Betsy Braddock: Psylocke/Captain Britain Appreciation 2019

[CRaymond]

With respect KB, the butterfly display is HOW we accepted Asian Psylocke as Betsy all those years ago. She always wanted to be a melee fighter as an armored “wizard”, went through the Siege Perilous, and came out changed into a “rogue”. The butterfly telepathy was the visual cue that the mind inside was still hers.

To “move on” from that suggests she’s... nah it’s fine. There’s no real way to argue against it, save for having a serious conversation about character brand kits, setting up definitions and parameters, and honestly it’s an artists’ discretion. Especially when Krakoa could be mind controlling her with those flowers. The arc in a year or so could reintroduce the butterfly.

In Kwannon’s case, I don’t mind her powers being fundamentally changed from her time hosting Betsy. The butterfly is just ANOTHER expression of that.

[Wiccan]

Someone please quote tweet this with 'You mean CB Cebulski when he stopped pretending to be asian? Or are we forgetting that?'

CB pretending to be asian is probably the real reason why Betsy got back to her original body in the first place lol.

[Frobisher]

The Butterfly Effect ability in Marvel Heroes was absolutely nutbar powerful.

[The_Greatest_Username]

I kind of figured they were headed this way after they made her white again. They want the character of “Psylocke” to be associated with a certain image and Betsy isn’t it anymore, unfortunately.

[sublimeclown]

I'm trying to refrain from judging until the books come out, but it feels really disappointing. We now have 2 "Psylockes" and neither of them are what I really want. We have the Betsy we know and love, but she's no longer a ninja, no longer using the code name Psylocke, and no longer has the butterfly. Then we have Kwannon, who has all those things (we'll see about the butterfly), but is a totally different person, doesn't have the character relationships that Betsy does, and doesn't have the British accent! But this is comics, this could all be undone in 5 years, so who knows.

[The_Greatest_Username]

I'm trying to refrain from judging until the books come out, but it feels really disappointing. We now have 2 "Psylockes" and neither of them are what I really want. We have the Betsy we know and love, but she's no longer a ninja, no longer using the code name Psylocke, and no longer has the butterfly. Then we have Kwannon, who has all those things (we'll see about the butterfly), but is a totally different person, doesn't have the character relationships that Betsy does, and doesn't have the British accent! But this is comics, this could all be undone in 5 years, so who knows.

That’s how I’m feeling about it. I want to be on board, but I just can’t bring myself to enjoy these changes.

[Yronheart]

Basically so Marvel can still market the asian ninja in a thong without any bodyswap implications.

Betsy is being stripped of her identity, meanwhile Kwannon is deprived of her own. As fans we should be outraged.

[Graphicisnovel]

lmao i hope everyone who used to complain is happy now.

We used to have a prominent Asian role on the team, who was popular and drew in a lot of fans and was movie friendly.

Now we have two characters splitting up fan appeal and cannibalizing each other's brand, and their backstory is only more inaccessible than ever. lol In an effort to distance itself from an ancient racist plot, they dug it up which brought more attention to it

The body swap may have been a silly comic contrivance, but it basically retconned in some diversity at least.

[gifted]

I was never one to complain, but I am very happy now. Betsy's British origins and aesthetics have always been a love of mine. I'm extremely ecstatic that she has this new bangin' costume. The flowers in her hair are silly cute and very boho chic. I originally fell in love with the Japanese body not knowing her backstory, but that doesn't matter.

All that matters is that I hope she keeps the same characterization she's had for the past decades since she's existed. No matter what body, she's always been an adrenaline-junkie and had the desire to do more. She's always straddled the moral line (yes, back in her British body days too).

It's a huge bummer that she won't have her butterfly signature anymore, but who knows? There's a chance it may come back. She's been drawn months on time without it (I'm sure creative talent just forgot), so it's not that much of a difference. However, I'm sure with enough fan criticism (please let your editors and creators know in a healthy way and don't just yell at them), this may change and she may receive her butterfly back.

[CGAR]

You know what I realize, If this forum was around when they changed Psylocke body to Asian some of the people here would be complaining about it. And the change wasn't just her looks alone, In Rpg terms, she went from a Wizard to Rogue so stylistically she was way different too. I can pretty much imagine if they had a forum back then I am pretty sure it would look similar to right now "Marvel doesn't know what they are doing" "Marvel needs to change her back" " She isn't a ninja she a telepath" etc.. Betsy Braddock is one of the most stylistically different characters from where she started to where she is now. Change is part of the process imo.

I can't think of a bigger change you can make a character that hasn't happen to Besty. And here is the truth with all the changes if works and fans like it will stick and you have all the years(wasn't like 20 something years) in Asian body as proof. If it doesn't work comic is general cyclical so things tend to change back, In fact, changes tend to work in comics and they still change it back sometimes because publisher general protects the core concept in spite of success

You tell me what is a bigger change? British woman to Asian Woman or Manifesting her telepathy with a different signature? If Betsy character can survive that change this is no different. And if doesn't work it won't stick. Heck, we have problems with staying beyond writers run Psylocke got a new suit and lasted 6 to maybe 12 comics. The best characters in comics have face bigger changes that this Wolverine had no nose, Superman was electric, Spiderman was Doc Ock, Batman was commish Gordon in a mecha suit. If it is bad for character general comic company figures it out pretty quick.

Some people here would FOR SURE be complaining if that happened now. Especially with how it is now regarding diversity and representation. And it wouldnt just have been Betsy Braddock fans. I'm sure Marvel would have gotten a lot of heat for it if it happened in 2019.

At first I was upset because the butterfly signature was in play way before body swap/Kwannon retcon/ninja days. But if there is an in story explanation it will be easier to take in my case. They shouldnt just act like everything is normal and not explain it.

That butterfly effect has more meaning to Betsy than it does to Kwannon because of all the changes she went through. The whole story arc that she went through isnt Kwannon's.
Kwannon was already an empathic ninja assassin. She didnt aspire or crave to be a ninja warrior. She already was one.

I dont even know if I'm explainging this right. So I'll drop the topic because its the direction X-editorial is going through with but they better have a damn good explanation on panel. That's all I want now.

[Frobisher]

Betsy was ballsy as hell in the 80s, from brain-toasting Kaptain Britain, ro letting the warpies live in Braddock Manor, to shoving everyone through the Siege Perilous, to skiing blind, to fighting Slaymaster and Sabretooth against all common sense. It's crap if they try to co-opt the butterfly motif to prop up Kwannon, who is frankly an absolute zero as a character so far. There are definitely a bunch of under-utilised East Asian characters like Mariko, Yukio, Xorn, et cetera who could use some more play.

[Psy-lock]

I absolutely despise the change. I don't see her becoming Captain Britain as an upgrade. Not at all. Psylocke is a more popular/iconic character than her brother. Has been for decades. When was the last time CB was treated with respect by Marvel or used in a major way? Mark my words, if this change sticks Betsy will either fade into obscurity or will become a completely different character from what she used to be. She already lost her codename, butterfly, psychic knife... What's next? Her status as an X-Man? Her status as a mutant? No, no, no. Burn it with fire and start over.

Ugh, Kwannon. Why did you have to exist, you stupid retcon?

[Havok83]

I absolutely despise the change. I don't see her becoming Captain Britain as an upgrade. Not at all. Psylocke is a more popular/iconic character than her brother. Has been for decades. When was the last time CB was treated with respect by Marvel or used in a major way? Mark my words, if this change sticks Betsy will either fade into obscurity or will become a completely different character from what she used to be. She already lost her codename, butterfly, psychic knife... What's next? Her status as an X-Man? Her status as a mutant? No, no, no. Burn it with fire and start over.

Ugh, Kwannon. What did you have to exist, you stupid retcon?

I think they are treating it like Carol as Captain Marvel. Ms. Marvel was way more popular nad iconic than Captain Marvel, but Marvel made the change anyway and pushed her as such in order to make the Captain Marvel be what modern fans associate her with.

[CGAR]

I actually dont have a problem with her being Captain Britain. And I do think it elevates her and gives her an opportunity to have interactions with various Marvel characters. Gives her a different presence in the Marvel Universe.

She still has otherworld connection, she still has Brian and Jamie as her brothers, etc

But certain things like being TK/TP/psycho blast/butterfly effect in my head are distinctly Betsy Braddocks. Other characters can have TP/TK but dont take it away from Betsy.

We don't actually know if she's going to be powered by the suit/amulet/sword

There are a lot of questions up in the air and I dont want to wait till October to find out. But it is what it is. Going with the flow.

[Psy-lock]

And that's when I lost any interest in Carol as a character. Though it was more about the poor writing than name change. But it's even worse in Betsy's case. At least Mar-Vell was long dead when Carol took over and "Ms Marvel" was always a derivative name, while "Psylocke" was not. And Kamala still has a unique look and powers, while Kwannon is pretty much Japanese Betsy.