http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/x-position-nicieza-body-slides-from-age-of-apocalypse-to-deadpool-cableX-POSITION: NICIEZA BODY-SLIDES FROM "AGE OF APOCALYPSE" TO "DEADPOOL & CABLE"
With the SW "AoA," I kind of liked the Gambit retcon -- though I was sad he was dead, I found Rogue missing him quite touching. What was the thought behind this change in the world's lore? Was it to create a fresh tone in this world? Also, what changes did it allow you to make to the characters that interacted with him?
I knew there was absolutely no way I'd be able to fit all the characters from the gajillion issues that was the original "AoA" into a 5-part story, so I had to either ignore or cull (or both). I chose to kill Gambit because the entire side story of "Gambit & the X-Ternals" from the original story was made moot by the Battleworld status quo. So… having him be dead at the time of this story makes for a lonelier, more isolated Rogue, which played better for the "cornered rats" approach to the surviving X-Men.
I also did not want Rogue to be married to Magneto in this new story, since I always hated that with a capital HATED THAT in the original. I disliked the entire Magneto/Rogue "relationship" as an original reader, much less a writer, so in the new "AoA," I got to create more logical pairings for each of them.