It's popular but I still hate it #1

So I was chatting with Eric the other day about the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer that is now all over the net and I commented on how high the production levels were. The movie looks like it has a lot of potential to be a slick looking movie, but the amount of characters that show up in the trailer is...ambitious.

I think the problem with the X-Men movies as they progressed, and I suppose you can say the same is true for the comics, is the plethora of characters that show up. It feels as though the writers get so caught up in tipping their hats to the fanboys and fangirls that they let the story slip. And then there's Gambit. I don't like Gambit.

I'll probably ruffle some feathers for saying this, but Gambit really is nothing more than a cheap ripoff of all the other lovable rogues we of geekdom really love. He show's up out of nowhere with a nonchalant attitude and chases women that could potentially kill him because he just can't help himself. Oh and he's mysterious. We can't forget the "mystery" that surrounds him. I guess the mutant world didn't have enough mysterious badasses, we needed one more card playing, cigarette smoking, mystery man. But this one likes gumbo and says shit like, 'mon chere'.

I grew up with the Jim Lee era X-Men. Starting with Uncanny to the adjectiveless version and Gambit was all over those pages. As a kid, I ate his antics up, but even as a kid I could see that the same writing tricks used on Wolverine were used on him. I'll be the first to admit I don't read X-Men anymore. So my comments on Gambit are focused more on the core of the character as opposed to current continuity. So with that said, isn't Gambit just a cheap mutant version of Han Solo?

C'mon, look at these two guys. Who's going to kick whose ass?



Okay, so lets do a comparison between the two and see if there are any real differences.

Handsome rogue? Check.
Kicks ass with a nonchalant attitude? Check.
Falls in love with a woman he probably shouldn't date? Check.
Runs with the underdogs against a more powerful world order? Check.
Keeps his personal history from his friends, thus increasing his mysterious profile? Check.
Wears once fashionable outerwear over a questionable tight shirt as his preferred wardrobe? Check.

Yeah, I think the only real difference between the two is one flies a fast plane and the other one just rides in a fast plane. I guess I can see why Gambit is so popular with X-Men fans, but I still hate him.