A variant of Gambit from Exiles highlights how the veteran X-Man could bring down Marvel’s Superman – albeit at the cost of his life.
The X-Men have plenty of god-tier heroes and villains, with Omega-Level Mutants being capable of breaking entire worlds if fully unleashed. Even beyond the mutants who reach that level of classification, there’s plenty of power waiting within the X-Men’s extended ranks. The version of Gambit who appeared throughout Exiles eventually proved himself strong enough to kill a truly twisted version of Marvel’s version of Superman.
This suggests that other versions of Gambit, including his Earth-616 counterpart, could do the same. It’s just a shame the attack would also likely wipe out Gambit too, leaving him with the same fate as his Exiles counterpart.
The X-Men’s Gambit Fought Hyperion With the Exiles
Exiles was largely focused on the titular team, a band of multiversal heroes (typically mutants and veterans of their world’s X-Men) sent across dimensions to correct divergences and restore timelines to their natural state. But while the team was largely heroic in their efforts, their counterparts in Weapon X were sent on more morally ambiguous missions. Originally led by the Age of Apocalypse variant of Sabretooth, the team was eventually commanded by a variant of Gambit. Hailing from Earth-371, this version of Gambit was clearly experienced in leadership and was implied to have remained close to the Thieves Guild instead of the X-Men. He commanded his team well for a time, even falling in love with the Storm who’d become his teammate.
After her death though, this variant of Gambit found himself teamed up with the Hyperion of Earth-4023. Known as King Hyperion this monstrous version of Marvel’s Superman quickly proved himself a ruthless killer with plans to conquer any world they were sent to. Gambit was one of the few members of the team who actively sought to keep their mission going, eventually resulting in Gambit getting his arm cut off by Hyperion. Forced to flee, Gambit eventually teamed up with the Exiles to bring down the villain once and for all and even delivered the final blow. This hints that Gambit might be strong enough to bring down other versions of Hyperion. The problem is, the attack has a lethal blowback that the Cajun mutant can’t easily avoid.
How Gambit Can Destroy Marvel’s Superman
While confronting Hyperion in Exiles #45 (by Chuck Austen, Jim Calafiore, Mark McKenna, Transparency Digital, and Dave Sharpe), the team has little in the way of actually injuring the villain, thanks to Hyperion’s enhanced durability and strength. Other variants of Hyperion have been the sole survivors of their entire worlds being destroyed, and King Hyperion was even able to brush off nuclear blasts. But thanks to Blink’s ability to create portals at a moment’s notice, she’s able to create a last-second portal just as he unleashes his destructive heat ray vision on her. The blast instead crashes into his back, paralyzing his lower half long enough for Gambit to sneak up on him. Taking up the Soul Sword of a fallen variant of Magik, Gambit is able to fully charge it with everything he has and make it powerful enough to stab Hyperion.
A massive explosion is caused by the attack, even beyond Gambit’s usually explosive powers. It’s enough to kill Hyperion (at least temporarily). But the ensuing blowback kills Gambit as well — as while he may be able to generate the explosions, he isn’t strong enough to always survive them. It’s a tragic ending to an ultimately heroic Gambit, but it’s a good reminder of just how powerful he can really be. Given the right tools to charge up, Gambit could potentially bring down anyone — even someone as powerful as Hyperion. If the Marvel Universe finds themselves facing down an evil version of the character again (and they yet may, given the last sightings of the current Earth-616 Squadron Supreme), then the X-Men might have the perfect person to bring him down. But with resurrection currently off the table for Krakoa, such an attack might be a one-way assault for the veteran X-Man.
