Within perhaps the darkest timeline across the Marvel multiverse, one in which humanity is on the brink of extinction and the perfect mutant for the job.
Within the world of Age of Apocalypse in Gambit and the X-Ternals #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel, Gambit has been assigned the leader of a militant team of mutants by the leader of the X-Men, Magneto. Their mission is to travel across the cosmos and steal the M'Kraan Crystal to ensure it doesn’t fall into the hands of the villainous tyrant Apocalypse. Given Gambit’s thieving mastery, he was a shoo-in for the position as leader of the group, but that wasn’t the only reason he was qualified.
If push came to shove, Gambit would be able to get him and his team out of nearly any sticky situation, not only because of his cunningness, but because of one upgrade he made regarding his mutant powers, one that could be seen as insignificant but has proven to make Gambit way more deadly. Gambit’s most powerful mutant ability is the power to charge any object he touches by converting its potential energy into kinetic energy, turning anything he chooses into an explosive. The easiest objects to do this to are smaller ones, ones that are easy to throw at a target. In the X-Men’s main Marvel timeline, Gambit uses playing cards, but in the Age of Apocalypse, Gambit has instead decided to use throwing knives, a slight change that shows how gruesomely powerful his abilities really are.
When Gambit would throw a supercharged playing card at an enemy, the card would explode either near them or upon surface-level with them. Since most of the X-Men’s villains are either inherently tougher or wear protective armor, Gambit proved mostly ineffective in combat. However, with the supercharged throwing knives, Gambit is able to stick his opponent with the bomb, meaning that when it goes off, it is partially inside of the person he threw it at making the explosion that much more detrimental. With this change, it becomes clear that Gambit’s powers were always strong enough to debilitate an enemy, it was just his choice of style in the usage of his playing cards that was holding him back.
The only downside to Gambit using throwing knives instead of playing cards as a delivery system for his naturally-created explosives is that it isn’t really on brand for him as a superhero. Gambit is known for being a charming thief with everything that goes along with that lifestyle, including gambling and sleight of hand, both of which involve playing cards. However, the version of Gambit that made this change is living in a post-apocalyptic world and is fighting for his own survival everyday, so he needed a better way to battle his enemies with the desire to stay ‘on brand’ being the last thing on his mind. With this slight change of delivery method, Gambit instantly becomes a way more deadly member of the X-Men, proving that his powers are absolutely no joke.
