Bryan Singer announced Olivia Munn will play Betsy Braddock in X-Men: Apocalypse. The star of The Newsroom, Magic Mike has a resume packed with fanboy and girl geek cred including Attack of the Show, Chuck.
Who is Psylocke?
Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock was the sister of Captain Britain and a mutant precognitive and telepath created by Chris Claremont as part of the Marvel UK line then brought into the X-Men. Abducted into the Mojoverse, Betsy was given bionic eyes by the sorceress Spiral and first received the code-name Psylocke. The New Mutants rescued Betsy and she became part of the X-Men family leading up to her first big showdown.
With Munn’s heritage she could play either the purple haired, proper telepath or the lethal psychic ninja. Which will she portray?
Betsy’s evolution is tied to four big fights in X-Men history:
Psylocke vs. Sabretooth, Round One
Back when Betsy was still a British woman, unsure of how to use her telepathic powers (artistically it appeared as a purple butterfly effect) and still new to the Xavier mansion, she faced the savage Sabretooth. Betsy faced her fear of Victor Creed’s pure evil in his mind and played a dangerous game of cat and mouse. While Creed taunted and stalked her, Betsy was getting past his psychic defenses to probe his mind and uncover the plans of his fellow kill squad, The Marauders. Wolverine and Storm ultimately saved her from what would have been a vicious attack, but Betsy proved her courage in a deadly game with Creed.
Psylocke vs. Wolverine (aka from British noblewoman to Asian psychic ninja?)
When Betsy went through the Siege Perilous (a dimensional portal) she emerged a new woman…literally. Betsy was found by The Hand and her mind was merged (again Spiral’s power) with a body of Kwannon, the Hand leader’s dead lover. Psylocke was now in the body of a ninja with incredible martial arts skills while keeping her mutant telepathic abilities. Taking the name Lady Mandarin, Psylocke became The Hand’s chief assassin and focused her mental power into a “psychic knife,” which she used in a brutal showdown with Wolverine. The attack on Wolverine opened up his memories of her and she broke her Hand conditioning.
Psylocke vs. Sabretooth, Round Two
The rematch between Betsy and Victor had a very different ending. Creed had been living in the mansion as Xavier’s “patient” but he was playing them the whole time. When Victor got loose, only Psylocke was there to try and stop him from killing students and escaping. Betsy was gutted, but thanks to Archangel, Doctor Strange and the Crimson Dawn – she was saved by a mystical potion that gave her new powers, a red face tattoo, a colder personality and an ability to blend with shadows.
Psylocke vs. Archangel
Betsy, Warren, Deadpool and Fantomex were recruited by Wolverine to reform this covert team with one mission: kill the reborn Apocalypse. Betsy used her telepathy to help control Warren’s Archangel persona but ultimately was forced to make a terrible sacrifice to stop Apocalypse and Archangel.
Betsy’s transition from British telepath to Asian psi ninja may leave some fans scratching their heads but there’s no denying the evolution of Psylocke into a formidable team leader, even running her own X-Force and is currently co-leading the all-female X-Men team with Storm in comics, not to mention her tragic and often twisted romances with Archangel and Fantomex.
The addition of Psylocke inspires a legion of possibilities given the other elements of the film. A X-Force spinoff film is in development. With Betsy, Archangel and Wolverine in the film fighting Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) plus a Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) film also coming in 2016 – could Fox and Bryan Singer be setting the stage for an Uncanny X-Force film based on Rick Remender’s epic run, The Apocalypse Solution? All we need now is Fantomex, who has ties to the Weapon X program.
Hugh Jackman’s swan song as Wolverine could be leading his own covert team.
X-Men:Apocalypse opens in May 2016.
By Editor