Not even the voice actors for X-Men ’97 can hold back their tears! A number of key cast members share their thoughts on episode 5 on social media.
X-Men ’97 saw a number of shocking deaths come to the team following a Sentinel attack on Genosha. Two of the most notable mutants to mee their demise were Magneto and Gambit. Yet it seems the latter still has more to say, with Gambit’s voice actor A.J. LoCascio sharing his thoughts on the scene during a recent interview with CinemaBlend.
“I was sad, I was pretty devastated, especially since this is a character I’ve loved for so, so long, and then to get to play the character and then to find out they’re dying halfway through the season,” LoCascio explained. “I was devastated. Yeah, I had to go through my own mourning process in the same way you would with a friend or a loved one in a weird way.”
“I mean, obviously not to the same degree, but there was this feeling of, ‘Welcome to the world of X-Men!’ And then it’s like, ‘And then you die!’ And I as like, ‘You couldn’t even wait a couple more episodes!’ It’s very strange and bittersweet. I’m thrilled to voice Gambit in any capacity, so to do it in these pivotal moments was an honor. But yeah, I definitely felt heartsick and sad. Jake [Castorena] and Beau [DeMayo] had to call me and placate me and tell me, ‘It’s ok, this is a good story.’ I was like, ‘Ok…’ So I felt very sad.”
A.J. LoCascio’s comments seem to suggest that this truly is the end for Gambit in X-Men ’97, contrary to some popular theories that speculate he may have survived the Senintel’s attack on Genosha. While a shame that such an iconic performance won’t be seen again for the remainder of the series, episode 5 certainly served as one of the best in Marvel’s animated history.
Rogue’s Voice Actress Reacts To Gambit’s Death.
A.J. LoCascio wasn’t the only voice actor to weigh in on episode 5’s tragic loss. During the same interview, Rogue’s actress Lenore Zann gave her thoughts on Gambit’s heroic sacrifice. She revealed that, just like LoCascio, she was devastated during the scene in X-Men ’97.
“Well I was devastated too,” Zann explained. “I really feel that Rogue loves Remy deeply, and in this episode, we also find out how deeply… The fact that she says to Magneto, ‘Some things are deeper than skin.’ That’s so important because this is what Gambit said, and she repeats that.”
“Anybody who knows Rogue knows that not being able to touch anyone skin to skin has been part of her trauma her whole life. She wants to touch people skin to skin, but she realizes, ‘No, some things are deeper than skin,’ that, for me, just speaks galaxies and universe of deep, deep love.”
Gambit and Rogue’s romance is one of the few true throughlines in both the comics and X-Men ’97. For as morally grey as the characters are, they always come back to love each other. Episode 5 didn’t just prove that, but showed in spades how much these voice actors care for the show and the fans who watch it. What love is more powerful than that?
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