"Firsts" -- as in First Appearances and First Issues -- are always collectable when it comes to our favorite characters, especially when those characters become immortalized in other popular visual media like television or film, and most especially when that media is a "top shelf" production from Marvel Studios. The X-MEN occupy a particularly special place in the hearts of legions of fans across the globe; unlike The Avengers, the X-Men are tragic characters that suffer from real-world societal, political, racial and cultural problems that so many of us can relate to or have experienced personally.
GAMBIT, the X-Men's resident "bad boy," has been one of the X-Men's most popular characters for the last 34 years. With over 20 titular series to his name, he's headlined more Marvel Comics publications than any other X-Man except for WOLVERINE. But while popular in other visual media, Gambit's live-action existence is limited to a single Fox Studios' X-Men Origins: Wolverine film that also featured Ryan Reynolds in his second Marvel movie role.
It's only fitting, not to mention a reason to be all kinds of excited, that Gambit is returning to live-action next year in Marvel Studios' DEADPOOL III. Even better, actor and total stud CHANNING TATUM, the one actor who's carried the torch for Gambit for nearly a decade, will finally bring the hero to life on-screen. In many ways, Deadpool III will mark the First Appearance of Gambit in a Marvel movie ... at least, in a Marvel movie that "counts." And in every way, Gambit's appearance will be more, mean more, than a cameo nod to fans or a chance to see Tatum in skin-tight spandex tossing around playing cards.
It will be an honor.
And as Gambit would say: Donnez à votre collection ce qu'elle mérite... dès aujourd'hui !