https://aiptcomics.com/2023/10/09/x-men-monday-223-x-m-a-jordan-d-white/AIPT: I was going to say, Blob is very successful with the X-ladies. One more relationship question before we move on. X-Fan Sebastian Galindo wanted to know what you think of Rogue and Gambit’s marriage. Personally, Sebastian loves it.Jordan: It depends on what you want from them, you know? So, those are characters that I like. I like both of them quite a bit. If I’m being fully honest, I like one of them a
little bit more than I like the other. But I’m also not crazy about either of them — I’m not like a super fan of either of them — so I don’t have super strong opinions about “Here’s when they worked best” and “Here’s the thing that they should be doing at all times.”The difference between your typical X-character and your typical non-X-character is that a random superhero in the Marvel Universe is more likely to have a solo book. Most of them are solo characters who have to work on their own. And taking a character like that and giving them a permanent relationship, like a marriage, has a lot of difficulties behind it.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
I’m not saying there are no stories about married people, but I think they change the stakes and they change what kind of story you can tell kind of fundamentally. However, on the X-front, mostly they’re not characters who we tell solo stories about. Mostly, they’re characters that are told about in a team context. And I feel like that gives us a lot more wiggle room to do things with those characters that you might be less willing to do with a solo character. So you’ve got characters who you go, “You know what, let’s allow those characters to be married.” It just means you’re probably not going to have as many stories where everyone is flirting with Rogue or “Who is she going to choose” stories anymore. If we tell a story about Rogue’s relationship, it’s going to be about her relationship with Gambit and whether it’s working or not, and how they’re going to make it work. And it’s the same with having children — it’s slightly more likely and more acceptable for an X-character to have a child than it is for a non-X-character because to some extent you can go, “Well, that character can become a parent character rather than the whole book is now about a parent.”
Jordan: So, with Rogue and Gambit, I can understand people who feel strongly in both directions, because obviously their romance is super fun. And to see it be paid off and you can go, “You know what? It worked for those two. Look at those crazy kids, they’re in love.” And sometimes they lie to each other and then they fight, but I feel like that can work.But that’s not to say I don’t understand the other side, because again, there are people who love different things about those characters. I mean, is Gambit still going to flirt with everybody? Yeah, but he’s probably not going to kiss as many ladies as he might’ve back in the day. And wouldn’t it be great to give Gambit his own series where he’s going around the world stealing things and romancing women in every port? Yeah, but it’s probably not going to happen while they’re married. Anyway, I think they’re great, I think they’re fun, I love that they have cats together.
OK, so the character I like slightly more than the other is Gambit because I see some cool potential in him that I always want to do more stuff with. And is it a concern that it might dull his edges a little bit to have him as a married guy? Yeah, maybe a little bit. Maybe it shapes the kind of stories you want to tell with him. And the ideal story that I might want to tell with Gambit might not be the one that we would tell when he’s married.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: Makes sense. And while Remy is your favorite of the two, several X-Fans actually sent in Rogue questions. In fact, this next question gets submitted a lot, so I’m finally going to ask it. Dave, Haley, and S wanted to know if it’s possible for Rogue to get a new costume since she is one of the only characters that didn’t get a new look in the Krakoan era.Jordan: No, I’m sorry. It’s not possible.
So the answer is yes, it is possible. I mean, ask yourself this question: If we are going to give her a new costume in our plans, do you want me to tell you? Or do you want it to be a cool surprise that happens?
AIPT: They need to know so they can finally get a good night’s sleep, Jordan.Jordan: You’re going to see her wearing something different at some point. I know that for a fact. But I don’t want to tell you anything more about it.
But on that note, thanks for a great conversation, Jordan! I’m already looking forward to the next one — once we know a bit more about what happens after the Fall of X. But for now, X-Fans, let’s take an eXclusive look at some of the Fall of X panels coming in the not-too-distant future to a comic near you, courtesy of Jordan.Courtesy of Marvel Comics
