and for me Gambit isnt dark enough anymore. I hate how light a character he's become but hopefully that will change after the relevations in the Legacy Annual
We shall see. He does get that issue of Legacy to himself soon, which will (hopefully) springboard him into:
A. A good, strong storyline where he's more than an accessory
B. More issues in general (particularly those not penned by Mike Carey)
Like most Gambit fans, I too agree that the character has become way too light. They dialed him down big time so they could play up the darkness of other characters... and never stopped going.
Now the problem is that the writers can't seem to portray him as he should be - he's either light and mushy or just a dumb accessory to a larger plot (like in Messiah Complex... where Marvel wrote him into the plot, but made him seem like a pansy).
At this point, I just don't know what they're going to do anymore. You nailed it earlier, Havok. He has no particular place. He joined the X-Men because he figured it was something he could exploit way back when. Then he stayed cause of Rogue. Then he got thrown out, and came back because Storm (who used to be a good friend before Marvel blew her out of proportion) asked him to. Then he sat around for awhile on the shelf until BOA, MC, etc. etc. And now he doesn't have Rogue, Storm, or ANY friends in the X-Ranks.
He also doesn't really have much association with the New Orleans guilds, and is at least temporarily free from Sinister and Apocalypse, since they're not on the table at the moment. And he hasn't been an active thief in years (and probably doesn't need money, based on revelations from his various solo series).
The man has nothing to live for! No one ever developed a legitimate "redemption" theme for the character (the Morlock Massacre thing was blown out of proportion and forgotten quickly anyway), and they've taken away legitimately everything else, including his spine.
I'm praying that the new storyline does something to save the character, because if not he's doomed to an eventual death that no reader cries over.