The X-Men’s Gambit is best known for his explosive mutant abilities, however, the Cajun card-thrower was once given an entirely new ability: Precognition. In an oft-ignored storyline, Remy LeBeau was given the ability to see the future – a power that didn’t last very long.
Gambit was created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 before making his first full appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266. LeBeau has the ability to manipulate kinetic energy to make explosive blasts – most famously using a deck of playing cards as his choice of weapon. Gambit has become a fan-favorite, despite only making a single appearance in the X-Men film franchise, as he was played by Taylor Kitsch in the critically panned X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Back in 2009, Gambit accidentally blinded himself, which inadvertently unlocked brand new powers.
In X-Men #158 by Chuck Austen, Salvador Larroca, Danny Miki, Udon, and Rus Wooton, the superteam faces off against the Eight Immortals. After Gambit is trapped by the vines of a plant, he charges up a playing card but accidentally causes an explosion to close to his face and blinds himself. Later in the series, Gambit would discover that his newfound blindness actually granted him the ability to see in the future via his playing cards. Gambit reading his cards allowed him to see an attack from Sabretooth and the Brotherhood of Mutants before it occurred.
While you might think that Gambit’s ability to predict the future would be integrated into his powers in future arcs, you’d be painfully mistaken. As soon as Austen left X-Men after issue #165, Gambit’s newfound abilities would never be brought up again. The plotline was immediately abandoned and LeBeau would soon get his sight restored by Sage. While Austen’s work on the X-Men was generally disliked, giving Gambit a new ability to see the future (via what are essentially Tarot cards) was actually somewhat interesting in the grand scheme of things.
Gambit’s ability to predict the future might have been short-lived and immediately forgotten, but for better or worse it’s part of the card-slinger’s history. Remy LeBeau’s powers were always a bit one-note, so to see Austen try to change them was a bold move – it’s just that no one since him have figured the predictive abilities were worth further exploring. Gambit could predict the future until he couldn’t – at least he still looks cool when throwing cards.
