Wolverine is the X-Men’s predominant bad boy archetype. It makes sense, after all. While the majority of the X-Men are heroes through and through, Logan is a whole lot meaner and a whole lot deadlier than most. He was turned into a shadowy government’s ultimate weapon, and ever since, he’s dedicated himself to cutting people that he thinks need cutting. Whenever the X-Men need to do work that will get their hands dirty, Wolverine is the first person they call and the first to volunteer. However, as great an example of this trope as he is, Wolverine is not the best morally grey, criminal hero on this team. That honor rests squarely on another mutant’s shoulders.
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Remy LeBeau has been a criminal his entire life. Just like Wolveirne, he was never afraid to trudge through grime to protect what was his, and clashed with the X-Men’s morals more often than not in the early days. Gambit is the king of thieves, and a criminal in a way that Wolverine frankly never was. His attitude, background, and personality make him the group’s number one bad boy, even more so than Wolverine, and I can prove it.
A Master Criminal Versus A Man-Made Monster
Wolverine calls himself a monster. His mutation connects him to an animalistic part of himself, and when push comes to shove, he can completely lose himself to his instincts and become a beast of claws and death. However, he’s more than capable of controlling himself most of the time, and the worst of this didn’t emerge until after he was captured by Weapon X. See, Wolverine was always an angry man with a chip on his shoulder, but it became ten times worse when he was tortured and turned into their assassin. He lost a piece of humanity that took him decades to recover. However, what happened to him was never his choice.
While Wolverine came away from Weapon X a killer unlike anyone else, he didn’t choose to become that. Gambit chose his lifestyle. He was raised by the Thieves Guild, trained from near his birth to become a master thief. He was a natural at it, but was eventually kicked out of the group due to politics and his tendency to fall in love hard. Even after leaving the Guild, Remy traveled as a renowned thief and came to work with X-Men villain Mister Sinister in exchange for help controlling his powers. Remy was taught that theft and death were the only paths in life, and unlike Wolverine, he reveled in that for a long time.
Remy liked being a thief and still enjoys parts of that lifestyle, even long after atoning. Wolverine hates what he is, but accepts it as a necessity, while Gambit enjoys his career a lot more, even though he is ashamed of many of his past actions. The biggest difference between them is that choice, however, as it sets Gambit up for a far better redemption than Wolverine.
Red Eyes With a Heart of Gold
Wolverine was turned into what he is, so while he often feels the need to make up for what he did because of Weapon X, he isn’t to blame for it. He was brainwashed beyond belief. Remy, meanwhile, actively chose his path every step of the way. Yes, he didn’t kill nearly as many people as Wolverine, but he took his fair share of life and loot from many people. After years of being a bad guy, Gambit finally had a chance to make up for his past with being an X-Men. It’s the perfect setup for a superhero redemption story.
Superheroes are moral exemplars more often than not. Even when they make mistakes due to selfishness or anger, they are usually meant to represent the best parts of ourselves as they struggle to help the world in their own way. Superheroes who start as criminals or assassins are meant to be redeemed more often than not. Wolverine can’t really go through a redemption arc in the same way as Gambit, because Wolverine wasn’t in control of himself. Gambit is the ultimate bad boy because he chose to be bad and is now choosing to be good. He was a suave criminal and a hero defending the weak. He’s the X-Men’s best bad boy, and he’s become one of their best heroes.
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Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.
