I am hoping that at least it's Saphire Styx's body because at least that would present new story opportunities.
It would mean that in essence she stole Styx's body...funny how that works...
Though now is she white, or a mix herself...or even Asian as some have surmised...
If she's in Styx's body then it's because Styx killed her and Betsy is just returning the favor. And in this case she would be putting her own face on it instead of wearing someone else's.
In this scenario she would have a lot more agency and dignity. Instead of it being something that happened to her against her will.
Again I am okay with it if it's for story reasons. I just think this is being done for PC reasons which is something else. Styx is as bad as Kwannon who was an assassin. If she's in Styx's body presumably she would have Styx's face too. I would prefer that. She could run afoul of people Styx hurt in the past.
Not sure that choice automatically makes a character better either.
I'm happy I wasn't met with an outright NO :-)
The whole deal with Psylocke is her APPROPRIATION of an Asian body. It's an exchange that is seemingly free of all consequences, and THAT's the real sin here. Kwannon is barely a character, she's an afterthought. If Betsy Braddock showed any kind of discomfort or sorrow or curiosity about her body and the life it once held, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Instead, we're talking about branded apparel and video game appearances, because THAT is all Psylocke, whether British, Asian, armored, or thonged, is really worth.
Worth is the conversation we should be having, because it'll show whether we're fans of her story, or merely fans of her appearance.
So we're here, with Betsy in Kwannon's body, and Kwannon dead --along with Betsy's body. And it's icky because of cultural appropriation... but also pubescent fetishization and just bad writing. And now more writers are seemingly "fixing" the situation by putting the British lady in a Caucasian body. I'm leaning toward this being just more bad writing... because I don't see anyone, fans or creators, wondering what happens to Kwannon's body. Kwannon, who's only worth was her body, is being lead to become a mere footnote in the X-Men's history.
I say, bring back Kwannon's mind. Give her the chance to BE a character of worth. Show her be her own woman, and how she and Betsy might agree to become something stronger together.
It makes for better character development. In the past she has had to passively accept that her body was radically altered without her consent, it was something that was done to her that she just had to adjust to. She's had the opportunity to go back from villains like Cassandra Nova, Madelyne Pryor or Jamie Braddock and refused them because of the strings attached.
But if she were to take an active role in recovering her original body, or even a simulacrum created out of Sapphire Styx, it would be different. It would be her actions and her decisions driving this outcome
My recollection of the original story which introduced Revanche is that Kwannon and Psylocke were blended together. When Revanche died Psylocke still had Kwannon aspects. She just focused on the Betsy personality which was more heroic than Kwannon who was an assassin for lord Nyorin. But Psylocke has now been an assassin in X-Force. I think they essentially merged into the remaining body.
I do understand what your saying. I think an interesting development can come about when a character doesn't have agency. I watched this recently and I think it explained it well. It's about video games but I think what she is saying goes for any media when it comes to a well developed character.
It happened so many years ago. People are now angry about Psylocke being in an Asian body? I hate the thought of her being changed back.
I'm really happy this is finally happening. This change has been a long time coming for her character. Hopefully there will be some good stories to come out of this.
You know, it’s worth noting that over in Astonishing X-Men that they brought back Professor X by having him take over Fantomex’s body which, still feels strange and kinda creepy, especially since he essentially used the body of a known character for raw material to recreate his own.
Also it feels kinda odd that people talk about Betsy being in an Asian body but nobody said anything when they brought Maddie back and placed her into the body of Ana Cortes, a Mexican Woman back in Wood’s run on X-Men.