Uncanny X-Force #4 Advance Preview
Betsy's been through the wringer a lot over the last ten years, especially with regards to her constantly-changing power set (shadow teleportation, psychic katana, etc.). How do you define her abilities now?
Rick Remender: Burgeoning Omega-level telepath and stealthy ninja. I see Betsy as having telepathic abilities akin to Jean Grey's prior to the Phoenix merger, with the ninja skills of a high Hand operative. That is it.
You've mentioned previously that Fantomex may have ties to Psylocke's father and brother. Will we find out more about this in upcoming issues?
Rick Remender: Yes, I have plans to touch upon this thread. There is a history to be explored between Fantomex and Betsy's family.
And what about Betsy's origins? Her father wasn't human, he was a citizen of Otherworld. Will her Otherworld-ian heritage come up in your book?
Rick Remender: Yes. I'm aware that there are fans of Psylocke who feel that the character's background has sort of been forgotten about. Obviously, when you have a character whose roots are tied to the heyday of Claremont and Alan Moore, it would be foolhardy to overlook all of the clever things that were established in her history. It'll be a slow build for sure, but you can expect for that stuff to be touched upon eventually.
Why exactly did Psylocke join X-Force? I understand she's there to keep Archangel in check, but is this the only reason? Does she have the same a similar point of view as Logan as to everything that's going on?
Rick Remender: She has a ferocious killer within her mind, thanks to the Hand's training. Betsy contends with what the rest of X-Force contend with, a dark part of their soul; an animalistic and savage aspect of their personality that desires release. Every member of this team is, in some way, trying to find a way to use that dark and ugly part of them for good purpose.
That said, I don't see her sharing the exact same perspective as Logan, but it's all degrees of the same philosophy. When she first joined the X-Men, she was unsure if she was fit to join a clan of warriors. Now she has become one of the most savage among them. And that's something that I'm going to be exploring – that and her relationship with her twin brother Brian (a.k.a. Capt. Britain) in future issues. Betsy is a complex character with a rich history, and I plan to continue to explore how that history affects her future in issues to come.
Rick Remender: Burgeoning Omega-level telepath and stealthy ninja. I see Betsy as having telepathic abilities akin to Jean Grey's prior to the Phoenix merger, with the ninja skills of a high Hand operative. That is it.
You've mentioned previously that Fantomex may have ties to Psylocke's father and brother. Will we find out more about this in upcoming issues?
Rick Remender: Yes, I have plans to touch upon this thread. There is a history to be explored between Fantomex and Betsy's family.
And what about Betsy's origins? Her father wasn't human, he was a citizen of Otherworld. Will her Otherworld-ian heritage come up in your book?
Rick Remender: Yes. I'm aware that there are fans of Psylocke who feel that the character's background has sort of been forgotten about. Obviously, when you have a character whose roots are tied to the heyday of Claremont and Alan Moore, it would be foolhardy to overlook all of the clever things that were established in her history. It'll be a slow build for sure, but you can expect for that stuff to be touched upon eventually.
Why exactly did Psylocke join X-Force? I understand she's there to keep Archangel in check, but is this the only reason? Does she have the same a similar point of view as Logan as to everything that's going on?
Rick Remender: She has a ferocious killer within her mind, thanks to the Hand's training. Betsy contends with what the rest of X-Force contend with, a dark part of their soul; an animalistic and savage aspect of their personality that desires release. Every member of this team is, in some way, trying to find a way to use that dark and ugly part of them for good purpose.
That said, I don't see her sharing the exact same perspective as Logan, but it's all degrees of the same philosophy. When she first joined the X-Men, she was unsure if she was fit to join a clan of warriors. Now she has become one of the most savage among them. And that's something that I'm going to be exploring – that and her relationship with her twin brother Brian (a.k.a. Capt. Britain) in future issues. Betsy is a complex character with a rich history, and I plan to continue to explore how that history affects her future in issues 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.
8 comments:
lol the writers need to sit down and decide on her powerset, Remender seems to like her as a on the verge Omega level(who isn't these days) TP ninja. Fraction sees her with low level TP who can't even psy-link, Carey says her TP comes and goes. Betsy already has a convoluted past at least figure out her powers.
Well, like Psylocke said herself in Legacy, her powers aren't constant, their levels float occasionally. Which is an excuse for each writer to use the power set he prefers.
I'm okay with Remender seeing her as only a telepath, all we need is to consider that she preferred not to use the telekinesis in the UXF missions for whatever reason. Not a big deal.
Anyway, it's nice to know that UXF will bring content regarding Betsy's family, Captain Britain (maybe he will find out about the X-Force? Lots of potential for drama) and Fantomex's connection to them! It's always nice when a writer touches on her past to make her story less convoluted.
My thought regarding her changing powers was that they were slowly returning to what they were originally, which is exactly what Jean's did after she and Psylocke's power switch. I imagined that every time she used her telepathy slid the scale farther in that direction and further from telekinesis.
Anyway, it's great that some of these decades-old loose ends in Psylocke's story are finally getting addressed. It's crazy to think that some of us have been waiting for this for like twenty years! LOL I am old!
Brian,
You're right! We've been waiting forever and a day! Maybe we'll find out what happened to her fiancee, Gabriel whom she was vacationing with in when Mojo and Spiral nabbed her and set her on her path to becoming an X-Man, and why she never psycho-blasts, casts illusions, mind-wipes or sees the future anymore.
It would so rock if Jerome could somehow get her back to her old incarnation/body, but still have her colored by all the experiences that have brought her to where she is; including the Hand training. That'd make for an awesome Elizabeth. The warrior she always yearned to be.
And honestly, I wouldn't be mad if she was her blonde self while being that warrior. (I was just thinking that the purple was cool way back when, but in real life I've seen very few people as cool as Psylocke is written to be be able to carry off purple hair and not look stupid). Jim Lee drew an awesomely fine and hot blonde Betsy during her Hand-brainwashing... and the woman was a bloody supermodel.. so all this talk of the old Psylocke being not hot is really dumb. People should realize that she was just drawn with stupid hair and costume in the 80s. The Psylocke in Age of X looks fantastic. Also, even with the dumb outfit and hair in the 80s, all the other characters always described her as being soft-spoken and beautiful. I distinctly recall Havok saying that when he first came upon the post-Massacre team in the Morlock Tunnels, as well as Colussus saying it when he painted her in the Outback just before the Inferno event.
It'd be great to have a Psylocke that did not seem like an altogether different character. It's kind of like when a show recasts a character, and then makes the new actor seem so different that you seem to think it'd have better if they just cast the new actor as a new character versus recasting them as the old.
I was excited to read this & then he wrote her powers. Let me say that being a ninja isn't a power. hahahaha. Let's hope this doesn't turn into the 90s all over again, where she's too ninja to even use her abilities (leading to getting her butt handed to her in a good 3 out of 4 fights).
She has powerful TK. No one can decide what to do with her. Are there that many mentalists in the Marvel universe that people keep trying to put a different spin on her to make her unique?
Anyway, that aside, I love her with both, love her with one exclusively, etc. But it was always great to see her flying or floating things, as she has always loved to fly (one of the reasons she became a pilot).
I also do want to point out (I was reading UXF #1 & #3 at the comic store today) that she is drawn with an "Asiatic" style robe/ sheet (characters/letters). Has it been touched on in the comics ever why she all of a sudden is rich with "Asian culture" (as if there was only one). It seems she is always pictured, in the art photos or statuettes at least, with Japanese or Kanji symbols, Shinto arches, etc.. & she's a Brit... Oy!
Either way :)
I loved reading this. Remender GETS Psylocke, he knows so much about her history, it's uncanny!
And I couldn't care less about how he sees her powers. TK or no TK doesn't change the fact that he's writing the hell out of Betsy! Characterization > Powers/Feats.
Why... is... Deadpool... feeding... Warren... his... flesh... OMG
So did Jerome actually confirm that he won't be writing her with psychokinesis at all or was that just an omission?
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