Tom Brevoort: I think this [the Betsy Braddock/Kwannon situation] is a situation analogous to the Jean Grey one from a while back. By which I mean that there is a lot of frankly confusing backstory to Kwannon and Betsy Braddock, to the point where they’re literally difficult to describe to people. But rather than try to “fix” any of that stuff or retcon it or whatever (which is very much what got us to this point), I think the only thing to do from here is to go forward. And that means further defining who Kwannon is as Psylocke and who Betsy is as Captain Britain (or whatever she might become in days to come).
“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.
23 comments:
Hmmm is that a hint Betsy might start off in Comic as CB but transition to another role and codename?
That'd be awesome.
I seem to recall him referring to Betsy as “Lady Braddock”, I wonder if that’s her new codename? If so, I kinda love it (definitely 10X than Captain Britain) - although it is still heartbreaking to me that they gave the Psylocke identity to Kwannon (by the looks of it, for good). And the butterfly. 💔
Yeah, this dude’s giving me hope… but then again, I’ve been burned before. I guess we’ll see… 🤷♀️
This definitely put Betsy in the less favorable position. A quick fix but didn't consider the more established character - Betsy Braddock future.
IMO Psylocke is the more recognizable "brand" than Captain Britain (tho CB might be considered as the higher profile one). Not to mention, Betsy was Psylocke even before her ninjafication.
It seems what they're doing to Betsy is "Try and error". While I don't mind Betsy as CB, it seems that it didn't raise her brand and move her further away from the X-Men lore.
Meanwhile Kwannon who claimed the Psylocke name, has taken Betsy's role as the psyhic femme fatale of the X-Men, gained all the power previously Betsy had, rose as one of the Captains of Krakoa, joined the Avengers and featured in the higher selling book than Betsy (X-Men vs X-Force).
Yes, I'm salty. I just wish Marvel treat Betsy better than what they've been doing.
Marvel is not treating her well under this new crop of "creators and writers."
Tom is worse than Jodran to me. I'm glad some have hope in him, But I've been disappointed by dude before.
Eh that X-Men team Kwannon is on is ok, I don't think her team is any better than the one Betsy is on.
Also one of the books Betsy is known for getting her best characterizations is X-Force, so seeing her back up there is definitely exciting for me.
Kwannon being a "Captain of Krakoa" meant nothing to me, I think we already established being made a "Captain" doesn't always mean better lol.
I also don't think I want Betsy on Avengers either, as I think at this point I want her on a mutant team doing mutant related work since she's been so isolated these past few years.
Time will tell, but I didn't get him saying it was a quick fix. I think he was saying he was going to go forward from the point he inherited this mess.
He inherited it, didn't create it so I'm glad they are hopefully taking steps to make Betsy herself again.
Jordan seemed more than happy with Betsy being in Howard's hands, so im thankful for the change.
Jmho!
To each their own. Her new writer seems pretty direct with fans and actually listens and interacts with them.
I personally find that refreshing.
The last one was somewhat dismissive whenever we brought up issues to her (Jordan as well imo).
I rather wait & see her being written in the new books before making any actual complaints or celebrations, but to me it at least appears she is in a much better boat & hands than she was with Jordan & Howard.
Time will tell.
Betsy IS Psylocke. Brian IS Captain Britain. And Kwannon is nothing. She said it herself when she reappeared. By the way, Rosenberg's depiction of Kwannon was great. They should have sticked to it instead of turning her into a copy of the 90's Betsy.
I'll say the same thing here as I said on the forum:
It's sad for me to see that Kwannon's future is certain and "decisive"... while Betsy's is not.
"I feel like this is a direct response to fans who like Betsy as Psylocke, confirming that she will not be using that name again. While for her fans as Captain Britain, don't get too attached as she may leave the mantle in the future.
Instead of Kwannon having to adapt (since she spent years dead while the world around her changed), in fact, it's Betsy who had to adapt (even though she's been alive all these years and has, by her own choice, returned to the body she recreated herself). Seeing the character having problems with her own body and identity... doesn't make sense to me, especially after all the times she said "at last I am myself" and now she's like: "who am I?""
This is Western media called comics. Of course the people in charge will favor the person of color over the white hero. It's been like this for a long time. Betsy is in possession of her mutant powers and the butterfly. Marvel can have their colored Psylocke without Betsy's signatures of butterfly, purple hair and telekinetic telepathy. Make Kwannon her own person like they started doing with her own costume and psychic knives. Betsy has to find a new identity to continue with the X-Men. Captain Britain isn't made for Betsy and was proven in many stories with bad outcomes for Betsy.
@Hoxor I agree. It isn't fair.
Kwannon should be an Empath and should have gotten her own Codename.
Not to mention that it makes zero sense for her to want Betsy's codename, have powers that she returned to Betsy when she died of the Legacy Virus as Revanche and wearing an outfit that so many associated Betsy with.
However, On the flip side, Betsy has always adapted. She adapted when her eyes were taken out, she adapted when joining the X-men, she adapted when she was forced to become a ninja, she adapted when she was put into Exiles.
Also characters change codenames all the time. That part i don't mind (though I prefer Psylocke for Betsy too).
I just rather she got her own original name and not one so closely associated with Brian, the same way Psylocke is so closely associated with Betsy.
I think she got past the "Who am I" stage finally thank goodness though lol.
I'm hoping for the best, but unless I'm missing something, I am surprised to see commentary basically saying these writers are worse (when we haven't even seen their work yet) & the editor is worse than Jordan, when Jordan to me seemed perfectly ok with Howard's version of Betsy and was the one who helped put Betsy in the messy situation the new writers/editor have inherited and are actually addressing to begin with.
Time will tell I guess, but I'm hoping for good stories for Betsy and X-Force has been a place she was known to have one of her best stories.
I am hoping it is a sign :)
I always liked the name Lionheart, she could be that. Of the twins she was always the more feisty one and Brian the calmer one. Give Brian the captain Britain title back and maybe give him a mutant power too, like healing hands. Because why would Betsy and Jaimy be mutants and Brian not.
@Esetuopo that not a bad name.
I was hoping for something psi related like Psylocke but I can't think of anything lol.
The mutant thing could just be genetics. I could be why Brian and Betsy were born with blonde hair & Jaime got black.
I didn't mind it cause it meant Betsy had something in common specifically with each brother ...she shares being a twin with one & the other she shares being a mutant with.
Also regardless Brian has powers, another reason I felt he needed CB & Betsy does not.
I agree, Lionheart is a cool name! And the person who had it abandoned the mantle many years ago, so she wouldn't really be stealing anyone's identity.
Though some people may find it weird if she becomes LIONheart while her psychic signature is a BUTTERFLY (that Marvel often forgets that she has, but still). Marvel could change the psychic butterfly for a psychic lion, but I guess many fans of Betsy wouldn't like that (especially if Kwannon gets the psychic butterfly for herself).
As for Brian being a human while his siblings are mutants, isn't that the whole point of mutants? That most of the society sees them as monsters or impure beings, yet they could be born in any family, thus reinforcing the message that this society is irrationally discriminating their own children, family and friends just because they're different?
It’s actually not strange at all that Brian was born sans X-gene while his siblings have the gene. Whole-blooded siblings that are not identical twins often do not share the same genetic makeup due to genetic recombination during meiosis.
https://sanogenetics.com/blog/will-dna-be-the-same-for-siblings
Oh my mental gymnastics! Who would've thought Marvel throws away Betsy with the bath for Revanche.
Yay! More Revanche stealing all of Betsy's legacy and stuff. I'm waiting on them till dust settles and give Revanche purple hair, butterflies and the rest of Betsy leftovers. My bad wasn't long till they slapped the butterfly on Revanche.
Who wanna see Revanche shag Warren, the Summers and Phantomexes too?
Betsy should've gotten Monarch you know like the big butterflies. Jamie doesn't need one. Brian needs the CB he is naked and powerless without it.
Betsy can be anything tho not without the purple hair and butterfly. It's who she was before the freaky body changes she calls dibs on both.
"Betsy should've gotten Monarch you know like the big butterflies"
Oh, Kiki, that's a GREAT suggestion! And yes, this name fits much better for Betsy than for Jamie (and let's face it, now that the Krakoan era is over, Jamie will probably be left forgotten in editorial limbo for a long time).
I agree with @Kiki. Definitely want Betsy to keep her psychic butterfly signature.
The only acceptable name for me would be Psyche (which suits the character a lot)!
@HOXOR, a full circle moment to Uncanny No 256’s title, “The Key Than Breaks The Locke.”
Also, a full circle moment to taking back from Mojo:
enslaved name = psi-lock
freedom/full agency name = psi-key
I dig it.
@Kiki, Monarch is also fantastic, but Psyche is a full circle moment.
💜
Psyche... well, I like it and its association with her freedom is definitely a nice touch.
The only issue I see with it is that, while "Psylocke" and "Psyche" sound different enough, they're quite similar when we're reading them instead of saying/hearing them, so some people unfamiliar with the characters could consider Betsy to be a "cheap" version of Psylocke.
That said, I'm okay with any codename, really. Psyche is cool, Monarch is cool, and I even came to accept if she becomes just "Betsy Braddock", with no codename. I used to fear that a lack of a superhero name could make the casual audience be uninterested in her, but thinking about it, there are several cases of Marvel superheroes who are better known by their real names (Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Emma Frost) than they are by their superhero names (Power Man, Sapphire, White Queen), so as long as Marvel does give Betsy a decent enough push (something they didn't do during TH's runs but may do now), she should be able to become big with whatever name she gets.
My top choice would still be Psylocke, no matter how much editorial tries to shove Kwannon as Psylocke down our throats, Betsy was, is and will always be the true Psylocke! Kwannon was just a device to continue to capitalize on sexy ninja Psylocke, just without getting in trouble. (Which is a shame if you think about it, Kwannon deserved a background and identity of her own).
Other than that, I like “Lady Braddock”. Especially if she keeps the whole medieval-knight theme / weaponry deal (as opposed to ninja skills). It’s elegant, it’s feminine and regal, just like our Betsy. I would see it as an evolution of Outback Betsy, before the Siege Perilous - and a continuation of Disassembled Psylocke (criminally underrated and underused). I just hope they keep the butterfly for her, as well as purple and pink in her visual palette. Kinda excited for X-Force, no more Tiny Coward fanfics… but at the same time, I just don’t wanna be disappointed again. Make Betsy Great Again! 🦋
Post a Comment