best. I was first introduced to Gambit via that classic ’90’s cartoon, X-Men: The Animated Series, and he has been my favorite character in all of comics ever since.

It’s hard to explain why. Part of it is because he’s not Wolverine–in fact, other than Cyclops or Sabretooth, Gambit butted heads with Wolverine perhaps more than anyone else in the cartoon. It’s not that I don’t like Wolverine. He’s a great character. It’s more that I couldn’t pick Wolverine because he’s so popular, and I wanted another character to be my favorite who everybody else didn’t already have as their favorite. So, I chose Gambit.

Another reason is his mutant powers. On the surface, Gambit has one power: the ability to kinetically charge anything so it explodes. How could you not love that power? He can blow up anything he touches! This power has been expanded on over the years to the nth degree. From his Wiki page:

Gambit is a mutant who has the ability to take the potential energy stored in an object and convert it to pure light pink-colored kinetic energy thus “charging” that item with highly explosive results. He prefers to charge smaller objects, such as his ever-present playing cards, as the time required to charge them is greatly reduced and they are much easier for him to throw. The only real limitation to this ability is the time required to charge the object: the larger it is the more time it takes to charge. Most charging takes place through direct skin contact. The power of his explosions is dependent on the mass of the object he is charging, for example, a charged playing card explodes with the force of a grenade. Gambit can also use his mutant abilities to accelerate an object’s kinetic energy instead of converting its potential energy; for example, he can charge his Bo staff with enough kinetic energy and power to level a house.

Gambit’s ability to tap kinetic energy also grants him incredible superhuman physical abilities (strength, speed, reflexes and reactions, agility, flexibility, dexterity, coordination, balance, and endurance), as his body constantly generates bio-kinetic energy and so is perfectly constructed for constant motion. This gives him an added edge that he has used to his advantage by developing a unique acrobatic fighting style.

He also has the ability to create static, because of the charged potential energy always in his body, that shields his mind from detection and intrusion by even the strongest and most powerful telepaths such as Emma Frost, Jean Grey, or even Charles Xavier. The shield has the added effect of destabilizing touch-based abilities.

Gambit also possesses an unusually strong and irresistible hypnotic charm that allows him to exert a subtle influence over sentient beings, leading them to believe what he says and agree with his suggestions. This charm is so strong and powerful that if given a chance, Gambit could even charm the Shadow King himself. However, the hypnotic charm does not work on those who know about it.