Welcome to our deep dive into the world of Betsy Braddock's unseen wardrobe! Over the years, Marvel has developed numerous stunning designs for Betsy, many of which never made it to the final pages. In this article, we reveal a treasure trove of these official, yet unused, costume concepts. We've meticulously edited and colored these hidden gems and are thrilled to showcase them in our Costume Gallery section. Plus, we've got an exclusive look at Betsy's newest unused design for the upcoming "From the Ashes" relaunch. Get ready to explore the fascinating evolution of Betsy's style!
Captain Britain by Alan Davis (c. 1985)
Alan Davis' original design for Captain Britain featured slightly different patterns, with Betsy's wig intended to be shorter and wavier, contrasting with the long, straight wig of the final version. According to Davis' plot notes, Betsy was originally set to become Captain Britain earlier, in Captain Britain vol. 2 #9 (1985), during the battle with the Cherub Whirlwind warpies. However, her final design as Captain Britain debuted in Captain Britain vol. 2 #12. This character design was later published as an extra in the Captain Britain Omnibus (2022).
Outback Psylocke by Arthur Adams (dated November 5, 1987)
In an effort to update the X-Men's appearance, Art Adams explored several new looks, particularly for the female members of the team. For Psylocke, Adams envisioned a black bodysuit paired with a one-piece bathing suit, with variations that included and excluded a cape/hood. His only stipulation was that the costume should not be pink. This design eventually evolved into the "Australian Outback Armor," which debuted in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #232 (1988). These character designs were later published in X-Men: Archives Sketchbook #1 (2000) and Modern Masters #6: Arthur Adams (2006).
Lady Mandarin by Jim Lee (dated June 22, 1989)
In X-Men: Archives Sketchbook #1, it was noted that Jim Lee attempted a dramatic reinterpretation of the "new" Psylocke with his designs for Lady Mandarin. While the first design closely resembles the final approved Lady Mandarin costume, the second design was quite different. According to Lee's notes, this version featured a black suit, black gloves, a protective "death" mask, and weapons concealed within the boots. Both versions included a retractable blade attached to the fist. The final Lady Mandarin costume made its debut on the cover of Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #256 and within the pages of #257 (1989). These character designs were published in X-Men: Archives Sketchbook #1 (2000).
Mystery Telepath by Salvador Larroca (c. 2002)
According to legend, Chris Claremont originally planned for Psylocke's death in X-Treme X-Men to be temporary, envisioning her return stripped of the Crimson Dawn and possibly even back in her original body. In Claremont's Facebook Group, a fan shared the concept that Betsy was supposed to come back as a psychic "ghost" around X-Treme X-Men #19, struggling with the temptation to possess people. Salvador Larroca's notes reveal that Psylocke was to have a black costume, blue hair, and yellow eyes. However, during this period, Marvel had a policy against characters returning from the dead, quashing Claremont's plans. This character design later surfaced online in the mid-2000s. A similar character with blue hair and yellow eyes was introduced by Larroca in X-Men vol. 2 #171 (2005) as Foxx, Mystique's disguise as a student at Xavier's. Betsy was ultimately resurrected in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #455 (2005).
Uncanny X-Force/Marvel NOW! by Kris Anka (c. 2012)
When Kris Anka was tasked with redesigning the members of the Uncanny X-Force relaunch, he began with Psylocke. As the team leader, Anka wanted to perfect Psylocke's design first, using it as the foundation for the rest of the team. He created four different designs before the final one was selected. Anka shared all his designs with notes on his Tumblr page in October 2012.
Design 1: Anka envisioned a straightforward tactical suit, imagining Psylocke descending from the ceiling into a dark room for an assassination mission. The design aimed to reflect this scenario.
Design 2: Anka's approach with this design aimed to break up the all-black costume while reintroducing the skin-stripes essential to Psylocke's iconic look. Inspired by Opeña's work on the first volume of Uncanny X-Force, Anka incorporated his own stylistic touches to the shapes of these cut-outs.
Design 3: This iteration continued the theme of breaking up the black elements in Psylocke's costume, building upon the ideas explored in the previous design.
Design 4: Anka experimented with a stealthier approach for this design, focusing on visual effectiveness in low-light environments, ideal for an assassin's operations.
X-Force/All-New Marvel NOW! by Rock-He Kim (c. 2013)
Artist Rock-He Kim was responsible for redesigning all the X-Force members when the series was relaunched in early 2014. When USA Today announced the relaunch in November 2013, Kim's original character design for Psylocke was revealed. Initially, Betsy's X-Force costume featured more intricate details, including camouflage patterns reminiscent of the leg and arm stripes from Jim Lee's classic Psylocke design. The final, approved design was simpler, with fewer camo patterns, and made its debut in X-Force (vol. 4) #1 (2014).
Mystery in Madripoor/Disassembled by Mahmud Asrar (c. 2018)
Artist Mahmud Asrar undertook the task of redesigning Psylocke for Mystery in Madripoor, a storyline where Betsy reclaimed her original body. Asrar developed two distinct designs for the character. The chosen design, affectionately dubbed the "Disassembled" costume by fans, made its debut in Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor #4 (2018). A second, unused design was later featured as an extra in the Director's Cut of Uncanny X-Men vol. 5 #1 (2018). This alternate design, reminiscent of Asrar's work on Jean Grey's X-Men Red costume, incorporated elements similar to Psylocke's Outback armor, including a hood, cape, and pieces of armor.
Captain Britain/Dawn of X by Marcus To (c. 2019)
Marcus To undertook the redesign of Betsy Braddock as Captain Britain when she assumed the mantle in Excalibur vol. 4 #1 (2019) as part of the Dawn of X relaunch. To later disclosed that he had developed multiple designs for Betsy's new costume. In April 2020, To unveiled one of these unused designs on Twitter, which was subsequently repurposed for Brian Braddock in Excalibur vol. 4 #6 (2020). Unlike the traditional Union Jack design, this costume predominantly featured red tones and paid homage to Brian's original Captain Britain attire, incorporating intricate golden details and a prominent Lion Rampant symbol on the chest.
Captain Britain/Destiny of X by Vasco Georgiev (c. 2022)
When Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain (2023) was announced in late 2022, Erica D'Urso was selected as the cover artist, while Vasco Georgiev was slated to handle interior art. Following the announcement, D'Urso shared a work-in-progress of the first issue cover, which introduced a fresh design for Captain Britain featuring a Lion Rampant symbol on the chest, more fabric, and less armor. This particular design was crafted by Georgiev. However, editorial decisions prompted a shift back to Betsy's previous Excalibur (2019) design. Unfortunately, Georgiev's original design sketch never surfaced online, and the only glimpse we have of this concept is D'Urso's work-in-progress cover.
X-Force/From The Ashes by Marcus To (c. 2024)
With the dawn of a new era, new books naturally introduced fresh costumes for its characters. In the case of X-Force (2024), editorial opted to maintain a unified black stealth look for the team. Marcus To, however, advocated for adding red accents to make the costumes stand out. Additionally, he incorporated touches of yellow as a nod to the classic X-Men aesthetics. To provided a glimpse into several alternative designs on Twitter that didn't make the final cut. Betsy's design notably featured loose sleeves and her iconic waist sash.
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
8 comments:
Many of these unused designs look gorgeous! Still, most of the times, I'd say the artists made the right choice.
While the Disassembled uniform looks overall better than Asrar's unused design, I wonder if maybe he could have incorporated the hood from the unused design in it (I love when Betsy has a hood or cloak as part of her uniform). Then again, the uniform she ended up getting leaves part of her shoulders exposed, so perhaps the hood wouldn't fit with it.
And To's red armor for Betsy looks fantastic - but if she had it, I don't think the name "Captain Britain" would work for her... maybe "Lady Albion" or something would be a better codename for it. But it looks beautiful - and much more convincing as actual armor than the Earth version of the armor she ended up getting (the Otherworld version does look like armor).
Oooh I love these. I feel like the unused X-Force 2014 and Marcus To designs were better than what we got.
Come to think about it, if Tini Howard's next X-book involving Betsy has anything to do with STRIKE (she did show Pete Wisdom creating a new STRIKE team and didn't show it in action so far) and she somehow loses the Captain Britain mantle, Betsy could wear Asrar's unused design, as it looks more like a SHIELD-ish uniform for spies than something that a conventional superhero would wear. Only the hood/cloak would need some minor adjustment to avoid the risk of some people thinking the hood is a hijab and accusing her of cultural appropriation, and maybe the pieces of armor could be purple/magenta (and maybe the purple/magenta part in the torso could be an armored breastplate to reinforce the references to the Outback armor... even if it wouldn't fit with the spy theme).
...Yeah, I know that she'll probably continue being Captain Britain (which I don't mind) and that STRIKE will probably be left forgotten (now THAT I do mind). But one can always dream, right?
Such a great job with photoshop! Kudos. And I love the Asrar alt look as well. Even if we got that look it would be doomed as the pink suit we got sadly didn't last long at all
Love a lot of these. Especially pre-ninja stuff, and post "re-birth" stuff.
Da suits could've been all BLACK! That coulda been nicer
didn't realize Art Adams designed the outback armored look! Did Silvestri have a hand in completing it?
I actually quite love Jim Lee's unused Lady Mandarin (the second one shown here). I think overall they made the right choice though because the canon one is very powerful.
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