Will Rogue Be In The 'Gambit' Movie?

Remember that Gambit solo film that everyone in the X-Men fandom is super excited about — no one more so than Channing Tatum, who will play Gambit in that same upcoming film? Yeah, your excitement might be about to lose some steam thanks to this devastating blow. As it turns out, when asked if a certain dangerous Southern belle would be appearing in the movie, Anna Paquin denied Rogue will be in Gambit, despite the fact that Gambit and Rogue are one of the greatest and most famous couples in the X-Men canon. (Move over Cyclops and Jean Grey, your on-again, off-again relationship ain't got nothing on Rogue and Gambit. Yeah. That's right. I said it.) I hope you can all hear me sobbing from here, and not just because I've been dying for Rogue to get a larger role in all of these films since — since they started being made into films, basically.

Paquin's one-word response to her involvement in the project leaves no room for argument, but it also comes with very little explanation. For that reason, it isn't too hard for me to come up with my own reasoning here for why someone would think it was possible to make a Gambit film without the inclusion of Rogue somewhere in the plot. And, when you think about it, it would make sense — and it could also not necessarily mean that Rogue won't be in future Gambit movies.

Although the plot of the Gambit movie is currently unknown, I don't think it would be a stretch to believe that the movie will be an origin story for the titular hero. Every time a superhero gets a solo film, you can pretty much bet that first film is entirely devoted to how they got to be the hero that they are today. I mean, it's not like every studio has the time to pull an X-Men: First Class and introduce the origin story of the heroes, villains, and teams after they've already had a three-movie adventure together. And that could be why Paquin isn't involved in the project. Rogue had very little to do with making Gambit the hero that he is today. They met long after he'd already gone on quite a few adventures, and fell in love even longer after that.

Personally, I'd rather get a Rogue movie than a Gambit movie, but I can at least settle for Rogue not making an appearance until the second movie in what is sure to be a trilogy if the first one does well. I'd like to see the origin of their relationship in action, and how they go from enemies to team mates to lovers... to enemies to lovers to enemies, etc. I'd like to see Rogue get her time in the spotlight, to watch her take charge in the foreground of a battle, to get such an equal subplot in the second Gambit movie that she essentially ends up being the Black Widow to his Captain America á la Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Heck, I want people to petition for a Rogue movie as loudly as they're begging for a Black Widow movie.

I mean, as we've seen, by the time of the bad future in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Rogue's in-universe boyfriend Bobby Drake aka Iceman is dating Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat. Logan mucking about in the past might have reset the storyline so that Rogue and Bobby are back together, but I'd love to see how Gambit fits into all of that now. I just have so many Rogue-related questions that have yet to be answered by the new X-Men trilogy, and there is just no way that they can have a series of movies focused on Gambit without having Rogue involved eventually. There's just no way. So hang in there, X-Men fans who are out there sobbing over Paquin's words. Our time will come.

Image: 20th Century Fox