Spoilers: The final incursion takes place. The Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe collide. Cyclops hatches the Phoenix Egg and becomes the Phoenix himself. Everything and everyone dies, except Cyclops, Mr. Fantastic, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Thor (female), and Star-Lord.
For all intents and purposes, Elizabeth Braddock (Earth 616) is now dead.
“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.
24 comments:
I'm surprised that people like Iron Man, Steve Rogers, Hulk and Ms. Marvel (Kamala, not Carol) died. Not so surprised to find out that only one X-Man survived, although it is a surprise that this survivor is Cyclops, not Storm, Beast or Rogue.
Unfortunately, I already expected Psylocke to be out of Secret Wars, but to find out that she just died... erased from existence... wow. That's tough.
I hope that by the end of Secret Wars, Earth-616 and all of its inhabitants will be restored as they were before the Incursions (after all, Marvel never rebooted their universe before, unlike DC, so it makes no sense for them to do it now). If she doesn't return... well, then I guess it will be time to say goodbye to these comic books. Even if she is replaced by a Psylocke from one of the alternate worlds in Battleworld, the fact that it isn't our Betsy, the TRUE Betsy, will still remain.
Maybe they'll finally fix her sloppy origin story. As a biracial (Asian/Caucasian), I do find it kind of ridiculous and highly offensive to put the mind of a British woman and swap it into an Asian woman for the sack of diversity and/or Claremont's creepy fantasy obsession. Just fix it enough to make sense. Maybe even make her mother Japanese and her father British, best of both worlds to be honest. But with that being said, I do love Psylocke for who she is and her abilities. In my opinion, she does have the potential in being one of the top notch Marvel characters. I'm also ecstatic that Bryan Singer casted Olivia Munn to portray her in X-Men: Apocalypse. It'll definitely put her in more of a spotlight then where she was previously. By means of both the cinematic universe and comics.
@Fsaker I've been reading the Avengers/New Avengers Hickman comics, and, recently, the 616 Iron Man, Captain America and Thor were killed. These versions don't even appear in the issue! They even showed a few other heroes dying in this issue!
Marvel are certainly trying to make it clear to us that this is the end of the Marvel universe, even though we KNOW that many things will stay the same after this is finished. The real question is how will this happen/be explained and what IS going to change?! I think definitely the X-Men franchise will be one of the major changes coming, I just hope they don't jump the shark with them.
I think maybe having the new Psylocke be mix raced is the probably the answer to cleaning up her backstory. Keep her British and aristocratic, but be someone who just so happens to be of natural Japanese decent! You could say that she was a telepath and that her 'body transformation' was her being transformed into an expert martial artist when captured by the hand.
I know many are still attached to the original Betsy, but she hasn't been that version of herself in over two decades. She's been dead for that long so it really doesn't matter if that aspect of her isn't part of her character in the new Marvel universe. It'll make her much more accessible to new readers and to creators who want to use her! Changing her origin doesn't erase all those classic stories, we'll always have them, but it's time to make new ones.
@JJfroud Retconning Psylocke as biracial would virtually change the character we know. She would be virtually a new character. In my opinion, her origin, being twin sister of Brian, her birth being engineered by Merlyn, etc. is more important than Psylocke being a token Asian. Either they give her original body back or don't change anything at all.
I completely agree Ben. I love her back story and she doesn't need to be retconned or rebooted.
She just needs to be put back in her real body, she can still retain her ninja skills.
Hello, my dear cohorts.
Y'all know where I resolutely stand on this issue. I'll leave it at that for this thread.
By the way, dare I ask... What happened to "No more Phoenix?" So much for that craptastic storyline. Also, has anyone at Marvel ever explained how Hope Summers assumed the role of White Phoenix of The Crown when to my understanding was canonically established that there can only be one as that host is really way more than a host, but the purest embodiment of the Phoenix, who was established as Jean Grey? Or am I just crazy?
I understand why some of you see Secret Wars as a way of either returning Psylocke to her British body or to simplify her origins... but are you considering that this would basically mean that the Psylocke we'd get would be a completely different person?
I mean, look what just happened: Psylocke is dead. If by the end of Secret Wars another Psylocke goes to Earth-616 (or to whatever Earth there is at Marvel Universe by the end of the event), sure, she may be caucasian again without ever suffering a body swap. Or she may be biracial. It doesn't matter, she'll be an alternate version of the REAL Betsy Braddock we all knew and loved.
To me, it doesn't matter what body she's in, what powers she has; I just want the REAL Psylocke (that is, the Earth-616 Psylocke) back. She may not be perfect, she may not be how I wish she was, but I refuse to accept her death and replacement by any counterpart, no matter how "better" this counterpart may be.
What this comes down to is an idiotic d*ck measuring contest between Marvel and DC. This is Marvel's "Flashpoint/New 52". And it's stupid... it's like that old fart in the second Matrix movie wiping out the entire world, because he can't get it right. So, you wipe the slate to bring in new readers, younger readers that will pump more money into your pockets... in a few years, your stories will still suck, and those readers will go away too. You'll come up with some stupid gimmick to "reboot" the universe again, thinking that it's the fix-all, but in fact it's just repeating the same failed process. Here's an idea, instead of feeding us this nonsense: WRITE BETTER STORIES.
I'm a fan of the original Psylocke and I want her back. Changing her back story creates a new character I will 100% not read. She's already a newlocke. I don't need her altered further for some asian fetis. People will get to know her former body in the battle world's of Sinister and Inferno..
I know I promised to not jump into the Body Wars, but THIS 🙌🙌🙌🙌:
"She's already a newlocke. I don't need her altered further for some asian fetish."
LMAO at "newlocke."
Alan Davis is a straight-up G. He and G. (no pun intended) Willow Wilson are the only ones as they don't mince words or deflect with political correctness and fake diversity on the topic:
http://www.alandavis-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=222
http://www.alandavis-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=321
She cannot be erased! I don't if this is the denial talking but Jamie did give her ability to resist any change in reality when he resurrect her in Claremont run, which is why she was not affected by the crazy wicth in House of M. Ergo, she probably hiding somewhere and waiting the perfect time to strike. Would it be epic if she land a tide changing blow like she did on Nova in X-men: The End?
Hoang Vu,
She lost that ability without explanation as shown when Proteus was able to possess her and when she was altered back to her white self as was Iceman's girlfriend during Age of X.
Yes, she probably lost that ability when the Red Queen brought her back to Earth-616, in Fraction's run. That was when Psylocke's telekinesis became much weaker and she became susceptible to psychic attacks and changes in reality again (the good thing is that she also recovered her telepathy by then).
Unfortunately, she was erased. Now, three things can happen by the end of Secret Wars:
1) The universe will no longer have a Psylocke (kinda unlikely, considering she's popular enough even among casual readers)
2) She will be replaced by a Psylocke from an alternate Earth
3) She will return to life
I really hope that Marvel will choose option 3. I know, many of us would like to see her back in her original body. Honestly, I don't mind if somehow that happens (maybe when Beyonder, Phoenix or whoever else is bringing everyone back to life, it could change her body back to how it was originally, while keeping her mind/soul/essence intact), as long as this is the real Earth-616 Betsy. I'll never forgive Marvel if they decide to replace her with an alternate Psylocke, no matter how great this alternate Psylocke would be.
Well, while we're not sure if we'll ever see Earth-616 Betsy again, at least lil' Betsy (the one from the A-Babies vs. X-Babies one-shot) will make an appearance in Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #1.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/giant-size-little-marvel-avx-1-marvel-comics-2015
Hopefully her appearance isn't limited to just this huge panel with the little X-Men laughing while the little Avengers are attacked by lil' Magik's monsters...
Yeah I already created my own alternate universe Psylocke. I want 616 Betsy to return either form. Her history, trials and challenges.
1. Has it been explained how there is a Phoenix Egg after Wanda ans Hope's stupid "No More Phoenix?"
2. Has it been explained how Cyke, a non-omega can host a non-fragmented Phoenix Force?
3. Isn't the egg supposed to hatch a reincarnated White Phoenix of the Crown aka Jean Grey? Or was that retconned when Hope inexplicably became the White Phoenix in the horrid AvX?
The answer for the first two questions is no. In Hickman's defense, he wasn't the first one showing the Phoenix still existing after AvX: the Battle of the Atom event had the future counterpart of Quentin Quire hosting he Phoenix Force, while the Phoenix also had some participation in Wolverine and the X-Men vol.2.
As for Cyclops hosting it again, maybe his body was changed the last time he hosted it, so now he has no problem to handle a non-fragmented Phoenix Force? Either way, X-Men: Endsong showed that the Phoenix can be fed by Scott's optic energy, so maybe that's how he's taming it.
As for what was supposed to be in the Phoenix Egg, I'm not sure if it was ever stated that Jean was supposed to be inside it. Although after Hickman got everyone curious about it, the reveal that Jean wasn't in the egg does feel anticlimatic...
FSaker,
Thanks for those answers. Have you seen this thread?
http://www.comicvine.com/x-men/4060-3173/forums/who-what-is-in-the-phoenix-egg-1631708/
I must say Im generally mystified by all the original bodiers. Id be with Gray Alexander if they wanted to go in that direction.
I do think this is all hubub. They aren't killing off all those characters. They are just focusing the crossover on a few people for story-line clarity. Anything else would be idiotic.
Good news: Psylocke appears in Secret Wars #2!
Bad news: it's not OUR Psylocke, but her counterpart from Higher Avalon (and it seems she's only in one panel in the entire issue). That nation's Betsy Braddock seems to be part of the Captain Britain troops, and she seems to be Asian with either black or very dark purple hair.
Xiaodave,
Not sure about everyone else, but it didn't bother me as much when it was originally written as her own body altered. The whole Kwannon retcon just made me
really really hate it though. It's as messed up as the situation in that 1986 telemovie, Who is Julia? that starred Mare Winningham and Jameson Parker.
Xiaodave,
Not to mention thr fact that the first Retcon by Lobdell was a pure mistake due to him
not actually reading the story Claremont wrote, so then another messed-up retcon had to be created by Nicieza (He actually apologized for as he thought it damaged the character. That is Psylocke. No one really cares about Kwannon.) to try to explain away all the holes in Lobdell's such as him ignoring the fact that readers first saw when Psylocke was brought to Matsu'o as herself amnesiac and in her own body after his operatives found her completely naked on the beach and she was speaking Chinese to them as she was unconsciously pulling the language from their heads via telepathy.
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