Psylocke | Captain Britain – Unused Designs

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.

X-Force #1 Covers Without Trade Dress

Regular Cover: Art by Stephen Segovia & Colors by Bryan Valenza

Variant Cover: Art by Tony Daniel & Colors by Marcelo Maiolo

Variant Cover: Art by Mahmud Asrar & Colors by Matt Wilson

'X-Force' #1 Variant Covers Send Marvel's New Mutant Strike Team into Action

Variant Cover by TONY DANIEL

Variant Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR

Variant Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN

Variant Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA

Captain Britain by Mahmud Asrar

Mahmud Asrar Says Goodbye to 'Excalibur'

After revealing the cover to Excalibur #26, Mahmud Asrar took to Twitter to say goodbye to Excalibur.

Asrar: A bittersweet experience getting to work on this cover as it marks the end of my longest cover run for Marvel. It was wonderful to be a part of this series and it’s all thanks to my collaborators and you!

The solicit for December's Excalibur #26 seems to indicate the book will end; however, no official confirmation was given. According to Entertainment Weekly "most (though not all) X-Men comics will temporarily pause to give the spotlight to The X Lives of Wolverine/The X Deaths of Wolverine", a weekly event running from January 2022.

Whether Excalibur will be relaunched in 2022 remains to be seen.

Captain Britain by Mahmud Asrar - Work in Progress

X-Men #14 – X of Swords, Chapter 12 Preview

X-Men #14

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Art by: Mahmud Asrar

Cover by: Leinil Francis Yu

The Story:

X of Swords – Chapter 12

The Lovers. A Garden. A chasm of secrets.

In Stores: November 4, 2020

X-Men Monday #81 – Jordan D. White Answers Your X of Swords Weeks 5 & 6 Questions

AiPT!: Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT! Jordan D. White discusses not one, not two but five chapters of X of Swords! So without further ado, here’s Jordan talking–deep breathe—Hellions #5, New Mutants #13, Cable #5, Excalibur #13 and X-Men #13. Phew. 

AIPT: Welcome back, Jordan! Marvel’s been teasing the sword battles to come: Captain Britain vs. Isca the Unbeaten, Magik vs. Pogg Ur-Pogg, and most recently, Cable vs. Bei the Blood Moon. X-Fan Michael Que was curious how you all decided which Swordbearers would face off against one another? 

Jordan: How did we decide? Hm… I don’t know. That’s kind of like asking where do ideas come from. We just thought about what would be a good story and then the writers wrote it. There are cool things that happen in each of those battles. 

AIPT: Well, obviously with characters like Solem and Wolverine, they’re kind of matched up from the get-go. Would you say that applies to other Swordbearers of Arakko? Were they all kind of designed to be opposites to the Swordbearers of Krakoa? 

Jordan: No. I mean, even Solem and Wolverine, I wouldn’t say they’re designed to be opposites. Now, obviously, we’ve said he’s a foil for Wolverine and that thing about him being kind of like a Loki to Wolverine’s Thor in a certain way–they’re not brothers–spoiler. 

But I think the characters came about in different ways. I mean, I think we’ve said Pogg Ur-Pogg came about in going, “We’ll have a monster. Pepe, draw someone.” And he drew someone awesome. And so then we developed a character around that awesome drawing. So some of the characters came from story ideas. Some of them came from visual things. Some of them came from things we wanted them to do in fights. Some of them came from things we wanted them to do a post-X of Swords and they were kind of back-engineered, I suppose. 

So each of those, in particular, I’m trying to think if they all were the same. Yeah. Those all kind of came about for different reasons. The Betsy and Isca one has a very specific goal for what that battle is about. I mean, basically, all of them have very specific reasons why those two fight, but they’re very different outcomes as to what we get from each of them. Because I think there’s still a lot of surprises to come in this and I don’t think anybody really knows what’s going to happen–by which, I mean, I’ve seen a lot of speculation and well, certainly nobody has been right about what’s going to happen. But I think some of it, people are not even thinking in the right direction, which is good because that means we’ve misdirected them well. 

AIPT: The first portion of X Of Swords has largely been character profiles. How did you all decide on this approach to the beginning of the event? And will the next portion follow its own theme? 

Jordan: Yeah. X of Swords: Stasis is definitely a turning point where things will be going slightly differently. I mean, and again, generally speaking, I think people can tell what direction that is, but it has a different feel and different pacing and a different, I don’t want to say a different style, it’s all the same story, but you know what I mean. It’s got different goals than the first half does. And I think that that was the case all the way back to our original conception of X of Swords, even when it was two-thirds the size it is now, it was always going to be the first half is about finding the swords or training. And then the middle point happens and everything after that is the second half. So it’s going to read differently and, I will be honest with you, it will read much more as one thing. 

The first half of it has been a lot of, I don’t want to say side stories because they’re not, but parts that seem a little bit like, well, OK, here’s a story about Storm getting ready. Here’s the story about Doug getting ready. But I wouldn’t think of those as separate stories. I would think of those more as when you read a good novel where there is, let’s say, more than one perspective to it that isn’t just one character you’re following the whole time. You will read a lot of times the first half of the novel–there will be characters doing things in chapters that you’re like, well, these aren’t even connected yet. And then everything starts coming together more in the end. The second half of this is going to be much more “this issue follows directly after that issue.” And again, I think in a way that will bring together all of the threads from the first half. So it is one big story and is intended to be one big story for sure. 

AIPT: In Excalibur #13, Saturnyne refers to the Amulet as a relic. Does Saturnyne completely reject Merlin and Roma now and, will we ever discover more about Merlin and Roma’s current status? 

Jordan: Well, you’ve heard a bit about it in the data pages about their realms or their provinces, I suppose, of Otherworld. But yes, the balance of power has reversed. She is now the ruler of all of Otherworld. And each of them are, I wouldn’t say subservient to her, but at the very least lower on the power ranking than her. So yeah, she’s higher up in the tree of Otherworld power than they are. As a result, she does not need to bow to their ways of doing things anymore. That is, as she said, a system that Merlin set up–she doesn’t care what Merlin set up anymore. It’s now hers to set up so she can do it however she wants to. 

AIPT: We’ve been learning about Otherworld’s status post-Secret Wars. Originally, Otherworld consisted of two islands, Avalon and Tír na nÓg, so where do all these realms come into the picture? Was the whole island of Avalon divided into 10 kingdoms or are the other nine kingdoms located outside of Avalon? 

Jordan: So they’re talking about the fact that maps of Otherworld pre-Secret Wars were the British Isles, right? Otherworld has changed in a big way, though. I would say it is not that Otherworld is now the British Isles divided in 10. I would say now Otherworld is 10 times bigger than it used to be, or infinitely more than that even. Everything that we have ever known as Otherworld pre-Secret Wars is reflected in what we are calling Avalon now. And the rest of Otherworld is completely never seen before. 

AIPT: We know changes were made to “The Hanged Man” page in the Free Comic Book Day X-Men comic. Is the same true of the page with the 10 Swordbearers of Krakoa? Also, X-Fan Anonseed246 asked if there’s a chance we’ll be surprised by the identity of the 10th swordbearer of Krakoa? 

Jordan: As I’ve said before, we produced those pages very early in the process because Free Comic Book Day comes early. But let me put it this way: there are definitely folks out there who know the answer to this one who have sussed it out because all the information is right there. So they definitely have 10 magic swords that they are going to be wielding in this tournament. And the question of the 10th swordbearer, I suppose, is still lingering, but there are folks who have spotted the answer. 

AIPT: What can you tease about this week’s lone X of Swords chapter: Stasis? 

Jordan: So, two days from now, Stasis comes out and it’s the only one. And like I said, it’s a big turning point. There’s a lot of really cool stuff in it. If you’ve been curious about these Swordbearers, there’s going to be a lot of fun stuff to learn in there and we’ll be moving into the next phase. 

I actually also have another thing I can tease, which is fans who have been fans of X-Men for a long time, or just fans who are fans of the long history of X-Men–there is actually a big announcement coming up tomorrow, Tuesday, that I think a lot of you will be excited about. So keep an eye open for that as well. So Tuesday, a big, big, big thing that I think people will like, and Wednesday, Stasis–a turning point in the series. And then from there into the back half of X of Swords, which is going to be bananas.

Captain Britain vs. Isca: A Battle to Death in Excalibur #14