Friday, July 22, 2011

San Diego Comic-Con X-Men Panel

News from the Comic-Con International in San Diego with Marvel's X-Men panel. On hand for the discussion were Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, Director of Communications Arune Singh, Marjorie Liu, Daniel Way, Rick Remender, Chris Yost, and Peter David. Excerpts from CBR, Newsarama, and Marvel.com.

Psylocke

Asked about Psylocke's seeming loss of telekinesis, Remender said it's simply a power he's not interested in using. It would be arguable whether she is or isn't, he just chooses to not use it. She's got a bit of mystery about her. The team will be going to Otherworld and dealing with a lot of the original Psylocke stories.

He added that "Uncanny X-Force" will also try to sort out Psylocke's convoluted history, and noted that if all her powers were included, that too would be convoluted. "Does she still have bionic eyes, do I deal with all the Spiral stuff? If you try to work in everything that's been done with Betsy Braddock over forty years, I'd blow my brains out."

Remender said he's making the choice not to use that power, but he won't definitively say that she doesn't have it anymore.

Uncanny X-Force

Remender spoke about the current “Dark Angel Saga” in “Uncanny X-Force,” which takes place in the Age of Apocalypse universe. Singh added that “Schism” would affect all X-Men teams, X-Force included. Rick Remender is running down the storyline, which has been building since issue 1. Right now the team is in the Age of Apocalypse, and of course nothing works out. Looking at a cover that features Deadpool, "I think that's the new Blob, and what looks like a giant Iceman," according to Remender.

"Iceman has a big role to play in a book coming out toward the end of the year," Singh said in response to a fan question about the character. "The Age of Apocalypse Iceman plays a huge role in Uncanny X-Force." Iceman: He's never had Cyclops or Wolverine's respect. Who is he going to pick? Iceman has a big role to play in one of the books that is coming out at the end of the year. And the Age of Apocalypse Iceman is going to be a part of the X-Force series.

Will Wolverine still be in X-Force after Schism? Remender doesn't want to give anything away, but he and Jason Aaron are talking back and forth to make sure everything synchs up. "X-Men," "X-Men Legacy," "Generation Hope," and "X-Force" will continue beyond Schism, Alonso and Singh said. "None of them are on the chopping block," Alonso added, saying there are covers for the rest of the year "and beyond." Each series will have a role to play. Singh later added that the same applies to "New Mutants."

15 comments:

Toffnut said...

I think Remender's depiction of Betsy is THE definitive depiction of what Psylocke is all about.

I never was a fan of her telekenesis, save for how it was used in her mini.

Ben said...

Yeah. I couldn't care less about her TK as long as she's being well-written! <3

randybear said...

I totally agree with you guys. I could give two fucks about Psylocke's TK lol

I'm just ecstatic she'll remain with X-Force under Remender as a powerful TP like she should be!

So glad the dark days of CC writing Psylocke are long over!

Vigmed said...

Betsy and her TK... I gotta disagree with the others here - to a point.

I always felt she should have been the stronger telepath between she and Jean. When she acquired telekinesis, it was never-ever truly tested. Let's face it, no writer has ever respectfully explored the extent of either of her abilities. So yes, it's no wonder that she does have "a bit of mystery about her."

With the addition of the TK, Psylocke had always came up as a lesser version of Jean, both with TP and TK. What I have always wanted to happen with Psylocke was for her to apply that TK ability to empower her more preferred physical style in a way that Jean simply could not. Like in the pic there with her and the Sentinel, I can easily imagine she used her TK to jump that high, and then use a bit of TK to reinforce a swing of her katana to penetrate it's frame. It could still happen, but I doubt it ever will.

It's great that Psylocke is finally becoming what seems to be a major X-character and maybe Marvel is seeing what we've all known already: That she's awesome. If a writer is to revisit her past, and rework the foundation some, I'm glad it's Remender. The fact that he mentioned the bionic-eyes at all makes me very happy.

I hope the TK is not gone, but if it is, I'm totally okay with her being an "omega-level" telepath.

Anonymous said...

Interest article and comments.

I don't understand the comment about her cybernetic eyes. I thought she wouldn't have them anymore since Revanche had them after the body swap and after she ripped them out and gave them back to Bets didn't she throw them into a lake or something? I welcome any corrections if I'm wrong. Is this something else that got retconned and/or re-retconned?

randybear said...

Well regardless of what happened to the bionic eyes remember Psylocke's original body was fully restored by the Sisterhood. Eyes/organs etc

So the bionic eyes are pretty long gone :o

Vigmed said...

What had me excited is that not a lot of people remember the bionic eyes, but Remender did. It's a small detail now, but he's clearly aware of her history and how convoluted it's become over the years. When the time comes for him to focus on her past, I think it safe to say Betsy is in capable writing-hands.

And thanks to that excerpt it reveals that Psylocke should be a main-stay for Uncanny X-Force after the Schism event.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the bionic eyes were clearly disposed of. I don't know how that even came into the equation.

Anyway, I prefer Psylocke as a telepath. IMO telekinesis never suited her.

jarim77 said...

I would say that the bionic eyes were gone by the time Jamie brought her back.

Rahsaan said...

I recently e-mailed Remender asking him if she can still psycho-blast and receive precognitive flashes. I think it'd be great to see these aspects of her power sometimes as both have proved crucial to saving the X-Men on a few occasions, such as from Sabretooth, Juggernaut and the Reavers. She should still use her psychic knife too, but it's not plausibly the best option at all times.

FSaker said...

He definitely gives Psylocke the best characterization she has had in a very long time! Regarding her TK, I don't care about it, but it's nice to see that while Remender doesn't make her use it, he acknowledges that she still has this power; he's not imposing to the other writers how he thinks her powerset should be.

I really hope he's keeping Psylocke in Uncanny X-Force post-Schism. Psylocke should be kept under Remender's pen for a very long time!

treysome said...

I feel like it's the same person asking about the TK over and over again. Remender is writing the my preferred version of Psylocke. She's been through so much power change up. sheis in a book and being written well, what more do you want.

Unknown said...

Funny story...I was the person who asked him at the Con this year about the TK power...And it was the first and only time...believe me...I initially thought she lost the use of the power but he said she still had it...Then I was curious about why he wasn't having her use it? It was used very well in the Yost mini and there have been times in X Force that it would've come in handy...That being said...I certainly like Betsy better as just a ninja/telepath...And I think that the character is wonderful without the TK (it somehow makes her seem less unique)... I was just surprised that he said she had the power but he chooses to not have her use it...Seemed odd to me...almost like choosing not to use a characters power of flight because it would make something too easy to solve or overcome if they could fly... but he is doing such a good job and he probably has something up his sleeve.

Lebeau2501 said...

Of course Wolverine will still be in X-Force. He'll also guide his own team of X-Men in Wolverine and the X-Men. He will also live his own life in his two self-titled books, as well as play a large role in the Avengers books. You know where else we'll probably see him? On Cyclops' team of X-Men. Just cuz. He will also have time to appear in all Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and he will get his own 52 ongoing series for DC in September! Unfortunately, this will probably not be enough Wolverine for the world to be satiated.

Lebeau2501 said...

Oh, and the bionic eyes were removed from Revanche's sockets and given as a lovely goodbye gift to Japanese Psylocke in X-Men #30-something, after Revanche explodes in a pink blob of Legacy Virus.