Betsy Braddock is PSYLOCKE and Joins the MAXIMUM X-MEN

Marvel.com: Earth’s Mightiest Mutants assemble! Earlier today at the Marvel Comics: Avengers: Armageddon panel at San Diego Comic-Con, superstar writer Chip Zdarsky shed light on the era that follows AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON (2026), including his upcoming AVENGERS (2026) run with Marco Checchetto, where the Avengers are left to pick up the pieces of a shattered world that’s turned against them. As the Avengers take time to regroup, an all-new X-Men team rises to take their place as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in MAXIMUM X-MEN, a new ongoing series by acclaimed writer Christopher Yost—returning to the X-Men after his acclaimed work on the franchise in the 2010s—and artist Tony S. Daniel, who recently made his own return to the world of X in Jed MacKay's X-MEN (2024).

MAXIMUM X-MEN #1

Written by Christopher Yost

Art and Cover by Tony S. Daniel

On Sale 12/2

Together, the two X-Men veterans introduce an all-new, all-different kind of X-team as Storm, fresh off her stint with Avengers, recruits a lineup of all-star mutant heroes—including X-Men mainstays and a pair of iconic mutant Avengers—to confront global threats no other team is equipped to deal with, beginning with nothing less than a relentless inter-dimensional invasion! Both creators joined the panel as surprise guests to discuss the new series.

In the wake of the events of AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are no more! So who will stand in defense of the Earth? The X-Men will! Storm gathers an elite team for just that task, including Wolverine, Colossus, Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, Firestar, and Justice! Mutants by birth, heroes by choice! And their first challenge is a full-on invasion from the Negative Zone! Is this Annihilus again—or something far, far worse?

On reuniting with Marvel’s Merry Mutants, Yost shared, “I’ve worked on my fair share of X-Books over the years, but MAXIMUM X-MEN is everything I love about comics rolled into one—it’s underdog heroes saving the world from the biggest Avengers-level threats imaginable, it’s mind-breaking action and drama and everything people expect from X-Men, all with a classic Claremont vibe. Rolling MAXIMUM X-MEN out as part of the new world post-Armageddon only lets us spotlight the need for a story like this… and to top it all off, I get to work with legendary artist Tony Daniel. As a lifelong X-Men fan, it doesn’t get any better!”

“The X-Men have long been my favorite characters since discovering GIANT-SIZE X-MEN (1975) #1 in the fourth grade,” Daniel added. “I’ve always dreamed of working on my favorite characters, so it’s an incredible honor to launch MAXIMUM X-MEN with Chris. I’ve been a fan of Chris’s writing for a long time, but this is our first time joining forces. I’m already in love with the story in the first issue. Its vibe and energy remind me so much of the kind of X-Men stories I loved as a child, and I can’t wait for the audience to see what we have in store.”

X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 Spoilers & Art

Spoilers: Sebastian Shaw hosts a Hellfire Gala at his mansion and invites several of mutantkind’s most influential figures. During his speech, Shaw criticizes the X-Men for their poor handling of Graymalkin Prison and argues that mutants need a leader who is willing to fight more aggressively on their behalf. Shaw has installed telepathic dampeners throughout the building, preventing the telepaths in attendance from freely using their abilities. Shaw attempts to gather support for a new mutant initiative. Mister Sinister refuses Shaw’s invitation to join his endeavor, while Angel gets into a confrontation with Sinister. Storm, Betsy Braddock, and Kitty Pryde also openly clash with Shaw. Shaw later approaches Hellion and attempts to recruit him, but Emma Frost interrupts their conversation.

Idie Okonkwo sneaks into the Gala without an invitation and spends much of the evening with Ransom. Elsewhere at the Gala, Cyclops and Kwannon secretly coordinate a plan to assassinate Joseph and Astra, the leaders of 3K. They intend to eliminate them quietly during the event without the other guests discovering what they have done. Mastermind, Martinique Wyngarde, asks Kitty Pryde to dance and flirts with her. Emma Frost and Namor slip away from the main party and enter a hidden room so they can spend some private time together.

Wolverine’s heightened senses eventually alert him that something is wrong. Jubilee follows him as he investigates, and the two discover Sebastian Shaw’s body. Because Shaw’s vital signs have been compromised, the mansion automatically enters lockdown. The exits are sealed, and security drones are activated throughout the building. Angel, Storm, Kitty, and Betsy work together to disable the drones. News of Shaw’s death quickly spreads throughout the Gala.

Emma joins Wolverine and Jubilee in the room where Shaw’s body was found. Wolverine initially suspects that she may have been involved, but Emma claims that she was with Namor the entire time. Wolverine determines that Shaw was exposed to nerve gas and estimates that he has been dead for at least twenty minutes. However, several guests claim that they saw Shaw alive only ten minutes earlier, creating an apparent contradiction in the timeline.

Wolverine and Jubilee begin questioning the guests and investigating the murder. Suspicion quickly falls on Joseph and Astra. Several attendees accuse the two 3K leaders of killing Shaw, and their refusal to cooperate with Wolverine’s questions only makes them appear more guilty. Because of the murder investigation and the growing attention surrounding Joseph and Astra, Cyclops and Kwannon abandon their assassination plan. Joseph and Astra eventually teleport away from the Gala after being publicly accused of Shaw’s murder.

Wolverine then searches the mansion’s security room and discovers Toad behaving suspiciously. Before Wolverine can stop him, Mystique—disguised as Jubilee—helps Toad escape. Wolverine follows their trail to another room, where he discovers a newly formed Brotherhood consisting of Mystique, Destiny, Martinique Wyngarde as Mastermind, Toad, and Empath.

The Brotherhood reveals that Shaw had been planning to use Forge’s mutant power-dampening weapon against everyone attending the Gala. In response, they conspired to kill him and seize control of his financial assets. Mystique shapeshifted into Shaw so that the mansion’s security system would identify the real Shaw as an impostor and release the nerve gas against him. Mastermind used her illusions to make it appear that Shaw was still moving through the party after his death, while Empath manipulated the guests’ emotions to turn them against Joseph and Astra, making the two 3K leaders the perfect scapegoats.

Their new organization, effectively a Hellfire Brotherhood, intends to use Shaw’s stolen wealth and resources to support mutantkind. The Brotherhood asks Wolverine to keep their involvement secret, arguing that exposing them would undermine the greater good they hope to accomplish. Wolverine agrees. To the rest of the world, Joseph and Astra remain the primary suspects in Sebastian Shaw’s murder. They are publicly blamed for the crime after fleeing the scene. The Gala ends, and the guests leave Shaw’s mansion.

A few days later, Wolverine meets Emma Frost for a drink. During their conversation, Wolverine reveals that Shaw had already stopped breathing before the Brotherhood’s nerve gas reached him. Shaw’s actual cause of death was a massive psychic overload. Wolverine therefore knows that Emma was responsible for killing Shaw, with Namor serving as her alibi while they were alone together. Despite knowing the truth, Wolverine tells Emma that he has no intention of exposing her.

Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special #1 Textless Variant by David Mack

Marvel Announces Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special #1

Marvel: The oversized Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special celebrates five decades of Brian and Betsy Braddock with stories by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, and Dan Abnett. For Claremont, the milestone is especially meaningful.

“It’s so much fun to return to this group of good friends. Hard to believe 50 years have passed since Herb Trimpe and I first created these characters,” Claremont said. “As a kid raised on British comics, I was thrilled to be asked to create Britain’s own superheroes. What fun to again put them through their paces! For everyone who loves Brian’s twin sister Betsy, this one’s for you!”

Read on for the Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special one-shot’s details.

Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special #1

Written by: Alan Davis, Chris Claremont, Dan Abnett

Art by: Alan Davis, Paul Davidson, Kelsey Ramsay

Cover by: Alan Davis

Variant Cover by: David Mack

Live by the Sword!

Join us for a golden jubilee to commemorate fifty years of Brian and Betsy Braddock, champions of the multiversal Captain Britain Corps! Chris Claremont & Paul Davidson weave a tale of Brian’s earliest days defending the realm! Alan Davis shows what happens when you try to rein in a Braddock! And Dan Abnett & Kelsey Ramsay pit Betsy against the forces of Otherworld. Witness a can’t-miss glimpse at the past, present and future of these powerhouse twins!

On Sale 10/14

X-Men: Outback #3 Variant Cover by Taurin Clarke

Main Takeaways from X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 - Advance Spoilers

As we know, Betsy fans have been eagerly anticipating X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1, as it marks her first present-day appearance since the end of X-Force one year and three months ago. With that in mind, here are the issue’s main takeaways so you can manage your expectations accordingly.

1) Betsy Braddock is indeed the character identified as “Lioness” on the Hellfire Gala costume sheet. However, “Lioness” is not presented as a new codename or identity. In fact, none of the identifiers from the costume sheet are used or mentioned at all.

2) Betsy briefly interacts with Sebastian Shaw and Frank Bohannan, aka Crimson Commando, and later fights alongside Storm. However, she has only three lines of dialogue and is not central to the plot, mostly appearing in background cameos alongside Storm and Kitty Pryde.

3) There is no mention of what Betsy has been doing since the end of X-Force, nor any indication of future plans for the character. Rachel Summers does not appear and is not mentioned at all.

Full spoilers for the issue will be posted tomorrow.

If you’re as disappointed as we are, use that frustration as fuel and email the X-Office at officex@marvel.com to ask for more appearances by Betsy Braddock.

By Saladin Ahmed & Joelle Jones

By Saladin Ahmed & Federica Mancin

X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 Preview

X-Men: The Hellfire Murder (2026) #1

Writers: Saladin Ahmed, Eve Ewing, Jed Mackay, Erica Schultz, ail Simone

Pencillers: Tony Daniel, Aaron Kuder, Federica Mancin, Cory Smith, Luciano Vecchio

Cover Artist: Luciano Vecchio

The Story:

HOMICIDE AT THE HELLFIRE GALA! When an iconic mutant power player is murdered at an exclusive masquerade hosted by SEBASTIAN SHAW, it falls to WOLVERINE and JUBILEE to solve a locked-room mystery that has dire consequences for all mutantkind. Everyone is a suspect. And the party isn’t over yet…

Release Date: July 22, 2026.

X-Men: Outback #3 Variant Cover by Ejikure

X-Men: Outback #5 Cover by Russell Dauterman

 

Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day #1 Spoilers & Art

Spoilers: The X-Men spend a sunny day by the pool. Some of them play pool volleyball, while Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Rogue prefer to sunbathe and watch the men. Meanwhile, Beast feels insecure about his non-human appearance.