Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Remender on Uncanny X-Force



CBR: "Wolverine and Archangel's X-Force may still exist, but they're far from the same team as the previous incarnation. The last line up featured some members who had no real previous experience with killing, including Elixir and Thunderbird. For this new team, the leaders have recruited Deadpool, Fantomex and Psylocke, all characters who have had experience doing the bloody, but often necessary, work that the new team will take on."


"The reasoning behind the decision to recruit Psylocke to the team is rather apparent, as her presence gives the new X-Force some much needed psionic firepower. "Obviously, Betsy's strengths for the team are that she's an omega level telepath and a stealthy ninja bad ass," Remender said. "Like her teammates, she's another character who's been tampered with; another good person who's had bad infused into her psyche. She's a person who has been shattered and then rebuilt. Every one of these characters has had the same thing happen to them. They've all been tampered with. They've all had somebody else come in and reprogram some part of their brain to be wild and maybe even villainous, and that's a common thread throughout the series."

"Psylocke is also dealing with her death and recent resurrection at the hands of the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants. It's made her very reflective about her past, which is something Remender certainly plans to explore. "I think there's a lot to rediscover and be reconnected with in terms of her past. I believe both her brother and her father had some small connection with Fantomex," the writer revealed "There's a duality and conflict inside of Betsy, and I'm really fascinated by that. I've been reading the character since ,85 and up through the changeover into what she is now. Her mind is hard to define at this point, if you follow every point of continuity. It was transferred and tampered with, and then she went through the Siege Perilous. It's easier for me to get my head around if you just think, after all these things, her mind is broken and she's trying to put it back together. She's trying to rediscover the center of who she is and see past all of this smoke that other people have filled her mind with."

Long time X-Men fans know that Psylocke and Archangel were once romantically linked, an aspect of their relationship which will play an important role in "Uncanny X-Force." "That's one of the reasons they're both on the team. There's an element of that. Something in their past relationship is a big reason why they're on this team together," Remender told CBR. "I reread a lot of the issues that featured their relationship, just to see why it worked and why it just wasn't a convenient thing. I don't want to give anything away, but I think what I've done with these characters is sort of the natural conclusion and a natural thing for them to come to."

Notes: Psylocke is mentioned as being an "Omega Level Telepath" by Remender! Uncanny X-Force is on sale Oct 2010.


29 comments:

FSaker said...

Omega level telepath? I like to see Psylocke getting some recognition, but I think that may be too much power. She already has telekinesis and her ninja skills, she doesn't need her telepathy to be increased to Omega level. Nowadays every telepath seems to be Omega level, anyway, so her being a minor telepath helped making her more unique.

Other thing that bothered me in this article was the sentence about her "death and ressurrection at the hands of the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants"... I'm pretty sure that Betsy was ALIVE right before this arc and the Sisterhood didn't ressurrect her, they just body-swapped her. She's no Jean Grey for people to think that she's dying and ressurrecting all the time, you know.

But other than that, I really LOVED this interview (and the aforementioned problems are most likely from the columnist, not from Remender)! He really seems to understand Psylocke and to want to take her to big stories!

I guess Uncanny X-Force will be the best X-book out there...

Anonymous said...

Hell yes to Omega level telepath!!! finally! i think she became an Omega after the whole sisterhood story line when she finally defeated her dark side. plus the she took down the shadowking so she can use her powers to their full potential.

Psychilde said...

Omg I completely agree with EVERYTHING FSaker said, comic forums will go billistic with her being mentioned as 'Omega'. Remember when Fraction said Emma was Omega and everyone had a fit?

But other than that this interview has made me so so excited for X-Force! Cannot wait for October!

Anonymous said...

*she took down the shadowking when she was with the exiles

Argus said...

Am very excited for this actually. Much as I wanted Carey to write her in X-Men Legacy, he does have a large cast that shuffles around (barring Rogue). This writer sounds like her actually wants to use Psylocke and give her, gasp, actual plot lines and character development!!

I hope he deals with the how the Sisterhood got her (it's never been fully explained). I like how after how many years we FINALLY get Archangel's reaction to her being around! Hopefully, she gets taken in interesting new directions, gets a firmly established power set, and a bit more... personality again?

The one thing that doesn't square with me is her being a killer (think it is too much of a forced fit for many, many characters, for example, Wolfsbane, who is now a bit ruined as a result). But, I trust the guy to see what he does. I like the fact he mentions her family :)

Anonymous said...

Who gives a shit what the comic forums do? Even if he did say she was an omega level telepath in this interview it doesn't mean anything her feats will probably still stay within the limits they have been and she has done a lot ofof what she's done. She's powerful and that's that.

Add to the fact that her feats aren't important but the story Remender tells with her. An omega class classification doesn't mean squat.

Anonymous said...

Im just going to wade in with my pessimism here but:

Lets not get ahead of ourselves, its one thing talking big and acting like he knows the character and thinks he knows how to write her properly its quite another if he actually can supply a decent Psylocke storyline. Who had she ever killed really apart from that fake Brian that tried to rape her? and she definitely wasnt resurrected by the sisterhood unless we are all pretending the whole first forsaken thing didnt actually happen, which would probably be better for everyone. Also Warren and Betsy's relationship was a mess of two damaged people hooking up and pretending they were the next Scott and Jean when they were very different people. One minute it was i give up my soul for you the next minute it was i saw that guy look at you your dumped.

Also the omega thing, really? arent The Phoenix aka a god and the prof (maybe?) omega class telepaths? theres no way in hell she is at their level, not that I would want her to be. Emma isnt even their level and telepathy is mainly her thing where as Betsy is a broad mix of Tk, kick ass ninjutsu, psy knifery, stealth and sneakiness.

Anonymous said...

Sounds good, but Psylocke isn't Omega-level. I'd have to agree with the previous posters.

Otherwise, HORAY Betsy!

Anonymous said...

I like her being Omega Level, I like her being stealth, assassin, tortured, being the only gal on this team, having her story with Archangel focused, being conected to Fantomex, being well written, well drawn......I am super excited about X-Force and really think the pessimist fans are so anoying...never happy!

Anonymous said...

Betsy has killed: Kaption Brtion, Matsuo and many of the people working for him, various thugs and henchmen when acting as Lady Mandarin.

She has attempted to kill: Cameron Hodge, Marauders, and even threatened to kill Havok. Betsy is a killer and has always had the heart of one.

Anonymous said...

She also killed that alternate Universe Slaymaster from New Exiles.

Tazirai said...

Man seems like he REALLY gets her. Lets hope this is not smoke and mirrors.

bla said...

Oh stop whining. We all know pre-body swap she was basically Emma Frost pre-diamond form (aka a VERY crafty cunning & powerful telepath that used her powers in ways Jean et al never would have thought of). Why does everyone whose very powerful need a label of omega? I support it if she is, wholeheartedly, but peoplea rguing if she is or isn't.. we all know she's just powerful haha.
Also, someone above me mentioned Jean & Xavier.. I think now Jean is on a whole other level. Take away the Omega & insert some "god" level, & you have Phoenix haha.

Anyway, I like parts of this interview but overall I'm a bit worried now. This interview makes it sound like almost two years of (outside-comic time) comics (Uncanny 455-etc.) never happened. I personally was so glad Claremont got to write her original return, & if they are retconning all that to say it never happened... I will be furious. She was treated like a character in those issues, her lost telepathy was addressed & coming to terms with things, etc.
Anyway, I also wish Carey had been able to write her. He wrote that AMAZING "Butterfly Blade" comic that was in the "How to break into Marvel volume 2" limited series. That is seriously one of my favorite comics, as much as I go back & forth about hating the cheesecake "token Asian who isn't asian & we can slap every stereotype on her" persona versus when it's actually used right (rarely).
Go Betsy!

Anonymous said...

How in the world does it seem like it's retconning CC's Uncanny?

centurion said...

@FSaker - Hi. Maybe there are different levels of Omega level mutants? I never knew Betsy attained Omega status either. All I can say is that from Remender's caption, it seems as though he will be adding more depth and clarity to Betsy's character. I'm looking forward to this new X-Force.

Anonymous said...

Did you know that Psylocke is the only person thus far who has been able to pierce Juggernaut's psi-shielded helmet by psi-blasting him. Also technically she isn't really a normal mutant since her parents were from Otherworld, where Merlin and Roma and the Captain Britain Corps watch over reality.

So I think if anyone is an omega level telepath it would be her.

Anonymous said...

She wouldnt beat Prof and I dont even know if he is considered Omega. They throw that stupid word around way too much, suddenly everyone is god level, whos next, Pixie?

Matsuo was a mercy killing, the thugs, if any were indeed killed (we saw a few get shot) was when she was being controlled, it hardly makes her culpable if at all. Slay Master yes I forgot him. Matsuo, Slaymaster and Kaptain Britton did pretty evil things to provoke her. Its hardly like shes this homicidal murderess.

I apologize for the pessimism but I have noticed a huge trend when these writers give comments that they talk up things then dont deliver at all. Necrosha, Second Coming and Utopia werent anywhere near the hype they spewed.

All being said if they can write Psylocke well and give some insight into her inner conflict and her messed up relationship with Archangel she has the potential for some amazing characterization. This connection to Fantomex is also very intriguing.

Unknown said...

I'm really excited! It sounds like Remender has put a lot of thought into his characters' stories and personalities. This is going to be a great book.

FSaker said...

@Centurion - Hi! Yes, that's what I want him to do with Betsy: give her DEPTH and CLARITY. Not turn her into another Omega level deus ex machina. Although he probably just meant to say she's a skilled telepath; I guess this Omega level thing won't even be mentioned during the stories...

Anyway, I just noticed now the following part of the article: " I believe both her brother and her father had some small connection with Fantomex". So Betsy has ties to Fantomex?? Cool! This will be a nice mystery to uncover...

Anonymous said...

Omega Level? In your face Emma Frost!

Anonymous said...

Matsuo wasn't a mercy killing. She was going to kill him for what he did. She wasn't fighting Wolverine to protect Matsuo but the right to kill him for all the bad things he has done.

Anonymous said...

may not have been her original intention but it seemed pretty merciful to me, the whole Recanche psychic illusion etc.

Anonymous said...

This article gave me a lot of promise for the upcoming Uncanny X-Force. At first, I was not exactly sure how Remender would handle these characters, because I have not really read any of his previous works; however, I believe that he has a lot of potential with these character after reading this.

The first thing I have to say is that I am really glad that he is actually going to dig deeper into Betsy's origins, rather than her just... being there. The whole ordeal with Fantomex got me excited, like the little fanboy that I am; because Remender is actually going to use minor connections from the past to help create better and more interesting relations between the teammates. Rather than characters building relationships from the very bottom. Speaking of which, I think we are all happy that he is going to reveal Betsy and Warren's reactions towards one another.

Hopefully, there are some subtle conversations between Logan and Betsy, which should include the recent Matsu'o incident. The two weren't exactly on the same terms, and I want to know how they put their differences aside; there may still be tension between Betsy and Logan.

It is most likely that Betsy will regain her personality and maybe even go back to the good ol' days before the Seige Perilous. With the connection of Fantomex, the story of her British family may be broken in to; and they might give her the powers of when she was still British. Meaning the time when she was able to attack Juggernaut when he still had his helmet on; yes, I still believe that Betsy's telepathy was at her strongest during the whole Australian Outback times.

At the end of the day, I know that this new book is going to be perfectly awesome and I cannot to read the path that Remender is going to create for our Psychic Butterfly.

tra lala said...

Also. What about her connection with Logan? Are we assuming it disappeared since she was resurrected in uncanny 455?
I mean to say her telepathic bond or whatever, it always seemed similar as the one Jean had with Xavier (or was that Jean had with Cyclops.. I forget haha).
Anyway, if anyone knows, please fill me in thanks!

tra lala said...

The bond is mentioned in Mutant Genesis I believe, when she & the others are captured by Matsu'o, Omega Red & some other people. Psylocke is not made to be a captive & instead plays along with the idea that Matsuo has her under his control (he doesn't). Her bond with Logan is mentioned at least twice.
Mind you, this is long before she died in Xtreme. So that was why I had to ask :) Thanks!

centurion said...

@Tra Lala - I just picked up a nice hard cover copy of Mutant Genesis. I will read through it to see the connection between Betsy and Logan. Loved those days....

Anonymous said...

Can you say lazy writing? Omega level?lol those are so dime a dozen nowadays (rolls eyes) and to think I was looking forward to this....

tra lala said...

@Centurion Me too! I know it's mentioned before Genesis & probably after too. But I haven't seen a mention of it since her ressurection in 455 :(

Unknown said...

She had a bond with him in her miniseries if I am correct.
I read the Remender thing on CBR twice and never saw anything about Omega level. Does anyone have a quote?