EXCALIBUR [11] : Blood of the Changeling Review and Spoilers

[Ferro]

I wonder if she's become less popular since the change to an English body, so far she's been stuck in a satellite book and not really done much of anything and been excluded from most of what is going on in the X-verse, that could change with the big crossover, or she could just be used because she has a sword...

this book is the main corner stone for a 22 issue crossover where betsy is on every other cover, what are you talking about? Excalibur IS WHATS HAPPENING in the x verse.

we literaly had a direct reference to the siege perilous in this issue, wich was a remarked improvement in character voices, that betsy tends to manipulated her teammates to put them in a safe position while she jumps into danger, she has been the one most prone to violence in this mini beheading warwolves with no issue, threatning jaime and apocalypse, only becuase a book lacks in an aspect doesnt mean her characterization is gone, its not activly changing or ruining anything by being mediocre.

the butterfly will return in time (it pratically returned in issue 10 when she psy blasted jaime, it was praticaly a butterfly crown) , because SHE ALSO LOST IT ON THE ASIAN BODY FOR YEARS, give it a rest on the non stop nit picking about power sigantures that have a long history of inconsistency.

betsy has never been given this much exposure in an x-men storyline.
Theres an enourmous difrence betwen " this story is sorta missing some marks" and " this story goes out of its way to retcon and erase past elements and replace them with new".

[Ferro]

Also dont wanna be condescending but its prety obvious how rictor becomes an external, we had an entire flashback showing the power of an eternal can be extracted into something, two mystical priestess showing a power source born from blood spilled on the earth.

2 + 2 : apocalypse kills the externals to empower rictor.

[WallStreeter]

this book is the main corner stone for a 22 issue crossover where betsy is on every other cover, what are you talking about? Excalibur IS WHATS HAPPENING in the x verse.

we literaly had a direct reference to the siege perilous in this issue, wich was a remarked improvement in character voices, that betsy tends to manipulated her teammates to put them in a safe position while she jumps into danger, she has been the one most prone to violence in this mini beheading warwolves with no issue, threatning jaime and apocalypse, only becuase a book lacks in an aspect doesnt mean her characterization is gone, its not activly changing or ruining anything by being mediocre.

the butterfly will return in time (it pratically returned in issue 10 when she psy blasted jaime, it was praticaly a butterfly crown) , because SHE ALSO LOST IT ON THE ASIAN BODY FOR YEARS, give it a rest on the non stop nit picking about power sigantures that have a long history of inconsistency.

betsy has never been given this much exposure in an x-men storyline.
Theres an enourmous difrence betwen " this story is sorta missing some marks" and " this story goes out of its way to retcon and erase past elements and replace them with new".

He is upset because she is no longer in the Asian body and because Kwannon got her body back and is now Psylocke and has telepathic and telekinetic powers. I personally love this change. If he doesn’t like it he is entitled to his opinion, as I am mine and you are yours.

[Ferro]

He is upset because she is no longer in the Asian body and because Kwannon got her body back and is now Psylocke and has telepathic and telekinetic powers. I personally love this change. If he doesn’t like it he is entitled to his opinion, as I am mine and you are yours.

im not a fan of missing the butterfly, but kwannon isnt using it in a similar capacity either, while it anoys me fans have been very clear about their opinions and so have fanartists even, the butterfly signature is writen in claremont blessed continuity and her current power signature is already edging closer to that anyways, its a matter of time and not something to stress over.

criticisms are fine and deserved of Howard and this tile that hasnt been anywhere near outstanding, but reacting in this fatalistic matter that betsy braddock will disapear into obscurity because of a mediocre voice is just too much in my opinion and brings down the mood when this issue was a remarked improvement and it has been getting better for 3 issues now and know from the previews this event is LATCHED into captain brittain lore.

[WallStreeter]

[

Betsy was an English woman who literally possessed the body of an Asian woman, unwillingly, and it's not about pretending she's wearing an Asian woman's body. This eerily mirrors a plot point in the recent Ghost in a Steel movie which caused a massive uproar and that was a multiple million dollar film. This ins't about how a single person feels, it's about the audience in its entirety, and that plots like this aren't as tolerated as before. That's progress. She's been in Kwannon's body longer rather many X-fans have been alive. It's something the X-men should have fixed years ago, instead of normalising it like nothing happened in the comic books.



Her being in Kwannon's body wouldn't have really changed anything, she'd still be written in Excalibur by Tini she'd just not be Captain Britain any longer. But that form wasn't the real Betsy, that was a merge of Betsy and Kwannon. This was the real Betsy:



She may have lost her butterfly motif but that's because that became synonymous with Kwannon's form, not her own. Continuity moved on.



Except she didn't simply have a random Asian body, it was a person - not a meat puppet. The concept is a problem, it's bad no matter what writers did it.

You’re totally right. What Marvel did I’m having a white woman possessing an Asian woman became politically unacceptable. Therefore Betsy was out back in her English body and reconnected to her English background and family. Kwannon, as the new Psylocke was made an actual person and not just a device to explain why a white woman became Asian.

The corporation did this for its overall needs and what mass audiences would like today. Individually, LoganAlpha will not be able to accept any explanation on this, so don’t waste your time. He’s emotionally invested on what he likes staying the way it is.

[superjosh]

Betsy and Kwannon need to stay in their current bodies. Period(T).

I can see people not feeling like Betsy is still the same Betsy, but I think the writers are just trying to give a little space for Kwannon to exist for a while. Right now, Betsy as Captain Britain doesn't totally need to use her ninja skills or butterfly projection while on this fantastical Otherworld mission, but I'll bet you anything that she still has them and eventually she'll use them again.

Have you guys gone on the likeabutterfly Betsy fan-site? Some of the comments there (and some here too) are just flat out despicable, teetering deathly close to just blatant racism. They've been blaming Kwannon like she's a real person... a mean Asian lady who's ruining everything and the character assassination of the great Betsy Braddock is unlike anything history has seen before.

[Psyknight]

Which of the two parts in my speculation are you refering to?

If you mean the bit about Psylocke in the MCU.

First of all, the way it looks to me, nothing about the X-men in the upcomming marvel movies is known or clear yet. All we can do is guess and speculate. Which becomes especialy difficult with the way the MCU was created and handles things.

On one hand they are rather free in how they interpret or use characters and stories from the comics, but on the other hand they also have a tendency to put in details or references to the comics which show an awareness for the source material.

For example, who will be the first mutant to appear in an MCU movie?
It could be Polaris. Appearing in a dramatic last 5 minute scene in Wanda Vision.
It could be Iceman and Firestar. Being introduced as new students in Peter Parker's class.
It could be Maggot. Having a 30 second appearance in Black Panter 2 as a South African bomb disposale expert.
All because the director thought it would be fitting to have that character for that scene and the people in charge at Marvel Studios didn't object.

So i have to say that what i wrote regarding Psylocke in the MCU might end up entirely wrong.

However, i figure she has a good chance to be among the earlier X-men characters to be introduced in the marvel movies. There is a certain mainstream awareness of her allready and she has various elements (backstory, powers, skills) which could fit into different stories they might plan with the mutant characters.
But said popular image involves her being of east asian appearance. Which increases the chances of them going for an actress that looks the part.

And if they ever introduce Brain Braddock, Excalibur and co. they could just go with her being the half sister or flat out adopted. Cutting the Gordian Knot.

If you mean the Comic version being re-adapted into having an asian body, because the movie version might have.

The comics always had a tendency to adopt elements of the movies, often to try to capitalize on their success. Even more so since the MCU became such a hit. So if movie Betsy Braddock is asian looking and becomes popular that way again too, the comics will very likely re-adopt her appearance quickly. (Perhaps by having both her and Kwanon just fuse permanently for example.)

Because that's a repeating pattern in the history of the comicbook business. Follow the lead, in the hope that it leads to better sales.

However what i meant with that part in general, was that i consider the X-men's future usage in the MCU to be quite a damocles sword hanging over any changes or status quo currently happening in the comics. Including Betsy's current re-established identity.
Because as the past has shown, they will have quite an impact on the comic version. What ever we like it or not.

Which is also why i highly doubt anything of the current Krakoa status quo will make it into the movie versions.

Again i could end up entirely wrong, at which point i will eat my own words with a nice salad on the side.

I was referring to the likelihood that the MCU establishes her as a British person with an Asian ethnicity. It’s a pretty reasonable idea, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think Marvel put her back in her original body because they plan on her being white in the movies. That’s just my suspicion.

Right now, Betsy as Captain Britain doesn't totally need to use her ninja skills or butterfly projection while on this fantastical Otherworld mission, but I'll bet you anything that she still has them and eventually she'll use them again.

Her not needing to use her ninja skills while being Captain Britain does make a lot of sense that’s why i’m not bothered by their current abscence.

[superjosh]

I was referring to the likelihood that the MCU establishes her as a British person with an Asian ethnicity. It’s a pretty reasonable idea, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think Marvel put her back in her original body because they plan on her being white in the movies. That’s just my suspicion.

I think first and foremost they did it because they knew eventually they'd be called out if they did not. And I'm very much glad they finally did it. You could be on to something about them planning ahead for the movies. I really doubt she's going to make it into any MCU X-Men proper movie because her character just doesn't seem like one they'd prioritize. But then I remembered rumors that they wanted to develop a Captain Britain movie, and that's definitely where all the British characters are going to show up.

Her not needing to use her ninja skills while being Captain Britain does make a lot of sense that’s why i’m not bothered by their current abscence.

Honestly, I don't think anyone needs to worry. The fact that she uses a sword already shows she has her fighting skills. Pre-mindswap Betsy didn't have these skills.

[Devaishwarya]

I only just realised that the fire image on the cover is in the form of a dragon.

[Dementia5]

I only just realised that the fire image on the cover is in the form of a dragon.

I only just realized that you’re right. Prone on the ground, wings out.

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[Devaishwarya]

Yupp. Asrar is good.

[MentalManipulator]

I am very happy on having Kwannon and Betsy back on their original bodies and as X-Men at the same time. I feel like two chances of aspects I loved about Psylocke.

[MetalPsyc]

This issue is an improvement over the last several issues.
Too bad the book is very plot driven. There're some character moments here and there but none of them had an (huge) impact.

Betsy being Captain Britain does nothing to her. At least for the moment. But I kinda blame the writer and Marvel in general not defining her clearly, especially concerning her power.
Is she highly durable like Brian? What's the point of her shield or sword? She coul've created a bigger shield to cover the team, what's with her small-a** shiled for? And she rarely cut things with the sword. They just look like accessories to me. She's not creatively using her telepathy like in current years (UXF, UXM).

Let's see how X-of Swords will play out and her role in it. I hope we will see Betsy being written by other writers in that X-event.