X-Men '97: Season Two #4 Spoilers

Spoilers: X-Force followed the pull of the Opal of Ozymandias to an ordinary-looking American town secretly controlled by Clan Akkaba. Psylocke sensed that nearly every mind nearby had been fitted with psi-blockers, yet she also detected an ancient presence drawing the opal toward it. Although she did not believe they had found War, the signal suggested that they were finally closing in on the Horseman’s trail.

While Jubilee and Sunspot posed as stranded travelers, an elderly resident welcomed them inside before he and his wife revealed themselves as armed cultists. After subduing the pair, Jubilee warned Cable that the entire town appeared to serve Apocalypse. Cable, Psylocke, and Archangel encountered similar resistance inside the local elementary school, where they defeated more followers and stole their freshly laundered robes to infiltrate the Clan’s gathering.

At the ceremony, Ozymandias rejected a worshipper’s request to use Apocalypse’s rejuvenation chamber, insisting that it belonged only to his master and the woman chosen to stand beside him. He then presented Famine—Autumn Rolfson—wearing a bridal dress. Ozymandias recalled how her uncontrollable mutant power once caused food to wither in her hands until Apocalypse transformed her, while Famine boasted that she could now destroy far more than what was on her plate.

Convinced that Famine could bear Apocalypse’s heir, Ozymandias called her a far better candidate than Pestilence. He then warned her about Candra, who had joined Apocalypse after Rama-Tut’s defeat and became the only woman he regarded as his near-equal. Candra secretly persuaded him to share a fragment of his power, then attacked him in a moment of weakness and fled, using the stolen energy to become an immortal External—a betrayal Apocalypse never forgave.

Before the ritual could continue, Exodus arrived with his Acolytes and denounced Apocalypse as a fallen prophet, arguing that Magneto’s vision offered mutantkind a nobler path. Exodus then revealed that he had penetrated Ozymandias’s psi-blockers and that locating one of Apocalypse’s rejuvenation chambers had been his true objective all along. He intended to use the chamber to resurrect Magneto. As the rival factions confronted one another, Cable searched Ozymandias’s quarters and recovered enough prophecies to anticipate War’s next moves.

Ozymandias refused to surrender the chamber, and fighting erupted after Famine struck one of the Acolytes. Exodus ordered his followers to defend one another, while Ozymandias branded them apostates and commanded Clan Akkaba to purge them. After recognizing Rusty and Skids among the Acolytes, Jubilee warned X-Force that although they had entered the town searching for a man named War, an entirely different kind of war had found them instead.

Chris Yost Teases Betsy Braddock Moments in Maximum X-Men

Maximum X-Men writer Chris Yost has been sharing a few early teases about Betsy Braddock while chatting with fans on Bluesky, including one particularly charming detail involving Storm. Yost revealed that Betsy and Ororo Munroe will share tea together in the series, teasing a quieter moment between the longtime friends and X-Men teammates.

Yost also offered a fun detail about Betsy’s powers when a fan asked whether Maximum X-Men would feature her psychic butterfly, psy-knife, psychic sword, and psychic staff. His response was: “So far everything but the staff is in there, all psychic constructs.” In other words, Betsy is already set to use several of her most iconic psychic manifestations throughout the series, including weapons and imagery associated with different periods of her history.

Maximum X-Men will debut on December 2, 2026.

X-Men: Outback #3 Art

X-Men: Outback #3 Spoilers

Spoilers: In the Mojoverse, Master Molto attempts to convince Mojo to approve his proposed new program, Murder Television, promising an even more brutal form of entertainment for his audience. Meanwhile, an older threat begins moving against the X-Men in Australia. Long ago, in the microscopic realm of Sub-Atomica, the Lich Duke Yaga Dyara conquered the wandering mystic Grishka, a secret member of the Rasputin bloodline. With his dying breath, Grishka cursed the Duke, promising that one day he would fall to a Rasputin. In the present, Betsy Braddock finds Piotr Rasputin painting alone in the Australian wilderness and recognizes that he is struggling with the weight of his family name, Illyana’s fate, Mikhail, and the recent rebirth that has left him questioning his place in the world. Betsy understands that burden intimately and urges him not to let his family history define him. Their conversation is interrupted when she is struck by an overwhelming empathic surge of fear and hatred. Yaga Dyara arrives with the undead Rotwave, declaring that he has come for Rasputin blood, and Piotr immediately puts himself between the monsters and Betsy.

As Piotr is overwhelmed and dragged away, Psylocke desperately sends a psychic call to the other X-Men. Yaga Dyara reveals that he knows exactly who Piotr is: a cousin of Grishka and part of the bloodline destined to destroy him. He intends to eliminate every remaining Rasputin, including Illyana. Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Havok, Dazzler and Longshot answer Betsy’s call and attack the Rotwave, but Betsy remains focused on Piotr, calling his name again and again until she can barely detect his consciousness beneath the darkness surrounding him. Unable to reach him physically, she enters his mind. There she finds Piotr retreating into fatalism, wondering whether the Rasputin bloodline itself is cursed and whether everything should simply end with him. Betsy refuses to let him surrender. She tells him that even if every Rasputin before him were gone, he would still have a family—the people outside fighting for him, including her. She reminds him that Illyana would never have allowed him to give up and finally asks whether he is really going to make his friends fight for him alone. Her words reach him, and Piotr’s anger and will return with explosive force.

Colossus tears himself free and confronts Yaga Dyara while the rest of the X-Men battle the spreading Rotwave. Betsy continues operating on several fronts at once. While maintaining her psychic connection to Piotr, she penetrates what remains of the Rotwave creatures’ minds and gives them a new command: devour your own. The undead are forced to turn on one another, dramatically weakening the Duke’s army. Yaga Dyara nevertheless proves powerful enough to rot and wither even Colossus’s armored body, boasting that he will destroy the Rasputin line and tear Illyana apart after Piotr. At the moment when Piotr seems closest to death, the spirit of Grishka appears. Grishka reveals that Yaga Dyara lied about having exterminated the entire family: Grishka alone fell to him, while the Rasputin line survived. He provides Piotr with the words of a spell, explaining that the dead can empower it but only the living can banish the Duke. Piotr recites the incantation, and the combined power of the living Rasputin and his dead ancestor opens a microscopic gateway that drags Yaga Dyara, his warriors and the Rotwave back to their own realm and seals the passage behind them.

Grishka remains just long enough to heal Piotr’s ravaged flesh, telling his cousin that healing his heart will have to be Piotr’s own work, before disappearing like a shooting star. Betsy stays close to Piotr afterward, and their earlier conversation becomes much more personal. Back where he had been painting, Piotr considers whether the damage caused by the attack might become part of the artwork rather than something to erase. Betsy applies the same idea to his family: one miraculous relative cannot wash the Rasputins’ history clean, but Piotr can change what the name means through the man he chooses to be. When Piotr observes that she seems to believe in him, Betsy admits that she saw something beautiful when she was inside his mind. He then turns the question back on her and asks what she found there—whether he is a friend, a lover, or something caught between the two—and who exactly she was trying to save when she threw herself into his pain. Betsy cannot give the relationship a simple name but admits that she could not allow his suffering to continue and that he has become someone she cannot imagine being without. Neither is ready to risk pushing things further, so they agree not to let that uncertainty change what they already mean to one another. Betsy makes him promise that the next time he paints, he will put people into his world; when Piotr suggests perhaps beginning with her, she happily accepts the deal.

Hours later, Madelyne Pryor sits with Havok and admits that she feels useless beside the X-Men because she spent the crisis watching from the monitors while Colossus nearly died. Havok tells her that not everyone contributes in the same way and that simply remaining with the team and helping however she can still matters. He admits that he looks to her for strength, but Madelyne is frightened by how much others may depend on her while she continues to struggle with nightmares and the lingering terror surrounding her own past. Havok understands the feeling more than he initially lets on: beneath his reassurance, he confesses that sometimes he feels as though he is only barely holding himself together.

X-Men: Outback #3 Teaser

Find out what really happened between Psylocke and Colossus in the Australian Outback in tomorrow’s X-Men: Outback #3—and what the issue reveals about the complicated bond that had been quietly developing between Betsy Braddock and Piotr Rasputin.

X-Men '97 Director Reveals Why Betsy Braddock Remained Psylocke

A fascinating new behind-the-scenes revelation sheds light on the decision to portray Psylocke as Betsy Braddock in X-Men '97. During an interview with the Solving for X-Men podcast, director Emmett Yonemura revealed that the subject was debated among the show's staff.

Ultimately, Betsy's portrayal received strong support from Yonemura and assistant director David Maximo, both Asian members of the production team, who stood up for the character and recognized the narrative importance of remaining faithful to Psylocke's history during the period in which the series is set.

Solving for X-Men Podcast: Speaking of a little show called X-Men '97, I wanted to know: when you were directing Psylocke, did you know who you were directing? Did you know if it was Betsy or if it was Kwannon? Did they tell you that, or...? 'Cause there's the whole controversy.

Emmett Yonemura: Yeah, you know, there is. And at one point, the showrunner was almost making me feel a little bit token-like: "Well, how do you feel about this 'cause you're half Japanese?" And I'm like, "Oh God, I'm not that close to this character. I'm not that close to this character." But I was like, "Yeah, it does feel a little weird to have, I guess, a bit of cultural appropriation." It was also the way it was phrased to me, just, "It's offensive, right?" And I was like, "Yes, it's offensive. I'm [laughter] totally offended."

But then I asked [David] Maximo, one of Chase [Conley]'s assistant directors for his episodes, and he's a huge Psylocke fan. And as soon as he heard that there was even a debate going on, he was like, "How dare you? This is totally a part of her character. It doesn't—no one's looking at it from some sort of racist standpoint. It's just—it's what happened to these two women, and this is what's going on. And it's she's trapped in her—that it's not meant to be appropriation."

And so he was so firm about it that I was like, "No, no, no, no. This is the guy you ask. And if he says it's fine because he's the huge fan and Asian and he just—he gets it." I was like, "No, no, no. We can do it this way."

So yes, English woman trapped inside a Japanese woman's body, but it does actually matter for content and story and where you're going to take characters. So, yeah, it was a debate, but I'm glad that we just kind of stuck to the character, at least for where she is at this time period, because it just—it makes sense.

And also, who doesn't want more drama? Look, if we can add her bag of issues to the pile, let's do it. [laughter]

Solving for X-Men Podcast: I agree. I like that decision.

Emmett Yonemura: Yeah, me too. I felt comfortable once we had a fan—you know, [David] Maximo is just so close to these characters. But when he was just like, "No, no, no, no, no. To change it would be actually offensive," I was like, "Okay, cool. I like that. I dig that."

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Seven: Psylocke Battles Wolverine

10 • ANIMATED SERIES

X-Men ’97: Season 2, Episode 9 — “Survival of the Fittest”

Cable presented Valerie Cooper and X-Factor with his argument that Apocalypse remained alive inside Gambit and would eventually seize complete control of his body. Convinced that killing Remy was the only way to destroy Apocalypse, X-Force and X-Factor launched a government-backed assault on X-Corp headquarters. Psylocke joined Cable and Archangel on the front lines as the two factions battled the X-Men, who remained determined to save Gambit.

During the attack, Psylocke and Archangel specifically targeted Wolverine and succeeded in pinning him down. Their apparent victory was immediately undermined when a second Wolverine emerged from the shadows and attacked them. The opponent they had restrained was revealed to be Morph, who transformed into Doctor Octopus and continued disrupting the battlefield while the real Wolverine turned his attention toward Psylocke and Archangel.

Psylocke confronted Wolverine with both her martial arts training and psychic abilities. She attempted to incapacitate him with her psychic knife, but the attack had no effect because his mind had already endured an extraordinary accumulation of trauma. Wolverine then seized one of Psylocke’s swords and used her own weapon against her, brutally overpowering her after her psychic assault failed to penetrate his defenses.

Despite the setback, Psylocke continued fighting alongside Cable’s forces as the conflict spread throughout X-Corp. The battle reached its turning point when Cable reached the restrained Gambit and shot him in the head at close range, intending to eliminate both him and Apocalypse. Instead, the attack completed Apocalypse’s return, allowing him to take full control of Gambit’s body, overpower the assembled mutants, and enslave nearly everyone present.

Rogue returned empowered by the Celestial Eson the Searcher after agreeing to sacrifice her life in exchange for the strength necessary to save Remy. She broke Apocalypse’s control, extracted his essence from Gambit, and imprisoned it within a gemstone that she entrusted to Cable. Gambit was restored, while Nightcrawler secretly assumed Rogue’s place in the Celestial bargain and sacrificed himself so that his sister could survive.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Six: Psylocke Hunts Down Gambit

09 • ANIMATED SERIES

X-Men ’97: Season 2, Episode 8 — “The Dead Man’s Hand”

After Rogue experienced a disturbing vision of an undead Gambit, X-Force arrived at X-Corp carrying Apocalypse’s withered remains and the scorched Queen of Hearts card discovered beside them. Jubilee presented the card to Rogue as evidence that Gambit had been resurrected as Apocalypse’s Horseman Death. The discovery immediately divided the assembled mutants, with Cable advocating decisive action while Rogue and the X-Men insisted that Remy could still be saved.

Psylocke stepped forward as X-Force’s measured voice and clearly explained their proposed plan. She asked Professor Xavier to use the newly upgraded Cerebra to locate Gambit so that the teams could confront him and free him from Apocalypse’s corruption. Psylocke suggested that Rogue’s absorption powers might be capable of purifying Gambit, just as she had once freed Archangel from Apocalypse’s influence. Despite her explanation, Rogue remained suspicious that X-Force’s true objective was execution rather than rescue.

Xavier activated Cerebra and located Gambit in New Orleans, but the psychic connection produced a violent backlash that tore the helmet from his head and released an ominous cloud of purple energy. The reaction suggested that something far darker than a simple resurrection was controlling Gambit. Psylocke subsequently accompanied X-Force and the X-Men to Louisiana, where the combined teams prepared to confront the transformed Horseman.

During the confrontation, Gambit resisted Rogue’s powers, rendered her unconscious, and brought Nightcrawler under his influence. Amid the resulting chaos, one of the team’s aircraft was disabled and began falling from the sky. Psylocke joined Cable and Jean Grey in combining their telekinetic powers, safely guiding the damaged jet to the ground and preventing the mutants aboard from being killed in the crash.

Rogue eventually reached Gambit’s buried consciousness and temporarily freed him from Apocalypse’s control, only for the teams to discover that Apocalypse remained alive within him. Cable then revealed that X-Force’s true mission had always been to kill Gambit and thereby destroy Apocalypse. Horrified by the deception and unwilling to support his methods any longer, Jubilee and Sunspot abandoned X-Force and sided with the X-Men.

Psylocke remained loyal to Cable’s uncompromising mission, leaving her, Cable, and Archangel as the final three members of X-Force. While the diminished team regrouped inside a warehouse, Valerie Cooper arrived with X-Factor and proposed that their rival groups form an alliance against Apocalypse.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Five: Psylocke Takes on the Avengers

07 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Strike Files Infinity Comic (Vol. 1) #6

Following the rescue of the imprisoned young mutants, the X-Force jet became severely overcrowded. Sunspot teased Archangel and Psylocke, suggesting that beneath their hardened exteriors they must feel proud of having saved the children. The team delivered the young mutants safely to the Xavier School, but remained aboard to avoid exposing their location or mission. Their caution proved justified, as Black Widow secretly observed the drop-off and attached a tracking device to the underside of their jet.

Running low on fuel, X-Force landed at one of Cable’s supply caches hidden in a snowy mountain region. Psylocke and her teammates were immediately confronted by the Avengers, who had tracked them there to arrest them for disrupting X-Factor’s government-sanctioned operations. Captain America attempted to persuade Cable to surrender peacefully, but Cable opened fire, triggering a full-scale battle between X-Force and the Avengers.

During the fight, Psylocke faced Hawkeye and attacked with silent, relentless precision. Wielding her katana, she rapidly overwhelmed the Avenger with her superior martial arts skills and prevented him from mounting an effective defense. Hawkeye desperately called for assistance, complaining that although Psylocke had barely said a word, she was thoroughly beating him. Hercules offered to help only after dealing with Sunspot, leaving Hawkeye struggling to withstand Psylocke’s assault alone.

The battle ended when Cable threatened to destroy the fuel cache and trigger an avalanche upon the town below, forcing Captain America to order the Avengers to stand down. As Psylocke and the others returned to the jet, Captain America warned Jubilee that X-Force’s extreme methods would eventually lead them too far. Jubilee admitted that this was precisely why she remained with the team: someone needed to keep its dark mission under control. With the Avengers unable to intervene, Psylocke and X-Force escaped and continued their hunt for Apocalypse.

08 • ANIMATED SERIES

X-Men ’97: Season 2, Episode 7 — “Strange Land, Savage Heart”

While the X-Men confronted the Acolytes in the Savage Land, Psylocke joined Cable and X-Force in tracking Apocalypse to a hidden lair beneath the Parthenon in Athens. Expecting a confrontation, the team instead discovered Apocalypse’s skeletal remains surrounded by fragments of his technology, suggesting that the immortal tyrant was dead or had somehow abandoned his body. Jubilee then found one of Gambit’s distinctive playing cards nearby, confirming that Apocalypse had resurrected him as the Horseman Death. The discovery shifted X-Force’s mission toward the possibility that Gambit now carried Apocalypse’s legacy and represented the greater threat.

X-Men: Outback #3 Preview

X-Men: Outback #3
Writer: Steve Orlando
Art by: Stephen Segovia & Roi Mercado
Cover by: Russell Dauterman

The Story:
Lying low in the Australian Outback, the X-Men have seemed to find peace — that is until the ancient necromancer YAGA DYARA arrives from the Quantum Realm seeking to end Colossus’ Rasputin bloodline for good.
How can Piotr and his comrades succeed against this sorcerer’s cosmic threat?
Will Yaga’s undead magic stamp out the Rasputin line for good?

In Stores: August 26, 2026