X-Men: Outback #4 Spoilers

Spoilers: At sunrise in Cooterman’s Creek, Bushranger arrives seeking the X-Men’s help, recognizing them through her ability to see mutant auras. She protects the Never Never, a hidden community of mutants who cannot safely blend into human society. The Lava Men have abducted her people, and their ruler, King Basallo, plans to extract their mutant genes to strengthen his own kind. Bushranger was killed during the attack, but her powers allow her to survive as long as someone still believes in her. Havok immediately supports the rescue, while Psylocke tells Storm that Bushranger shows no signs of deception. Madelyne Pryor insists on joining the mission, frustrated at always remaining behind because she has no powers. With Havok’s support, Storm agrees, and Madelyne equips herself with Reaver weapons while Wolverine stays to guard the base.

Bushranger leads the team through the deserted Never Never and into the tunnels beneath it, explaining that the community’s protective mirage could not conceal them from an underground attack. Along the way, Madelyne confides in Havok about her recurring nightmares of fire and her suspicions about Bushranger’s interest in him. They soon confront Basallo, who claims that sacrificing the mutants fulfills his duty to his people and the Mother Core. When he refuses to release the prisoners, the X-Men attack, with Madelyne fighting alongside them. Basallo unleashes a cloud of ash that blinds the team while allowing his soldiers to move freely. Psylocke counters by locating the Lava Men telepathically, linking their minds with her own, and sharing that awareness with Dazzler and Longshot. Surrounded by Betsy’s psychic butterflies, her teammates can target their enemies without seeing them. Storm then disperses the ash with her winds.

Bushranger confronts Basallo directly, enduring his burning touch as she fights him. When the king launches another attack, Havok pushes her to safety and takes the blast himself. Madelyne rushes to Alex’s side, while Bushranger continues battling Basallo, eventually taking his staff and turning it against him. The king boasts that his people cannot be killed, but Storm demonstrates that the molten metal within their bodies conducts electricity. She threatens to unleash far greater voltage unless he frees the mutants and leaves the Never Never alone, while Bushranger promises to pursue the Lava Men relentlessly if they refuse. Although his guards remain willing to fight, Basallo finally chooses to spare them further suffering and orders the prisoners released.

After the rescue, Madelyne confronts Bushranger for failing to check on Havok, but Bushranger explains that his aura already told her he was safe. She introduces Mirror, whose powers conceal their community, before affectionately reuniting with her longtime partner, Buckland. Madelyne realizes that she has misread Bushranger’s interest in Alex: Bushranger perceives beauty through mutant auras and finds Buckland beautiful regardless of his unusual appearance. Bushranger thanks Madelyne for helping without special powers, suggesting that more people like her might make hiding unnecessary. She also promises that her community will protect the secret of the X-Men’s survival, grateful that the team put the captives’ safety before its own secrecy. When she says they did not have to risk themselves, Storm firmly disagrees.

Meanwhile, in the Mojoverse, Master Molto presents Mojo with footage of a new kill squad, the Execution Producers, murdering civilians to musical accompaniment. His Murder Video Channel is ready, but Mojo decides that the killers alone are not enough: the program needs a recognizable star. Confident that he knows the perfect lead, Mojo prepares to contact someone from Longshot’s little black book.

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.

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 ’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 ’97 Week, Part Four: Psylocke and X-Force Become Outlaws

06 • ANIMATED SERIES

X-Men ’97: Season 2, Episode 2 — “A Force to Be Reckoned With”

Young mutants seeking refuge at the abandoned X-Mansion instead found themselves hunted and detained by X-Factor, a government-sanctioned mutant team operating under the direction of Dr. Valerie Cooper. Although X-Factor claimed to be relocating them for their own protection, the young mutants were imprisoned under heavy security, raising questions about whether the government’s true objective was their safety or containment.

Meanwhile, X-Force’s search for War led the team to Brazil, where they cornered the Horseman amid the chaos of the streets. Following a fierce struggle, Psylocke used her psychic abilities to render War unconscious before probing his mind for information about Apocalypse’s plans. She glimpsed a mysterious delivery of something vital, but an impenetrable wall of diamonds suddenly blocked her path, preventing her from exploring his memories any further.

With Psylocke unable to extract additional information and War remaining a dangerous servant of Apocalypse, Cable ordered Archangel to end his life as an act of mercy. Archangel carried out the execution without hesitation, but Jubilee was deeply shaken by the cold finality of killing an unarmed mutant. She openly challenged Cable’s ruthless methods, exposing the growing divide between the young recruit and the hardened members of X-Force.

The diamond barrier Psylocke encountered pointed the team toward Emma Frost, whose psychic powers and diamond form matched the defense protecting War’s memories. When confronted, Emma admitted her involvement and directed X-Force to a hidden facility that appeared to be preparing advanced technology for a new generation of Horsemen. The lead was a trap: Emma had made a deal with X-Factor in exchange for amnesty and deliberately lured X-Force into an ambush.

A brutal confrontation erupted between the two mutant teams. Most of X-Force managed to break free and withdraw, but Jubilee was overwhelmed and taken prisoner aboard a government helicarrier alongside the other captured young mutants. During her interrogation by Havok and Polaris, Jubilee appealed to the ideals Polaris had once upheld as a member of the X-Men and awakened the doubts she still harbored about X-Factor’s actions.

Polaris secretly disabled the helicarrier’s security systems and her own power-suppressing collar, giving Jubilee an opportunity to escape. Jubilee fought through the guards, released the imprisoned mutants, and summoned X-Force for extraction. The team arrived and carried the liberated youths to safety, but the rescue led Cooper to brand X-Force as fugitives, forcing Psylocke and her teammates deeper underground as they continued their mission against Apocalypse.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Three: Psylocke Uncovers Apocalypse’s Secret

05 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Season Two (Vol. 1) #3

X-Force’s next mission took them to a clandestine auction of rare artifacts in Madripoor, where Pestilence unleashed her plagues in a desperate attempt to seize an opal recovered from one of Apocalypse’s tombs and regain his favor. When X-Force stormed the auction, Psylocke joined her teammates in battle and observed that the Horsemen had begun turning against one another. Pestilence confirmed her suspicions by declaring that neither X-Force nor Famine would stand in her way. Archangel ultimately defeated Pestilence, allowing the team to escape with the opal.

Aboard their jet high above the Pacific, tensions remained high as the hunt for Apocalypse continued. Psylocke stepped forward holding the glowing red gemstone and identified it as the Opal of Ozymandias. She recounted how Ozymandias, once a pharaoh’s son consumed by his pursuit of power, had been overthrown by En Sabah Nur—Apocalypse—and cursed with prophetic vision and eternal servitude as the chronicler of the tyrant’s deeds throughout history.

When Cable impatiently demanded to know whether the artifact retained enough power to locate Apocalypse, Psylocke remained unfazed. Purple butterfly energy bloomed around her face as she activated her psychometric abilities and reached into the memories preserved within the stone. The accumulated anger, pain, and relentless will to survive nearly overwhelmed her. More unexpectedly, she discovered the X-Men themselves woven into Apocalypse’s ancient past, revealing that their histories were far more deeply entangled than she had realized.

With Cable’s assistance, Psylocke pushed deeper into the opal’s memories. They witnessed the newly named Apocalypse vowing vengeance against the remnants of Rama-Tut’s empire while embracing Candra and testing her suitability as his queen. The visions then shifted to Ozymandias discovering Rama-Tut’s hidden technology, only to be ambushed by Apocalypse and transformed into an immortal seer condemned to record his conqueror’s deeds for eternity.

The visions continued as Apocalypse brought a massive boulder down upon the crusader Bennet du Paris to teach him that “survival is not enough.” Psylocke and Cable then witnessed Ozymandias advise Apocalypse to father an heir rather than continue searching for a new vessel. When the face of Famine suddenly emerged within the memories, the psychic connection surged beyond Psylocke’s control and violently hurled both her and Cable backward across the jet.

Archangel rushed to steady the shaken Psylocke as she voiced her fear that Apocalypse’s heir might already have been born and hidden from the world. Cable recovered and immediately relayed the revelation to the rest of X-Force. Their mission had suddenly become far more dangerous: they were no longer simply hunting Apocalypse, but preparing for the possible existence of his secret child.

PUBLICATION NOTE • ONGOING

The Story Continues

X-Men ’97: Season Two is still ongoing. Issues #4 and #5 are scheduled for release on September 2 and October 14, 2026, respectively. The story of X-Force and Psylocke then continues in Episode 2 of the animated series.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part Two: Psylocke Trains the New X-Force

04 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Season Two (Vol. 1) #2

After Jubilee and Sunspot were successfully recruited into X-Force, Psylocke relentlessly drilled the young mutants in hand-to-hand combat at the team’s clandestine base. She pushed the young mutants far harder than their standard training sessions, emphasizing that their enemies strike to kill and there is no room for hesitation in X-Force.

Cable and Archangel interrupted the sparring session to distribute new tactical uniforms to the recruits. Cable immediately initiated a mission briefing, explaining that former Horseman War was actively establishing safe houses to orchestrate Apocalypse’s return. To stop this, X-Force needed to hunt down Apocalypse’s remaining Horsemen—War, Famine, and Pestilence—by utilizing the psionic tracking abilities of the mutant Caliban.

The team descended into the dark Morlock tunnels beneath New York City to search for their tracker. An encounter with an elderly Morlock named Annalee quickly proved to be a trap. X-Force was suddenly ambushed by a militant group of mutants known as the Acolytes.

A fierce battle erupted in the underground corridors as the Acolytes attacked through a thick cloud of smoke, courtesy of Amelia Voght. Psylocke engaged in close-quarters combat, utilizing her psychic blade to strike down Barnacle, while Cable exchanged heavy fire with Frenzy. During the standoff, the Acolytes revealed they were in the tunnels to recruit the surviving Morlocks into a new movement led by Exodus.

While the two factions argued, Jubilee located a terrified Caliban hiding in the shadows. After a gentle plea, Caliban agreed to point them in the right direction to stop Apocalypse. Unwilling to wait, Psylocke sneaked up behind Caliban and violently amplified his tracking powers with her telepathy, forcefully extracting the target locations from his mind against his will.

Jubilee was furious at the violation, shouting that Caliban had already been willing to help them. Psylocke remained entirely unrepentant, coldly stating that Apocalypse plans in eons and X-Force did not have seconds to spare. With the necessary coordinates acquired, Cable commanded the team to lock and load, leaving the Acolytes behind as they set off to eliminate the targets on their strike list.

X-Men ’97 Week, Part One: Psylocke Joins X-Force

01 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Strike Files Infinity Comic (Vol. 1) #2

Believing that Apocalypse will eventually return, Cable recruits Psylocke and Archangel—both former victims of the villain—to form his new team: X-Force.

Reflecting on his past, Cable recalls the painful death of Askani, the woman who raised him. In her final moments, she prophesied that he would become the “cable” binding the past, present, and future. She explained that he was destined to carry this heavy burden and face Apocalypse because he is strong enough to endure the pain, and because the villain fears Cable’s deep understanding of human connections.

Snapping back to the present, a hardened Cable reveals his true intentions. He warns Psylocke and Archangel that X-Force’s foundational mission is not just to stop Apocalypse, but to absolutely and completely destroy him, giving them a final ultimatum: fall in line with the cause or get out of his way.

02 • COMIC BOOK

X-Men ’97: Season Two (Vol. 1) #1

Psylocke and X-Force investigated Clan Akkaba, a cult that worshipped Apocalypse, hoping to uncover details about his planned return. Because the captured cultists preferred death over revealing any information about their “High Lord,” the team decided to use a captive clansman as bait. Their objective was to lure out the Alliance of Evil, a group they believed were Apocalypse’s low-rent lackeys.

The trap worked flawlessly, drawing the Alliance of Evil into an abandoned bar where X-Force immediately engaged them in battle. During the violent clash, Cable and Archangel launched a direct attack against Tower, while Psylocke maneuvered to strike Timeshadow from behind.

After neutralizing the initial threats, the team cornered Stinger, the final remaining member of the Alliance. Psylocke stood by and remained completely silent while Cable interrogated their captive. During the interrogation, Stinger mistakenly assumed the team was the X-Men, prompting Cable to coldly correct her, remarking that they were nothing like the X-Men.

03 • ANIMATED SERIES

X-Men ’97: Season 2, Episode 1 — “Days of Past Future”

During a strategic briefing, Cable reflected on the impending reign of Apocalypse, declaring that their small group was all that was left to stop the villain.

Standing confidently with her arms crossed, Psylocke delivered a critical intelligence update. She informed Cable that she had successfully managed to pick up a trail of the last of his horsemen. Maintaining her composure, Psylocke further warned the team that their intel indicated this remaining enemy would be a bit of a handful.

After the blue-skinned Archangel asked what their next move should be, Cable stepped forward and handed a confidential dossier directly to Psylocke. She took the folder and opened it, carefully examining the contents alongside Archangel. As Psylocke studied the document—which revealed photographs of young mutants like Jubilee and Sunspot—Cable walked past her toward the ship’s cockpit, announcing that their immediate mission was recruitment.

X-Men: Outback #2 Spoilers

Spoilers: With the X-Men believed to be dead, Mojo scolds Major Domo for failing to find a suitable replacement capable of maintaining their ratings. Among the possible new programs is a pitch from Molto for a channel called Murder Television, which would broadcast footage of Earth’s most sensational murders.

In the Australian Outback, Colossus opens up to Psylocke about feeling as though he is mourning his own life. Although the X-Men survived their apparent deaths, they must now remain hidden from the world, leaving him trapped in a strange state of post-rebirth isolation. Betsy comforts him and admits that she has insecurities of her own. She fears that she may be a liability to the team, which is why she has become so dependent on wearing her armor.

Meanwhile, Storm, Wolverine, Longshot, Dazzler, and Rogue enjoy a cookout together. Longshot appears to be having a great time, while Dazzler and Rogue finally seem to be getting along better.

Back in Cooterman’s Creek, Madelyne Pryor is struggling emotionally after seeing Cyclops and Jean Grey together on television. She becomes increasingly obsessed with gaining access to the Reavers’ computer system, much to Havok’s concern. After uncovering a section of heavily obfuscated code, Madelyne accidentally activates the Reavers’ security protocol and releases Godshredder, an advanced technological soldier designed as their final line of defense.

While the X-Men sleep, Godshredder releases a swarm of microscopic drones that they unknowingly inhale. The drones successfully take control of most of the team, but Wolverine detects his before it can fully subdue him. Under Godshredder’s control, the other X-Men surround Logan and prepare to attack.

Wolverine escapes into the Outback, pursued by his mind-controlled teammates. Determined not to seriously injure his friends, he initially fights without using his claws. He takes them down one by one, beginning with Dazzler and Longshot before defeating Havok. Storm proves to be one of his most dangerous opponents, but Logan eventually overcomes her as well. When Psylocke attacks, he overwhelms her telepathically by flooding her mind with his berserker rage.

Against Rogue, Wolverine deliberately uses his claws because she can absorb his healing factor and recover from the wounds. Colossus is the final X-Man left standing, and his armored form makes him nearly impossible for Logan to hurt. Wolverine provokes him into charging headfirst, causing the two of them to collide. Both are injured by the impact, but only Logan can heal quickly enough to continue fighting.

Godshredder then confronts Wolverine personally. Their battle is brutal and bloody, with Godshredder burning the flesh from Logan’s arms until only the adamantium-coated bones remain. During the fight, Godshredder reveals that the man inside the armor was once one of the Hellfire Club guards Wolverine mutilated during the Dark Phoenix Saga.

After defeating him, Wolverine realizes that almost nothing remains of the man beneath the Godshredder armor. Unable to save him, Logan delivers a mercy killing. He admits that he cannot honestly say he is sorry for what he did years ago, but he still gives the man a proper burial overlooking the beautiful Australian Outback.

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.

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

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.

X-Men: Outback #1 Spoilers

Spoilers: Following their battle against the Adversary in Dallas, the X-Men sacrifice themselves in order to defeat the Dark Trickster.

Meanwhile, Sabretooth visits Wolverine’s old cabin in the Canadian Rockies, refusing to believe that Logan is truly dead. There, he finds a lock of Logan’s hair and deduces that Wolverine has been there recently. Convinced that his old enemy is still alive, Sabretooth sets out to find him and celebrate their annual tradition: a ruthless birthday brawl.

In Cooterman’s Creek, in the Australian Outback, the X-Men are adjusting to their strange new reality in the ghost town. Psylocke, Havok, and Madelyne Pryor drink together, while Colossus reflects on the living death they now seem to be enduring. Dazzler and Rogue, meanwhile, clash over Longshot’s attention. Far from the base, Storm visits an Aboriginal community that receives her with respect, while she reflects on her perceived failure as a leader. Wolverine joins her and encourages her, telling her that the team needs a symbol of hope — a goddess.

Storm returns to the base and finds chaos, as the tension between Rogue and Dazzler has erupted into a fight. Wolverine interrupts the argument when he picks up the scent of an intruder: Sabretooth.

Sabretooth has brought with him Mister Sinister’s Dire Dogs — experiments born from degraded prehistoric DNA, capable of tracking their prey across the globe and feeding on fear. He unleashes the beasts, and the X-Men assemble for battle. While the team keeps the dogs occupied, Logan lunges at Sabretooth, and the two rivals engage in a brutal, bloody fight.

Storm realizes that their fear is feeding Sabretooth’s mutant hounds. The X-Men also notice that Logan has gone berserk with rage. Psylocke warns the team to control their fear, and Storm manages to master her own, channeling her powers against the dogs. Intimidated by her command and presence, the creatures are ultimately defeated.

The X-Men place themselves between Logan and Sabretooth, both to spare Logan from losing himself completely and because they are his friends — something Sabretooth does not have. Taking advantage of the distraction, Dazzler charges her powers and blasts Sabretooth, frying him with a concentrated burst of light.

Logan then releases his fury by tearing through Creed’s remaining hounds, until Storm reaches out to him. Her presence brings him back to himself. Logan thanks her and tells her that this is exactly why she matters: because she leads.

Psylocke insists that the secret of the X-Men’s survival must be protected. To ensure that Sabretooth cannot reveal the truth, she performs a telepathic surgery on him, erasing his memory of the day’s events and of the fact that the X-Men are still alive.

Later, beneath the moonlight, Storm and Wolverine reflect on the team’s uneasy adjustment to their new existence. Storm concludes that each of them is fighting their own private battle, but that they cannot waste this second chance to defend mutantkind as living myths. Wolverine encourages her to embrace her place as the goddess at the heart of that myth.

Storm agrees. Using her powers, she transforms her punk look into her new Outback costume — a form more fitting for a goddess.