Gambit’s Surprising Role in Marvel Rivals Season 5 Explained

Marvel Rivals season 5 puts Gambit in the spotlight, though his particular hero role has sparked some surprising controversy. While many expected the fan-favorite X-Man to join the roster as a DPS-type Duelist, the popular game has instead placed him in the Strategist category with powers centered around healing allies and reducing healing for opponents.

At face value, it may sound strange for a character best known for throwing explosive playing cards. However, longtime fans of Remy LeBeau and readers of the comics know what more casual fans might not or have forgotten: Gambit’s mutant abilities are bigger than kinetic card tricks.

Gambit Has Joined Marvel Rivals Season 5 As A Healing Strategist

Marvel Rivals season 5 has officially added Gambit as its newest playable character, launching alongside an entire storyline centered around his wedding to fellow X-Men team member Rogue. Likewise, Marvel Rivals season 5.5 will add Rogue herself, giving players a chance to run the power couple side-by-side in Marvel’s popular competitive shooter.

Naturally, many players were expecting Gambit to join Rivals as a damage-focused hero, likely basing that prediction on Remy’s signature move: charging playing cards with kinetic energy and tossing them like small, explosive projectiles. As such, a Duelist role felt like a pretty fair assumption.

Instead, Marvel Rivals debuted Gambit as a Strategist, a support role built around sustaining teammates and enhancing overall team performance. While he still has some decent damage output of his own, the bulk of his abilities and duel decks are centered around healing his allies and preventing healing for the opposing team.

Despite the debate online about whether this was a fitting role for Gambit, the Strategist decision isn’t nearly as strange as it seems. Gambit’s card-throwing may be his most iconic power, but it’s far from his only one, as the comics have proven he’s capable of far more than some may realize.

How The Original Marvel Comics Prove Gambit’s In The Right Rivals Role

In Marvel Comics, Gambit’s kinetic-charging abilities extend far beyond weapons and projectiles. It’s been shown on the page that Remy can manipulate energy on a cellular level, allowing him to accelerate his own healing, repair injuries, and even heal others under certain conditions.

Remy’s energy control has also allowed him to temporarily increase his strength, agility, and speed, making him far more versatile than the predominant “card-throwing thief” identity might suggest. Explosions just happen to be what we see most often as the flashiest and most often wielded power.

At times, Gambit has even tapped into enhanced or amplified versions of his baseline powers, sometimes even bordering on Omega-level potential.

Regardless, the comics prove Remy LeBeau is capable of more support-oriented feats than fans might typically associate with him. As such, Marvel Rivals is clearly leaning into that side of his abilities, providing a more rounded out Gambit (which is pretty refreshing to see from a Marvel project beyond the comic book page).

One can only hope we might see something similar in Avengers: Doomsday with Channing Tatum’s version of Gambit.

Furthermore, Marvel Rivals‘ unique lore has doubled down with the reveal that Gambit has been given a special deck of power-expanding cards crafted by the Grandmaster, and Elder of the Universe. With that kind of boost, his strategic and support role makes even more sense than what’s been established by the comics alone.

As a result, Marvel Rivals season 5 didn’t just reinterpret Gambit on a whim. It’s a great reminder of the full scope of what Remy LeBeau has always been capable of.