Gambit has undoubtedly been one of the most interesting and fan-favorite characters in Marvel Comics (specifically in the X-Men universe) for as long as one can remember. And being one of the most popular members of the team, he once again found his way to the TV screens through the recently released X-Men ’97 animated series.
However, his recent appearance has seemingly drawn some controversy from some fans. To be more precise, his one outfit from the brilliant show has some fans calling him gay: A crop top! But his die-hard fans have jumped to his rescue, using Apollo Creed’s training scene from Rocky to slam down all such comments in the beloved character’s defense.
Gambit Wearing A Crop Top is Okay, and Apollo Creed from Rocky Agrees
While the Cajun mutant’s return to the screens through X-Men ’97 was widely appreciated by fans — especially after the called-off solo live-action film for the fan-favorite character, the outfit he sports in the show, which includes a crop top, is against some fans’ liking.
If anything, they are calling him gay because of that particular piece of clothing.
But as much as they would hate to admit it, the character seems to be only knee-deep in fashion for sporting that look. Why? Because wearing crop tops was amazingly trendy, especially in the ’70s and ’80s, and even went around until the ’90s.
Thus, for a series that continues the events of the show that ended in 1997 (i.e., X-Men: The Animated Series), this outfit more or less fits perfectly, irrespective of fans calling it woke.
Plus, the fashion that Apollo Creed sported in Sylvester Stallone‘s Rocky saga further emphasizes this point.
As pointed out by the @MCUFilmNews handle on X, the crop top trend “has been around since the 90s” and is “nothing new.” Attached to this were the images of Remy Etienne LeBeau in the crop top he sports in the new X-Men show and that of Creed from one of his training sessions.
People who claim that Gambit wearing a crop top is 'woke', how do you explain this?
Crop-top fashion has been around since the 90s… It's nothing new.
Wake up. pic.twitter.com/CzFotBTPer
— MCU Film News (@MCUFilmNews) March 24, 2024
Inevitably enough, the picture of Creed shows the late Carl Weathers (who embodied the character) standing in a blue crop top, which was taken as perfectly fine at the time Balboa’s saga was a raging name in the industry.
Thus, calling Gambit woke for wearing a piece of clothing that Creed wasn’t trolled for, even though he wore it a decade or so before LeBeau, doesn’t seem like the fairest of situations.
And the die-hard X-Men mutant fans are agreeing about the same.
Die-Hard X-Men Fans’ Opinion on Gambit Sporting a Crop Top
While @MCUFilmNews only left a spark to slam down this controversy, other X-Men fans are also standing up to defend Remy LeBeau‘s clothing with reasons all too unarguable. If anything, they’re even citing all the other actors from the ’90s who wore it in live-action to further prove their point.
All in all, taking to the comment section of the original tweet, here’s what those die-hard fans of the cocky mutant have to say:
I lived the 90s and yes, crop tops were in..
— COSMIC.ĦMNKY (@Cosmideus) March 25, 2024
Sad to say, but it was a thing
— Jersey Dragon (@MobilizedM) March 25, 2024
— Boi Kitty 🧶🐈⬛ (@BoiKittyBarbz) March 25, 2024
Don’t forget them. pic.twitter.com/5CaTXWXMAL
— EBJ (@ByEdwinBJr) March 25, 2024
People are complaining about the colour of the top too, forgetting what Gambit’s outfit looked like in his first appearance… pic.twitter.com/LDDnaXXBU6
— InnerQuasar35 (@RosscorpLtd) March 25, 2024
real X-Men fans aren’t mad at piece of clothing, skin color, orientation, strong female characters, anything at all
— Babylonian Fairy 🌙⚔️🧜🏻♀️ (@baabaababylon) March 24, 2024
Guys also wore crop tops in the first Nightmare On Elm Street and Friday The 13th movies too. And that was 1980 and 1984, so people freaking out about that need to chill.
— ItsTiem (Brittany's Version) (@its_tiem) March 25, 2024
Let me guess, next they’ll complain about mutant/human segregation portrayed as too woke
— Chris (@sonotseriousx) March 25, 2024
They'll say it's woke but when their favorite football player is on the field with something like that, then it's peak masculinity. LOL SMH
— Zed (@ZedSantiago) March 25, 2024
To put it in a nutshell: Remy LeBeau sporting a crop top in the late 1990s-set sequel show to the original X-Men: The Animated Series isn’t “gay” or “woke”, but rather “peak fashion”, and Creed along with multiple other characters from the ’90s and ’00s are there to back him up.
You can stream X-Men ’97 on Disney+.
