Alas Illyana the Gold (Goldchilde?), we were just getting used to you...
Any guesses on how MAGIK regresses for FROM THE ASHES era look?
Will she get Limbo back?
Just cosmetic changes?
No explanation, just go with it?
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YES Capes. YES Masks. YES Secret Identities.
She should just brush it off as a fashion choice, Rachel-style:
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I fear there will be no explanation at all.
What needs to happen at some point is she needs to confront the character flaws that led her to give up rulership of Limbo in the first place. The way Vita depicted it, the only reason was that it's not 'healthy' for Illyana to remain so tied to the place that's the source of all her traumas, and that doesn't work in superhero stories. In order to work, giving up Limbo had to be a sacrifice, something that was actually the responsible decision for everyone. Duggan made it even worse by depicting as just having been 'bored' with ruling Limbo and never once questioning her decision even as Maddie turned New York into a people-eating hellscape again. There needs to be a moment where she confronts the selfishness of her decision and how she was essentially running away from her responsibility. The fact that there was never a single scene where Illyana confronted Maddie about her betrayal in Dark Web is absurd.
Ultimately, the character development Illyana's magical girl transformation and new costume were supposed to represent was hollow and unearned because of the selfish and irresponsible way she was written by Vita and Duggan. So it's easy for Marvel to either pretend it never happened or retcon it away. It's a sad state of affairs if the response is to regress her rather than just fix the problem by having a story that finally does what Labor of Magik and Dark Web should have done in the first place, but regressing characters is modern Marvel in a nutshell.
I wish there was a canon explanation for the Buster Sword bc that is not the Soul Sword. It may look cool but to change something that was so iconic to Ilyana with no given reason was a travesty
Illyana SOULSWORD Appreciation.
Illyana's soulsword has come in many forms. Some are pictured here. What's YOUR favorite?
The much maligned NEW MUTANTS movie had an interesting compromise between the metallic sword and the anime energy sword...
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YES Capes. YES Masks. YES Secret Identities.
I like the top left blue one It's hefty but not gigantic.
The giant Berserk sword is my favourite because it's so ridiculous.
The light blue energy one. It's a useful balance between "useful sword" and "psychic lightsaber".
Speaking of which... I wonder if anyone still remembers the Two Soulswords Theory I came up with a quarter-century ago...
Also agree on the top blue one. The soul sword works best when it's something that can be used with finesse, like a normal sword or a lightsaber. The giant bust sword can only be used like a giant club and doesn't work for that reason.
The Giant one and the gold one I liked BUT this is my faveScreen Shot 2024-04-14 at 12.41.08 AM.jpg
I have a feeling her huge sword was inspired by Final Fantasy.
Cloud.