Uncanny X-Force #14 Spoilers

Spoilers: A day ago, Archangel and Dark Beast travel to the North Pole, where an Akkaba base is located. Archangel assures his minions he is not like Apocalypse, and don’t wish to be worshipped by them. There, he meets Autumn Rolfson, who introduces him to her son: Genocide (Holocaust). Now, at Cavern X, Archangel demands the Life Seed. Fantomex tries to use his misdirection, but it’s useless. Wolverine tries to attack Archangel, and is promptly incinerated by Genocide. Famine then uses his powers on Deadpool. Fantomex distracts Archangel by stabbing his foot. Archangel orders his minions to kill X-Force, but to spare Psylocke because she is important. Psylocke realizes it’s up to her to kill Warren. She makes her way through War and Dark Beast, but when she has the chance to kill Archangel, she purposefully misses the mark, inches from his heart. Archangel then retrieves the Life Seed from Fantomex. Deadpool uses smoke to distract them; giving X-Force time to run away using E.V.A. Deathlok tells them Archangel has taken over The World and plans to kill hundreds of innocents this day. Fantomex tells them they’re leaving, but Psylocke decides to stay. Archangel takes Psylocke to the North Pole base. She tries to reason with him, but it’s useless. Psylocke is taken to her quarters, while Archangel and Genocide destroys a town full of innocents.

Marvel Reveals "Gold Team"

New reveals on Wolverine's Gold team are Deadpool, Iceman, Shatterstar, Wolfsbane & Layla Miller.

Marvel Reveals "Blue Team"

Colossus and Magik in "Uncanny X-Men" and Storm in "X-Men" (vol. 3)

Podcast with Rick Remender

iFanboy catches up with writer Rick Remender and look back and reflect on Strange Girl, as well catch up on his latest work at Marvel Comics with Venom and Uncanny X-Force.

Remender talks about Uncanny X-Force around the 00:40 mark. Among other things, he says there will be more double-shipping in the upcoming months. Rick has also got X-Force outlined up to issue #34. Robbi Rodriguez is penciling issue #19, and then Greg Tocchini comes on board next, drawing the Otherworld arc, with Captain Britain, Jamie Braddock and other characters from Betsy's life. After that, it's time for a big villain to show up. For the second year, Remender plans to delve deeper into Fantomex's origins as well.

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 Advance Preview

        
    

Uncanny X-Men #1 Revealed

And it features Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, Colossus, Magik and Danger!

Uncanny X-Force #13 Art

        

Uncanny X-Force #13 Spoilers

Spoilers: While being trapped inside a Celestial Gardener looking for the seed of life, Fantomex and his team are attacked by strangers from a parallel dimension. Unfortunately, there's only one seed of life left. Fantomex's team is overwhelmed, so it's up to Gambit to sacrifice himself while the others run away. At the Sky prison, X-Force and the Amazing X-Men fight AoA Wolverine and his minions. AoA Wolverine tries to convince AoA Jean to let go of her humanity and help him rebuild their world. She rejects his offer, but AoA Logan kidnaps her and teleport themselves to his HQ. AoA Iceman ends up running away, and Fantomex meets X-Force. They retrieve Gateway, who sends them to AoA Wolverine's HQ. Whit a little help from Fantomex's misdirection, they stop AoA Logan from using the Death Seed in Jean. Logan wants them to use the life seed in AoA Logan and stop this madness, but Psylocke tells him they need it to stop Warren back in our world. Jean understands this and sends X-Force home with the help of Gateway, much to Logan's dismay, who wanted to stay and help her. X-Force returns to Cavern-X, where they are surprised by Archangel, the Horsemen of Apocalypse and Dark Beast.

X-Factor ReGenesis Teaser

Havok (and more than likely Polaris) joins X-Factor. 

(We were hoping they'd join with the X-Men!) 

New Mutants Regenesis Teaser

X-Men Regenesis: What We Know About the Post-Schism

Newsarama: In an effort to make sense of all the new knowledge dropping that's gone on, Newsarama organized what we know so far (and a little of what we don't) about X-Men: Regenesis into 10 easy points.

10. Yes, Cyclops is Still Leading 'Uncanny'
He's in the cover to Uncanny X-Men #1, as the only person on a cover full of shadows. This sure seems to be confirmation that Cyclops is alive and well after his battle with Wolverine, and thus the de facto leader of the "Blue" team.

9. Colossus of Cyttorak is Here to Stay
He's still making the helmet work on the cover of Generation Hope #13, and certainly appears to be looming in shadow right by Emma Frost in the Uncanny X-Men teaser, which seemingly establishes that he's falling on Scott's side of the X-Men divide.

8. Magneto: Definitely Not a Hero
It looks like he's sticking with the X-Men for the immediate future. Maybe both sides, even. He's floating in shadow on the Uncanny X-Men teser, and also on the cover of X-Men: Legacy #259, standing strong with Rogue and Gambit.

7. Storm Goes Blue, Gambit Goes Gold
Storm appears on not one but two of the "blue team" covers: Generation Hope #13 and X-Men #20. Likewise, Gambit is confirmed right where everyone expects him, at the side of his southern belle Rogue on the cover of X-Men: Legacy #259.

6. New Hellfire Club Continues to Reign
The Hellfire Club is going to keep on causing trouble. Schism writer Jason Aaron is using the group as antagonists in the October-debuting Wolverine & The X-Men, as revealed in the solicitations for issues #1 and #2.

5. Psylocke Switching Sides?
Betsy Braddock has been part of Wolverine's super-secret hit squad since Uncanny X-Force launched last fall, but she hasn't always been totally comfortable with it. Along with Deadpool, she expressed the most reservations for the outcome of the book's first story arc, "Apocalypse Solution." Things haven't gotten any easier for her in the current "Dark Angel Saga," as she's watched her long-time lover Archangel transform into a killer.

That can take a toll on anyone, and she might be done with Wolverine's way of conducting business if that Generation Hope #13 cover is to believed, as she's depicted in combat alongside Magneto, Colossus and Storm, all relatively sure bets for the Cyclops-led blue team.

But wait, that blacked-out character on that Uncanny X-Force teaser sure looks like Psylocke, doesn't it? There appears to be an outline of a waist sash and sword, even. Maybe, but maybe not: Could that be long-time Wolverine ally Kitty Pryde, a former ninja assassin herself? (Read the 1985 Kitty Pryde and Wolverine miniseries if you don't believe us.) That would put her on opposite sides of her boyfriend Colossus, yes, but she sure didn't seem too happy with his decision to take on the Cyttorak powers in Uncanny #542.

Sidenote: The woman on the Uncanny X-Force teaser has two telekinetic katanas and a waist sash. Yeah, that's obviously not Kitty. Remember, X-Force has nothing to do with the reason for the Schism, and Remender already confirmed Psylocke in X-Force's Year 2. Our guess is Psylocke sides with Cyclops and stays in Utopia, but still works with X-Force. What about you?

7. ...And So is Jubilee
Jubilee seems to be jumping ship from Wolverine's side to stick with Cyclops after all these years, judging by the teaser images we've seen. Maybe Jubilee is playing double agent, and trying to win her way back into Wolverine's affections?

3. Cyclops Goes Big
With Emma, Magneto, Colossus, Sebastian Shaw and Storm on his side, Cyclops seems to have gathered an army that's ready to fight a war against humanity if necessary... and maybe that's the point.

2. (Many) Mysteries Remain
X-Factor still has many big question marks: Who dies before Regenesis? Who is on the team? If they're siding with Wolverine, what does that mean about their role in the Marvel Universe? We have hints at some characters, but who else is on active X-Teams now?

1. Nightcrawler is Back (Sort of)
When X-Force returns from the Age of Apocalypse, it seems they'll have a stowaway in the form of that world's Nightcrawler. It's a pretty perfect work-around to the death; his sacrifice was still made, and meaningful, but now we get new Nightcrawler stories.

X-Force by Robbi Rodriguez

Robbi Rodriguez will be the artist for Uncanny X-Force #19, on sale in December.

X-Solicits for November 2011

	Uncanny X-Force #17 Written by: Rick Remender Penciled by: Jerome Opeña Cover by: Esad Ribic The Dark Angel Saga: Part 7. Archangel is ascended. The betrayer has turned the tide. The World will be opened. Realities will clash. Life will be lost. Love shattered. Do not miss this or we will find you! The boss team of Rick Remender (Venom, Fear Agent), Jerome Opeña (Punisher, Fear Agent) and Dean White (Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man) are reunited to bring on the bad guys!
	Generation Hope #13 Written by: James Asmus Pencils and Cover by: Ibraim Roberson Regenesis Blue Variant by: Dale Keown Regenesis Tie-In! New creative team! Hope and what is left of her five lights travel to China to find their latest recruit. Wait, is that X-Villain Sebastian Shaw? James Asmus (Uncanny X-Men Annual) and Ibraim Roberson (Uncanny X-Men) take the reins of the most-talked about new X-Book.
	Uncanny X-Men #1 & #2 Written by: Kieron Gillen Cover and Pencils by: Carlos Pacheco Issue #1 Variant Cover by: Frank Cho Issue #1 Regenesis Blue Variant by: Dale Keown Issue #1 Blank Variant Cover available Issue #2 Marvel Comics Annivesary Variant by: Billy Tan X-Men Regenisis. After the Schism, Uncanny X-Men starts over at #1. What is to become of Cyclops and the mutants who side with him after the big split? And what does it have to do with the resurrected Mister Sinister? The hottest new writer in the business, Kieron Gillen (Thor) and superstar Carlos Pacheco (X-Men: Schism, Ultimate Avengers) bring you the biggest and baddest X-Men you’ve ever seen.
	Wolverine & The X-Men #2 Written by: Jason Aaron Cover and Pencils by: Chris Bachalo Marvel Comics 50th Anniversary Variant by: Ed McGuinness X-Men Regenesis. Wolverine and his X-Men have very little chance of surviving the new Hellfire Club. And that’s without another classic villain (the villain of the most important X-Story ever) returning!
	X-Men Legacy #258 & #259 Written by: Mike Carey Pencils by: Steve Kurth (#258) & Khoi Pham (#259) Cover by: Mico Suayan (#258) & Clay Mann (#259) Issue #259 Regenesis Gold Variant by: Nick Bradshaw Issue #259 Marvel Comics 50th Anniversary Variant by: David Yardin #258: “Five Miles South of the Universe” Conclusion! Locked in psychic combat with an extraterrestrial opponent who far outclasses her, and trapped on a space station that’s hurtling toward an exploding sun, Marvel Girl finds herself in dire straits. With the lives of the station’s inhabitants and her teammates on the line, just how far will she go to win the day? #259: Schism Aftermath! The X-Men are divided. As Cyclops and Wolverine part ways, Rogue, Magneto and Gambit attend to unfinished business, hoping to avoid answering the question: Whose side are they on?
	X-Men #20 & #21 Written by: Victor Gischler Penciled by: Will Conrad Cover by: Adi Granov Issue #20 Regenesis Blue Variant by: Dale Keown Guest-starring Iron Man 2.0! The fallout of Schism pushes the X-Men and War Machine at each other in Eastern Europe as sentinels are being traded on the black market. But things aren’t as they seem, and the X-Men and War Machine are going to have to work together to stop a truly horrible plot.
	New Mutants #33 & #34 Written by: Andy Lanning Pencils by: David Lopez Covers by: Jason Pearson Issue #33 Regenesis Blue Variant by: Dale Keown #33: In the wake of the events of X-Men: Schism the New Mutants find themselves at a crossroads. A decision needs to be made that will change their lives forever. Featuring fan-favorite artist David Lopez (Hawkeye & Mockingbird, Mystic). #34: The New Mutants get back to their unfinished business! Tracking the mutant Blink, the team discovers her always near natural disaster areas. Is Blink somehow responsible for this destruction or is there something more sinister afoot? Part 1 of 3.

Uncanny X-Force Teaser

No mystery who the other characters are, but AoA Nightcrawler has to be the most surprising! :)

Robbi Rodriguez joins as the title's new artist come December.

Uncanny X-Force #13 Preview

Uncanny X-Force #13

Written by: Rick Remender
Pencils by: Mark Brooks
Cover by: Esad Ribic
Variant Cover by: Chris Bachalo

The Story: “Dark Angel Saga” Part 3. Years ago, Wolverine helplessly watched as Jean Grey, the love of his life, died before his eyes. Years later, he would lose his best-friend Nightcrawler to a similar fate. In order to save our world, can he allow them to die again? X-Force team up with The Amazing X-Men for the final push against the heir of Apocalypse, in a battle Royale that will force Wolverine to make the hardest choice of his life. One world must die!

In Stores: August 24, 2011

        
    

X-Men Teaser

Marvel has released a new X-Men: Regenesis teaser, this time for Victor Gischler's X-Men, featuring Jubilee as the lone, non-silhouetted character. Will Conrad announced as new artist.

The woman to Jubilee's left looks like it might be Psylocke?

Betsy Braddock, 1982 by Phil Noto

So, Rick Remender was reading his old Captain Britain comics and tweeted about the origin of Betsy's purple hair. Somebody suggested she should wear a Joy Division tshirt, and Phil Noto came up with this great piece in 20 minutes. Betsy Braddock, 1982!

Uncanny X-Men #542 Scan

X-Position: Rick Remender

CBR: We have Rick Remender, the writer of Marvel Comics' "Uncanny X-Force," here to answer some queries and many others in today’s X-Position. Let’s jump right in…

Without Domino, Rahne, or Laura, this X-Force team is largely a boys' club. The fact that Psylocke seems to be the least willing to kill only emphasizes this. Do you think there are any X-women that would "fit right in" on X-Force?

Rick Remender: Elizabeth's hesitation to kill isn't based on her gender; it's based on her character. I know that she has killed in the past, and now that she's put in a situation where she must take life to protect her family she's willing to make the hard decisions. But given where her character comes from, taking her entire arc into consideration, I feel responsible to ensure that the voice of Betsy from years ago is still echoing in the head of modern Psylocke.

There are other X-women who could fit on the team, some you mentioned, others, like Marrow, who might warrant dusting off at some point.

I love what you're doing with "Uncanny X-Force," especially your depiction of Psylocke. I'm glad you cleared up the whole telekinesis debate, but I still have a question about her abilities. Is Psylocke still able to psycho-blast and get random premonitions? I recall that in the '80s, both powers proved vital to her and other X-Men's survival at times (like showing her what the Reavers had in store for the Outback team).

Rick Remender: Psycho-blast yes. Random premonitions... I suppose a telepath can gather things from the zeitgeist if she focuses on it and gather some predictive abilities. I know it's been done in the past. I just feel like she's plenty powerful and has plenty of abilities as is. More powers, and more abilities, do not enrich the character in my opinion.

With the Logan/Jean "flashback romance" and the Psylocke/Warren/Fantomex love triangle, it seems you are sticking some romantic overtones in this gory and violent (which we all love) book. What's your motive in tying romance with a book like this?

Rick Remender: First off, I don't see this book as being gory. I see this being action-heavy, high adventure. Yes, there have been a few shocking assassinations throughout, but we haven't shown any gore or very much blood.

As for romance, romance is part of all good X-stories and most stories in general. It adds drama, tension, and context to the action stuff, something more meaningful to live and fight for. A character's romantic life can reveal a layer you can't get to with anything else. Most of my favorite X-Men stories involve a love affair.

I really enjoyed the scene in "Uncanny X-Force" #12 where Fantomex broke down Betsy's relationship with Warren. Can we say at this point that the seeds of doubt have been sewn in Betsy? What will the "Dark Angel Saga" do for their relationship as a whole?

Rick Remender: I could tell you, but then there wouldn't be much reason to read the book. It's one of those questions that's impossible to give any answer to without spoiling the current storyline. Sorry.

Betsy has never showed any sign of affection for Fantomex as far as I can tell, then he just kisses her. Was he merely being impulsive, or is there something between them that we haven't seen yet?

Rick Remender: Obviously, the implication is that Betsy's hostility towards Fantomex is overcompensation as she guards her true feelings for him. She's clearly attracted to him, but also finds him repugnant on some level. I've always tried to play her attraction to Fantomex as guarded behind hostility, not spelled out and obvious.

Marvel Teases 'Regenesis'

    

Generation Hope #13, on sale in November, marks the beginning of a new creative team - James Asmus & Ibraim Roberson, as well as the addition of Sebastian Shaw to the cast. Meanwhile, X-Men Legacy #259, also on sale in November, is set to be Mike Carey's final "Legacy" arc.

The X-Perts: Psylocke

Marvel.com: This week, Kieron Gillen, Rick Remender, Nick Lowe and Jody LeHeup look at Psylocke, a woman with a complex past and variety of relationships as well as membership in both the X-Men and secret X-Force team. Where’s her head at and where does her loyalty lie?

How would you describe the core of who Psylocke is and what is most important to her?

Rick Remender (writer of UNCANNY X-FORCE): Betsy is, I think, somebody who [has] had a pretty spectacular life. [Her parents] were high level scientists. Her brother Jamie is a serial killing reality bender and her brother Brian is the shining hero Captain Britain. I think looking at her past, and then looking at who she is now, you see [a] character arc that goes from a child of affluence to somebody who’s had to make decisions to stick with her adopted family, the X-Men, at all costs. I think if you look at her character now and what she’s been through you can see the price all over her: She’s been killed, she’s had to change bodies, she’s now sacrificed all her former philosophies on killing and taking life to be a pragmatist and that sort of defines her I think from a nice English girl, who was supposed to become Lady Britain at one point, to becoming a shadowy ninja who’s working on an assassin squad.

Nick Lowe (X-Men Senior Editor): Betsy was a spy/fashion model for a long time, which is awesome. She has always seemed to me to be a carpe diem sort. Sure, she—like a lot of the X-Men—is driven by duty and responsibility, but she enjoys herself in the process.

Jody LeHeup (editor of UNCANNY X-FORCE): Betsy is a romantic. Deep down she is a passionate and caring person who values integrity and perseverance. I’d say that living up to the expectations of the ones she loves is very important to her, not letting them down.

What is Psylocke’s view of how the mutant race should conduct itself moving forward? How does this contrast or conflict with others?

Jody LeHeup: Betsy has an opinion but tends to leave those questions to the leaders she’s put her faith in. I think personally she’s very concerned with the endangerment of mutantkind, so much so that she’s driven to join an extreme response team like X-Force, but I think she’s wary of living too much by the sword.

Nick Lowe: I don’t think that Betsy gets too much into this sort of thing. She has an opinion, of course, but her duty to her species is what really matters to her. She lets others tackle the bigger philosophical questions and busts heads and enjoys life.

Rick Remender: Well I think the debate in her mind is if there’s any room for Xavier’s dream anymore. If there’s any possibility for cohabitation; the fact that there [are] so few mutants left really changes the parameters of all these sorts of things. I think that Betsy has become a bit of a pragmatist and though it goes against a lot of her philosophical upbringing, she’s made her mind up to protect what’s left of the mutant species at any cost. In her mind, Utopia is probably the best option they have in order to keep themselves protected and to stay together in a clan and huddle basically given that genetically speaking they’ll eventually be wiped out.

What toll have the radical changes in Psylocke’s body and mind over the years taken on her psyche?

Nick Lowe: I think they’ve demonstrated to her just how fragile life is and showed her how valuable it is.

Rick Remender: It’s become shattered I would imagine, so when I write her I try to think of somebody whose core has been broken into pieces and put back to together, and like a vase that’s been shattered and glued back together, it doesn’t entirely hold water. I think that’s the root cause of a lot [of] her turmoil and maybe some of the self-doubt we’ve seen with her lately in that she’s not quite sure if she’s herself or if she’s someone else. She’s got so many different pieces of other people that she’s picked up along the way, having housed The Shadow King in her mind and the body swapping and the x, y, and z’s of her story. I like the idea that there’s a core Betsy in there who’s always struggling to keep it together and find a way to salvage what’s left of what she considerers to be her core self.

Jody LeHeup: I think she’s weathered it remarkably well all things considered. She’s a very strong person and isn’t going to let little things like having her mind and body switched around like musical chairs slow her down. She’s who she is now and that’s all that matters.

Kieron Gillen (writer of UNCANNY X-MEN): I admit, as someone who's barely touched Psylocke, this is the part of the character which most interests me as a writer. The nature of identity and how it can be chewed up, re-created and generally made fluid fascinates me, and runs through a load of my writing, from my small press stuff no-one will—or should—have read to most of the cast of Phonogram to Kenji in GENERATION HOPE.

What I find most interesting about Psylocke is that she's come to terms with the fact. Normally, when we look at pop-culture, we've got characters panicked about who the real “you” is, trying to find some core “them.” Psylocke can't get stuck in such naval gazing. It'd drive her mad. Psylocke appears to believe the real you is simply who she is right now, and treats the bunch of thoughts and feelings in her head as fundamentally authentic—which is a sane response to her fairly insane situation.

In passing, it's one of the things that also interests me about Magik, but that's a different column.

How far away is the Psylocke of today from the Betsy Braddock who first joined the X-Men in terms of her values?

Kieron Gillen: To be blunt: English Rose Betsy Braddock wouldn't stab a dude in the head with a Walzashi.

Jody LeHeup: Pretty far. As a member of the X-Men she’s had to confront a great deal, both physically and mentally, and those experiences definitely change you. However I don’t know that her core values have changed so much as her understanding of the world, how it works and how best to maintain and implement those values in a complicated world. I think she’s more realistic about how she tries to affect change.

Nick Lowe: By that time she had already been messed with a lot. I mean, have you read those early Captain Britain-era stories? She was pretty full-formed before she joined the X-Men and the whole body-switch and what she’s been through have just reinforced all that.

Rick Remender: I think the character arc is pretty clear. She’s quite different. She’s become much darker and much rougher around the edges. I think that’s what’s interesting about the character: now that she’s gone and taken this arc, it’s to explore the other side of her that’s still in there and how the person who she was feels about the person she’s become. The character arc has been fairly extreme to go from who she was to who she currently is if you look at it like a point-A to point-Z and how many years it took to get there. I’m spending a lot of time writing about this in [UNCANNY X-FORCE] in an upcoming arc where the person Betsy was has to come to terms with the person she is and has to make a decision on if she’s going to continue or not.

Does Psylocke like being a member of X-Force? Why does she remain with that group? Why does she remain with the X-Men, for that matter?

Jody LeHeup: No member of the team likes being a member of X-Force. She remains with the group—and all the members for that matter—because in their mind, it’s a job that must be done and her unique abilities make her especially good at it. She believes that she is taking the burden of the wet work on herself in order to keep other X-Men from having to do it and at the same time ridding the world of those who present a clear and present danger to the survival of her now endangered species. She remains with the X-Men because there is still plenty of work to do that doesn’t involve killing.

Nick Lowe: She doesn’t like what they have to do, but she knows that somebody has to do it. She sees the importance of what they do and it speaks a lot louder than the moral conundrums that come along with it.

Rick Remender: These are questions that she’s always asking herself and I think they’re important. She definitely sees value in it and she sees value in helping to protect the remaining mutants. For me on some level, if you look at Betsy, if you look at her story going back when she joined the X-Men, she stuck with them through some craziness and they’ve become her family. So the question really is are the X-Men her family and is what she’s doing a necessary evil to protect her family, or is her family with Brian and Meggan? We’ll be answering those questions coming up in [UNCANNY X-FORCE].

Kieron Gillen: No, she doesn't like it. If she liked it, that's something she would be worried about. No-one should like being in X-Force. But she remains with X-Force because she believes its work needs to be done—which, coincidentally, the same reason she remains as the X-Men.

Does Psylocke have great loyalty to particular people on the X-Men?

Nick Lowe: Absolutely. Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Havok—they top my list.

Rick Remender: Obviously she loves Warren and that’s a very close relationship the two of them have established over the years and I see her as somebody who’s very close with Wolverine, almost like a family member and then with Scott and the rest of them as well. I think Betsy is one of the few characters who really does land in the middle of it all when it comes to feelings. When it comes down to her heart, it goes to Warren and Logan, but maybe her mind goes to Scott protecting those poor bastards on that island.

Jody LeHeup: I think so. There [are] certain people she’s closer to than others although she tries to remain as objective as possible when it comes to decisions that affect the team.

Kieron Gillen: Yes. Her relationship with X-Force is based on those personal ties. The question with X-Force is always “Who can we trust to do this?” and Betsy, Logan and Warren have that tight bond. But for me, that's almost not the question. Her involvement with X-Force isn't based on loyalty. It's based on beliefs. In some way, it makes her position on X-Force all the more striking and brave for her—it's not like she's Wolverine or Fantomax or even Deadpool. They lean that way naturally more than her. She's chosen to bend enough to do the job.

And it's also interesting to see where she chooses not to bend. And to wonder what other places she wouldn't bend, and which ones would surprise those she is abstractly most loyal to.

How does Psylocke’s relationship with Angel color her place among the X-Men?

Kieron Gillen: Really, anyone who's been reading UNCANNY X-FORCE—which should be everyone, yes?—knows the answer to this one. Read UNCANNY X-FORCE!

Jody LeHeup: You’ll have to keep reading for the answer to that.

Nick Lowe: In the way that any relationship does, I suppose. But it doesn’t define her.

Rick Remender: I’m not sure if it’s entirely out in the open. I haven’t addressed it with the other X-Men so I guess I haven’t put a lot of time thinking about it. I don’t think it’s out in the open, but if it were I don’t think it would matter too much. They’ve been on again and off again for a while so it’s something so simple as because it’s been on again and off again thing for so long and so many of those relationships happen in amongst in this little clan, I don’t think anyone would mind or see it as something that needs to be worried about.

Who among the X-Men does Psylocke trust? Who does she feel should lead the team? Would she ever want to?

Jody LeHeup: I think Betsy trusts Logan implicitly. But that’s all. She’s been through too much to not be guarded about who she puts her faith into. I don’t think Betsy’s interested in leading, at least not in any formal capacity. I think she thinks that Logan has grown into a position of great personal strength and would be far better at the job than even he knows.

Nick Lowe: She trusts them as much as a spy can ever trust anyone. She loves a lot of them and I don’t think she’d have any interest in leading, which makes her a good candidate to do so.

Kieron Gillen: Well, she trusts everyone on X-Force in a real way. Even before they signed that in the blood of kid Apocalypse, they knew they were joined together with a secret that could let any one of them put the whole lot in jail. We mustn't underestimate what level of trust that would require.

Who should lead the X-Men? Whoever does what's required to make the world a safer place, for humans and mutants both. Could she be it? Not now, is my gut feeling. I could see her in a Wolverine/Dani-esque team-leader role, but not the overall head.

That said, I think she's one of the people who could pull it off if she was forced into it.

Though I'd say she'd have to stop wearing her ninja outfit if she did.

Rick Remender: I don’t think she would ever want to lead the team. In my mind, she’s not the character that goes looking to take on responsibility. It always ends up in her lap and it’s always an ethical quandary and it’s something that she ends up having to take on. I think she could lead the team and I think she’d be terrific. Power level wise we’re building her up and grooming her to be just as powerful a telepath as Emma with different skills and different focus and a lot of that will be flushed out in the coming year. I think she could run an X-Men squad no worries. As for who she would have to choose, that’s a question that I would rather leave unanswered so people can see how Schism comes together.