Betsy Braddock: Psylocke Appreciation 2018

[Drey]

I'm glad you pointed this out. This is the part Claremont should have left out, and luckily most writers ignored it. If she was this kick ass fighter from Jump, why make her a ninja? Lol.

The Psi-Division at Strike were BARELY field agents. At best, they were remote viewers, interrogators, etc. Slaymaster SLAUGHTERED them. If these guys were badasses, the group would have demolished dude, just by sticking together.

They had a Clairvoyant/Telepath, Kevin Mulhearn
A Telekinetic, Tom Lennox.
A Pre-cog (With full control of her powers and Moderate Telepathy) Betsy
A full-fledged Telepath, Alison Double.
Limited Range Telepath, Vicki Reppion
Minor Telepaths, all the others he killed.

Hell Slaymaster was manhandling Brian for a bit lol.

Truth! Unfortunately, CC also retconned her psychic abilities as stronger than they originally were. When she met Tessa in the Hellfire Club she used a psi-blast against Tessa. Even though Tessa reflected it back easily, originally Psylocke didn't have that ability until after Tom Lennox died and she received training under Victoria Bentley.

*Betsy KO's 8 amored goons after they overpower Brian with one psi-blast*
Brian: "How...what did you do?"
Betsy: "I've grown Brian. Victoria showed me how to use Tom's death..."

As for Humphries, he went even further and retconned her past where his version had her telepathy fully manifesting at 16 years old. Originally, she was in her early 20s by the time she developed that ability.

[Tazirai]

Plus, let's be honest, right now they are highlighting the differences between the two bodies by coloring the hair different and having the outfit be pink. Once the dust settles, I'm sure artists will start rendering her more like her Asian body. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future her hair is darker purple and she ends up back in some kind of black bodysuit.

Pretty sure that's not going to happen. I don't know if you know how comics work. But Psylocke being drawn Caucasian is how she'll be in future issues unless a flashback. Marvel is very serious about representing races factually now. No matter how many want a sexy fake Asian woman, instead of a sexy white woman.

I feel like somewhere down the road they’ll retcon her to being at least half-Japanese. When she gets used in outside media (games and film) she will have an Asian body, and I think they’ll want her comic appearance to reflect that. Even in shows like Wolverine and the X-Men, she was just a regular telepath (seemingly not a ninja), but she was still Asian.

They will not.
That's even more problematic.

WATX came out 10 years ago when that is what she was in the books. She's changed. Marvel is very protective of their character. I think this change will decrease her chances of being used outside the books but if she is, she will have whatever appearance Marvel approves of. This British body will be in the games and future cartoons. Thats what makes the most sense

Exactly,
Like in Marvel heroes they made her white. In future fight she's white. In the others she's indistinct, but veering towards white.

The bolded section is sort of why I’m not happy with this change. Visually, in the comics, I don’t expect there to be much of a difference. I just expect some new story beats on that front.
I just feel like with the current push to increase racial diversity and inclusiveness in all media forms, reverting her to a Caucasian body will make her even less likely to see use over other telepaths like Jean and Emma. Obviously, I hope that’s not the case, but I feel like it will be.
If she sees usage in the MCU, I almost feel like it would be more problematic for her to not be portrayed by an Asian actress since that’s most casual fans recognize her (she’s been Asian longer than I’ve been alive).

Doesn't matter. When Captain Britain was announced Marvel had access to to whitelocke. Not the Asian Locke, casual fans are more familiar with Jubilee than Psylocke. Video game heads of a certain age might be more familiar with Psylocke. But her going white again has been in the works for awhile. Not just because of Zub. Like I said in Marvel Heroes, she got a visual update to whitelocke. They didn't need to do that.

Say goodbye to the sweet figurines they do for her in Japan.

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Why?

They can and will make the white one also.

People will still make figurines and art for the old body

Not only in the cartoon, but in nearly every alternate universe that she's appeared in, she's in an Asian body with only a few having her in a Caucasian one. Even in the movies they had her portrayed as Asian, with her actress being half Asian in X-Men Apocalypse. At the end of the day, that's her at her most recognizable.

I thought Munn was perfect for white. Psylocke for years. The I find out she's Hapa. I was cool either way. Times change man. Nick Fury was a. White dude longer than Psylocke has been fake Asian. They made him black, and bioth furies exist.

[Tazirai]

Truth! Unfortunately, CC also retconned her psychic abilities as stronger than they originally were. When she met Tessa in the Hellfire Club she used a psi-blast against Tessa. Even though Tessa reflected it back easily, originally Psylocke didn't have that ability until after Tom Lennox died and she received training under Victoria Bentley.

*Betsy KO's 8 amored goons after they overpower Brian with one psi-blast*
Brian: "How...what did you do?"
Betsy: "I've grown Brian. Victoria showed me how to use Tom's death..."

As for Humphries, he went even further and retconned her past where his version had her telepathy fully manifesting at 16 years old. Originally, she was in her early 20s by the time she developed that ability.

Yeah. Which was dumb, because she only became a mutant when she came stateside. Glad people ignore 90% of Humphries changes. Yep, she was 26 when they fully blossomed.

[The_Greatest_Username]

They will not.
That's even more problematic.

How so? Race bending is a very popular thing for white characters right now (see the response to Iron Fist being cast as a white man).

Exactly,
Like in Marvel heroes they made her white. In future fight she's white. In the others she's indistinct, but veering towards white.
.

Psylocke was Asian in Marvel Heroes. They even gave her that unfortunate “Lady Mandarin” costume and in their last update before shutting down she got a samurai inspired Horseman of Apocalypse costume. She’s also clearly Asian in the Future Fight game.
She also just received new merchandise this year in her Asian appearance.

[Triniking1234]

Was that Iron Fist comment saracasm? I couldn't tell.

[Psyknight]

Plus, let's be honest, right now they are highlighting the differences between the two bodies by coloring the hair different and having the outfit be pink. Once the dust settles, I'm sure artists will start rendering her more like her Asian body. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future her hair is darker purple and she ends up back in some kind of black bodysuit.

Agreed on the darker purple hair. For most of her original body’s existence she was depicted with darker purple hair anyways. I certainly hope that after a while, she’ll switch to a costume that’s broadly similar to the darker and sleeker kind of costumes she’s been wearing for the past 5 years. Maybe she’ll even get a variation of the Lee costume. I’ll laugh when I see people’s reactions to that.

I feel like somewhere down the road they’ll retcon her to being at least half-Japanese. When she gets used in outside media (games and film) she will have an Asian body, and I think they’ll want her comic appearance to reflect that. Even in shows like Wolverine and the X-Men, she was just a regular telepath (seemingly not a ninja), but she was still Asian.

I doubt they’ll retcon her as half Japanese in the comics. I could see her being half Japanese in the movies.

[sublimeclown]

Pretty sure that's not going to happen. I don't know if you know how comics work. But Psylocke being drawn Caucasian is how she'll be in future issues unless a flashback. Marvel is very serious about representing races factually now. No matter how many want a sexy fake Asian woman, instead of a sexy white woman.

I didn't mean that she will look Asian in the future (I'm sure she will still look white). I meant that it's likely the hair color and the costume will not stick and she'll look more like the Psylocke we have grown to love. Most artists barely draw her looking distinctly Asian as it is.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

I'd be interested to see what her copyright paperwork looks like. Like how does Marvel protect the image of a character like her when she bounces between the two images? Or is her legal image far more generic?

[The_Greatest_Username]

Was that Iron Fist comment saracasm? I couldn't tell.

No. There was backlash against Marvel for casting a white actor for Iron Fist when they could have (and probably should have) cast an Asian actor. There’s an expectation now for Marvel to be inclusive in their casting when possible.

Similarly, if we see Psylocke join the MCU, I’d expect most fans would want Marvel to cast as an Asian actress instead of a white one.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

No. There was backlash against Marvel for casting a white actor for Iron Fist when they could have (and probably should have) cast an Asian actor. There’s an expectation now for Marvel to be inclusive in their casting when possible.

Similarly, if we see Psylocke join the MCU, I’d expect most fans would want Marvel to cast as an Asian actress instead of a white one.

or Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. Crazy Rich Asians is the first film in 25 years with an Asian cast. Asian people are seriously under represented.

[Infernal-Ginger]

Have they released a High Quality Madripoor #4 variant cover without the UPC barcode?

[Triniking1234]

First Hollywood film in 25 years.

No. There was backlash against Marvel for casting a white actor for Iron Fist when they could have (and probably should have) cast an Asian actor. There’s an expectation now for Marvel to be inclusive in their casting when possible.

But Danny Rand was always a blonde Caucasian dude and him looking different from the other K'un Lun was part of his struggle to be accepted as Iron Fist (unlike Colleen Wing). The complainers obviously didn't read the stories.

[The_Greatest_Username]

But Danny Rand was always a blonde Caucasian dude and him looking different from the other K'un Lun was part of his struggle to be accepted as Iron Fist (unlike Colleen Wing). The complainers obviously didn't read the stories.

I’m not going to argue their points since it’s irrelevant to the thread. I only brought it up because there were complaints.

[Selene]

Ironically,they cast a Eurasian actress as Elektra.

[Triniking1234]

That isn't ironic since the comic version is Eurasian too.