How do you feel about Kelly Thompson’s flashbacks for Rogue and Gambit’s first meeting?
Many people feel Kelly Thomson did a great job with her 2018 Rogue and Gambit miniseries. I am one of those fans. One of the reasons I enjoyed it was I felt her flashbacks added much needed context to the earlier parts of Rogue and Gambit’s history that helped to fill in the gaps on why these two characters would come together in the first place. Gambit, the consummate flirt and ladies man, on the surface seemed to be drawn to Rogue in early issues because she was what he couldn’t have.
However, with Thompson’s backstory filling in details of their first encounter to include a flirtatious battle and first kiss (or make-out session) we see that isn’t the case. While under the influence of the Shadow King, Rogue is able to control her powers and this could be seen as giving Gambit the impression that he is immune to her powers, or at the very least that he could get lucky again and help Rogue move past her fears of hurting her partners with her touch. As I reread these moments, I can’t help but think how brilliant Thompson is to have crafted this backstory to fit so seamlessly into the already established lore and offer a new perspective through which to interpret their first moments in comics. Some people have commented that in these earlier issues Gambit comes off as creepy or a jerk who is just rolling the dice and trying to play games with her emotions. But I feel this new lens makes it more so Gambit is truly trying to connect with her again as they’ve already been able to find a way to fully express their love.
What do you think? I’d love to hear thoughts on how these revelations affected the way you see their relationship.