"Uncanny X-Men's" Bunn Addresses Psylocke's Racial Identity

[WallStreeter]

Sorry you feel that way. She can keep everything. Just lose the racial crap. Even if people who dislike Kwannon will still dislike her. She should be the asian cultural, physical, and sadly stereotypical aspect of Psylocke. Let Betsy Braddock be who she was born as, correct the race stuff, and keep her fighting skills and abilities. It's really not that hard.

No because the vast majority of people identify her by the way she physically looks and has looked for the past 25 years. She's appear in many comics, some cartoons, and video games and now got her first major film part.

They will not drop her ninja look.

I concede that when Claremont decided to make Psylocke a physical fighter he did not need to change her race. But he did, and it's been 25 years and that is how she is identified.

[reptarcereal]

Why do you guys think if she goes back to her original body she wouldn't still be a ninja?

Kwannon was still a ninja in Psylocke's white body. Psylocke was still a ninja when the Sisterhood put her back in her real body, she could still manifest a psyknife and physically fought Wolverine.

I'd love for her to go back to her REAL body AND still be a ninja.

The idea that she's in some throwaway character's body rubs me the wrong way.

[Hariel0079]

Eh!?

Betsy is british, the Asian body is fine. I see it as a punishment/as the price she paid, nothing more or less plus it adds to the fact how magic plays in ties to her family history. Just don't take away her culture which is a aristocratic british woman who happens to not mind getting her hands dirty.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

You'd have to know about the whole Kwannon vs Revanche saga to even know that Betsy wasn't in her original body, the Asian body now is her REAL body...

And ZNOP, I only meant that most of the British characters in Marvel that I can remember all look pretty much the same and Betsy doesn't.

[Tazirai]

I too would have no interest in Psylocke without the ninja aspect. Her looks and her ninja aspects (including the psychic knife and psychic katana define her).

And blond British Psylocke was a stereotype too. She was the second girl girl blond telepath created by Claremont (he created Emma Frost). Claremont had created a lot of women who had some degree of telepathic power (add Karma and Moonstar to this). These women had no defense against physical attacks should someone be able to resist their psychic powers.

I think writers including Claremont himself had problems with the limited utility of these women. So Psylocke became a ninja and gained physical fighting skills while Emma Frost got a superstrong diamond form. Psylocke later got tk added to the mix and became an even better physical fighter.

We'll never see British Betsy back because she was physically too useless. She was the only X-Man to ever have to wear armor.

Take a look at other tp/tks.

Jean Grey, even Jeen has basic fighting skills. And of course with her tk she can fight offensively and defend herself.

Monet is superstrong, flies, durable, and has tp/tk.

Emma Frost and her Cuckoos have their superstrong diamond forms.

Rachel like Jean has both tp and tk. Rachel's a pretty good physical fighter. Not Psylocke good but she is good enough.

There's no place for a female psychic on the team who can't fight when all the others can.

Your arguments show lack of knowledge.
ALL X-men wear body armour.
If you think someone is useless because they wear armor, that argument is silly.
How many super heroes wear armour? A LOT! Batman, Black knight, Everybody who hangs with Batman. X-men uniforms are armored. Gambits costume is armored. Hulk Wears armor, Thor does.
Why do I have to keep repeating this?
Armor doesn't make you useless. Bad writers do. I wore armor in the military, pretty sure I can still kick somebodies ass.
You know what armor does?
It stops Sabretooth from gutting you.
Vargas from KILLING you.
Bishop from breaking your arm.
Roue punching your lights out.
Cortez from knocking you stupid and making your powers go bonkers.
Lady Mandarin wore armor and she could fight.
Why does wearing armor make you a wimp?
Did you hate that her armour actually looked like armour? Possibly because of her English roots?
The Guardians of the Galaxy all wear armor, you know why? It stops bad things from happening to you.
You can wear sexy armor. Look at Angela and Gamora. It seems your issue is that women shouldn't be able protect themselves without being half naked?

Also Herbe Trimpe created Psylocke. Claremont gave her the name.

Also your fighting argument is false. How many X-men male or female actually get into physical fights? If everyone on the team is an amazing fighter isn't that the same as being the same TP/TK?
Wheres the diversity of strength and weaknesses. Not saying she should not go back to being a non combatant. But if the entire team fights like "Ninjas" Then wheres the diversity in skillset?

You seem to want sameness instead of true diversity of talents. Psylocke has Never been the average Telepath. Problem is she came in after Jean, so people wanted something they thought was better than a second rate jean.

Does EVERYBODY in the book need to be a Ninja? You do realize there are people that can beat Ninja right? Boxers, Muy Thai fighters, etc. If all it took for her to be unstoppable was becoming a Ninja, why does she lose so often?
She loses more fights now as a Ninja than when she couldn't. I still love her.

No because the vast majority of people identify her by the way she physically looks and has looked for the past 25 years. She's appear in many comics, some cartoons, and video games and now got her first major film part.

They will not drop her ninja look.

I concede that when Claremont decided to make Psylocke a physical fighter he did not need to change her race. But he did, and it's been 25 years and that is how she is identified.

Says you. You cannot say what they will or will not do.
How many people would have ever thought they'd make an alternate Johnny Storm Black?
How many people would have ever thought that the Alternate universe Nick Fury would ever be a black man, and be more popular?
How many people would have thought that Captain America would be replaced by a Blackguy?

But you know what they all have in common?

They didn't kill or steal the person they replaced with racial appropriation.

Why can't Kwannon get that same treatement?

[Tazirai]

Why do you guys think if she goes back to her original body she wouldn't still be a ninja?

Kwannon was still a ninja in Psylocke's white body. Psylocke was still a ninja when the Sisterhood put her back in her real body, she could still manifest a psyknife and physically fought Wolverine.

I'd love for her to go back to her REAL body AND still be a ninja.

The idea that she's in some throwaway character's body rubs me the wrong way.

Some prefer the Asian body because of fetish things, and half naked Jim Lee costumery. She can go back and still be an amazing fighter, AND wear pants.

[reptarcereal]

Spurrier summed it up pretty well.. Psylocke is essentially a parasite in someone else's body.

[dragonmp93]

Your arguments show lack of knowledge.
ALL X-men wear body armour.
If you think someone is useless because they wear armor, that argument is silly.
How many super heroes wear armour? A LOT! Batman, Black knight, Everybody who hangs with Batman. X-men uniforms are armored. Gambits costume is armored. Hulk Wears armor, Thor does.
Why do I have to keep repeating this?
Armor doesn't make you useless. Bad writers do. I wore armor in the military, pretty sure I can still kick somebodies ass.
You know what armor does?
It stops Sabretooth from gutting you.
Vargas from KILLING you.
Bishop from breaking your arm.
Roue punching your lights out.
Cortez from knocking you stupid and making your powers go bonkers.
Lady Mandarin wore armor and she could fight.
Why does wearing armor make you a wimp?
Did you hate that her armour actually looked like armour? Possibly because of her English roots?
The Guardians of the Galaxy all wear armor, you know why? It stops bad things from happening to you.
You can wear sexy armor. Look at Angela and Gamora. It seems your issue is that women shouldn't be able protect themselves without being half naked?

Also Herbe Trimpe created Psylocke. Claremont gave her the name.

Also your fighting argument is false. How many X-men male or female actually get into physical fights? If everyone on the team is an amazing fighter isn't that the same as being the same TP/TK?
Wheres the diversity of strength and weaknesses. Not saying she should not go back to being a non combatant. But if the entire team fights like "Ninjas" Then wheres the diversity in skillset?

You seem to want sameness instead of true diversity of talents. Psylocke has Never been the average Telepath. Problem is she came in after Jean, so people wanted something they thought was better than a second rate jean.

Does EVERYBODY in the book need to be a Ninja? You do realize there are people that can beat Ninja right? Boxers, Muy Thai fighters, etc. If all it took for her to be unstoppable was becoming a Ninja, why does she lose so often?
She loses more fights now as a Ninja than when she couldn't. I still love her.



Says you. You cannot say what they will or will not do.
How many people would have ever thought they'd make an alternate Johnny Storm Black?
How many people would have ever thought that the Alternate universe Nick Fury would ever be a black man, and be more popular?
How many people would have thought that Captain America would be replaced by a Blackguy?

But you know what they all have in common?

They didn't kill or steal the person they replaced with racial appropriation.

Why can't Kwannon get that same treatement?

Well, Steve Rogers and Nick Fury lost their serum, and now they are old and a little crazy; besides, that one of them is the new Watcher and the other is in team that is run with Deadpool's money.

[ZNOP]

Spurrier summed it up pretty well.. Psylocke is essentially a parasite in someone else's body.

Well, that would partially explain how she managed to defeat the Shadow king...



Betsy was clearly the younger and hungrier parasite at the time!



Psi-War

[MetalPsyc]

Spurrier summed it up pretty well.. Psylocke is essentially a parasite in someone else's body.

It's not even Kwannon's body anymore. That "Asian" body also has Betsy's original body DNA imprinted in it. Also, Betsy's (not-so) original body has been destroyed.
And oh... Jamie gave her the current body.

[ZNOP]

It's not even Kwannon's body anymore. That "Asian" body also has Betsy's original body DNA imprinted in it. Also, Betsy's (not-so) original body has been destroyed.
And oh... Jamie gave her the current body.

So... Jamie, instead of providing Elizabeth with a duplicate of her "white body" -- which (and, ironically) also had that "Asian" body's DNA equally imprinted on it -- remember, Spiral had secretly manipulated the genetic coding between Kwannon and Betsy, thus making both women actually one and the same --

-- he decided to recreate Kwannon's (ninja school girl) Japanese body over Betsy's (fashion model) British body, instead!?!

[The Fury]

-- he decided to recreate Kwannon's (ninja school girl) Japanese body over Betsy's (fashion model) British body, instead!?!

All hail the editoral/branding gods!

[just another user]

Eh!?

Betsy is british, the Asian body is fine. I see it as a punishment/as the price she paid, nothing more or less plus it adds to the fact how magic plays in ties to her family history. Just don't take away her culture which is a aristocratic british woman who happens to not mind getting her hands dirty.

The Asian body is a punishment?! You can see why that might be racially problematic surely?

[Hariel0079]

The Asian body is a punishment?! You can see why that might be racially problematic surely?

And surely you understand the process of the Perilous seige and Betsy wanting to be a warrior and the price she's paid right?

This isn't rocket science and assuming and making accusations that I'm not saying.

She's in an Asian body, but she isn't asian she's brittish. The racial ideal here if they ignored that she's british and made her asian through and through. (from mentally, culturally, etc..)

[Hariel0079]

So... Jamie, instead of providing Elizabeth with a duplicate of her "white body" -- which (and, ironically) also had that "Asian" body's DNA equally imprinted on it -- remember, Spiral had secretly manipulated the genetic coding between Kwannon and Betsy, thus making both women actually one and the same --


-- he decided to recreate Kwannon's (ninja school girl) Japanese body over Betsy's (fashion model) British body, instead!?!

All jamie did was bring her back in an asian body that he modified. It's also hinted the reason he did it was that betsy had a liking to it (keep in mind that was CC last run of UXM, I didn't like that explination at all)