Olivia Munn who played psylock is of white european and asian decent (mix raced) so she is kinda is a good balance for on screen representation

Psylocke is what I think of when I think "because comics".

I think it turned out ok now that both Betsy and Kwannon get to remain as X-Men, and Kwannon even got to keep the Psylocke name.

White, Asian, whatever. I think the only thing I can agree on is THICC

> Every other media outlet: Venom facts, trivia, reviews. > Comic Drake: Let's talk about the ninja ass-ass-in of the X-Men. Man I love this channel!

I don't really mind the change since it kinda restores something lost about her character, but it does suck that we have one less Asian superhero in comics.

1:48 Daredevil you have some competition

6:55 fighting style=muscle memory and it has been shown in Marvel and DC that when you loose your memory’s you can still speak ANY language you use to know (Bucky or Wolverine for example)

"Kinda like that time when the Punisher became black." Wait, what? Comics be weird, yo.

I loved her BUTTERFLY effect when she reared her MENTALITY. Awesomeness!

Well ... I don't like starting a sentence like this ... but, speaking as an Asian, I don't feel like I've been robbed of representation in this case. She was originally British, and the fact that she was changed to Japanese later does not make her feel like she is a good example of Asian representation. She is literally a white person wearing an Asian skin, so that part of her identity almost plays no impact on her as a character, and I personally don't really care for representation that is forced and ultimately meaningless for a character. However I do recognise that for a lot of Asian people born in western cultures, that a lot of them don't really feel that connected to their parents' country of origin, I speak for myself and a few of my friends in this case as I am an Australian born Vietnamese and know a few others with similar backgrounds to mine. I do identify as Asian, but put me on the spot and ask me anything about Vietnam, and I'd be giving you a blank stare in response. This is a weird case in comic books and I will admit I'm not the biggest X-men comic book reader, so all this is actually pretty new information for me. If you had not informed me of her original character backstory, I might of been singing a different tune, but knowing that she was originally British and white actually puts a different spin on it for me. I don't feel like there's one less Asian character in Marvel now, because simply put, she was never Asian to begin with. If this situation had been reversed and there was an Asian character walking around as a Caucasian for years and suddenly reverted back to Asian, I wouldn't think of that character as a white person regardless of how long they were white. At least that's my two cents on the matter. I obviously don't speak for all Asians, just speaking as a casual comic book fan.

Psylocke’s story is so tragic, yet it’s so inspiring to see the character so strong and tenacious. That backstory was rough.

Olivia Munn is actually half Asian which was basically the movies way of avoiding this complicated af and controversial issue

People didn't know Psylocke was ever white? Hahahah omfg I'm old.

I kinda like the idea of two Psylockes. If Spiderman can be Peter, and Miles, and Gwen, and Ben, and Noir, and Ham, etc., why can't Psylocke be Elizabeth and Kwannon? Sometimes there are many souls in one body. Sometimes it's one soul in many bodies. Many minds. Many times. Welcome to the multiverse ;)

Drake, I realize this video predates the current Hickman status quo, but I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on the current handling of Psylocke and Betsy. I personally think it solves the problem really well. Betsy is Captain Britain, Kwannon is Psylocke. Anyway, great video man!

"Kind of like the time The Punisher become black-" uhm, wait, what!?

Is it sad that as a 8 year old I knew more about Psylocke than most people that like comics. I'm 14 now.

For a long time as a kid, I always thought Psylocke was mixed-Asian. It wasn't as easy to dig up the history of a comic book character back then as it is right now. And back then, I wasn't really familiar or rather concerned about the nuances of minority representation in comics. But when I found out that Betsy was this British chick whose mind was transplanted into the body of an Asian woman, even with my limited understanding of minority representation, I understood that Betsy was not Asian. And as an Asian myself, this realization stirred some weird emotions of disappointment within me. In the near the 3 decades Betsy has spent in Kwannon's body, Betsy was never Asian. And I think this is the fact that should be addressed here, Betsy was never Asian, she was always White. You simply cannot change your race especially through the circumstances that unfolded during Betsy's convoluted and messy storyline. And I think her writers understood this as Betsy, in her many years as Psylocke, never once affirmed that she was Asian. I suppose she remained this way because she was far more popular as a ninja as opposed to being the usual, vulnerable damsel in distress she was when she had her own body. I understand that this is a relatively old video. But I'm sure, at the time, that it was a bizarre and bold move to return Betsy to her original body. But to provide a retrospective assessment of the decision to separate Betsy and Kwannon, it was the right move. Betsy is rightfully back to her old mantle as Captain Britain, taking with her many of the design aspects that made her super popular as Psylocke. Kwannon is, for the first time, receiving meaningful characterization as she takes up Betsy's old mantle--Psylocke. In my opinion, Kwannon has been extremely interesting as the new Psylocke as she's living imposter's syndrome as a reality. And her characterization in Fallen Angels was pretty rich (despite the miniseries being rather rushed). She's also leading her own suicide squad in Hellions, and the series itself is looking rather spicy and promising. Dawn of X essentially gave us the Betsy as she was always meant to be with Kwannon to uphold the Psylocke mantle. Psylocke fans literally get the best of both worlds, it was the right move in my opinion.

not gonna lie, the bod swap was a lot more convoluted than I thought, also, is it really withe-washing if the character has technically always been white?

I hope if the Braddock's ever appear in the MCU they're portrayed as biracial British-Asian (mostly because I'd rather they not give me headaches with the incredibly strange, kinda discomforting, Kwannon body swap)

I'm glad Betsy is back to her old body, this design looks really good. Like you said, she's more than just skin color, and Betsy was never really asian, just having an asian body. It's not the body that matters, it's the culture. If we want asian representation, we should gravitate more towards X-Men characters that actually are asian.

I liked her asian appearance. Aesthetically It looked cooler to me.

Betsy was never an Asian woman. She’s an English woman with an English accent with most of her history being tied to that fact. Her bodies ethnicity is Asian. It always bothered me how there was no adjustment period. However i think they should have had it revealed that the ninja Psylocke was always Kwannon just with Bestys memories and powers. Use the Crimson Dawn to separate the two and have Kwannon stay as Psylocke with telepathy, psychic knife and shadow porting powers and remain with the X-Men as all of the character development, relationships, etc that has happened since the 90s has been with Kwannon (who was also a mutant) resulting in an actual Asian character. Have Betsy return in her original body with telepathy and the ability to create psychic weapons from swords, to bow and arrows to shields and even whips and call her Britannia Sorted

Psylocke is one of the coolest X-men character.. i actually find her to be cooler than Emma is she is written well...

Nice umm... thumbnail, Drake...

Please do an episode on Captain Britain as i love him and I'm British!

That thumbnail tho

Psylock and Kwannon are very underrated characters! let's see more of the two in comics!

Welcome to Comic Drake where we talk about comics and my name is Drake! Don't try to change the format on me now, Drake.

Having never known this convoluted mess, I always just assumed British Hong Kong played some part here.

Someone needs to make a Psylocke TV series!!!!

Now I know why Psylocke's skin was yellow in a handful of games

I feel like this is the bill nie the science guy of comics

Psylocke was British until THE HAND got a hold of her. She was one of my favorite X-MEN. Dazzler was my all time fave.

Yes! I would very much like a "Captain Britain" video!

Even knowing Psylocke’s backstory and actually buying the Revanche comic new, I still consider Psylocke in the Asian body to be what I prefer, even as a female. Although I totally see the appeal to the male audience. Again body Besty has been the one I have always known. And personally, I thought the Kwannon/Besty Story was super interesting. People get their feeling hurt to easy now a days, and companies making changes to characters bc people are offended is a problem. If things keep going in this direction, things are going to be very boring. A little bit of controversy is interesting and interesting sells comics...🧐

Since they brought back Kwanon, I'm okay with making her white again, especially since both are back in their respective bodies. If you think about it, Betsy Braddock went through a LOT of hell due to men messing with her mind and body and...I'm not comfortable with that. Especially the rape part, that wasn't necessary.

I always wondered why revanche just came up out of no where. I will admit I love me some ninja psylocke I am ultimately conflicted on this because even though it's her OG body ninja psylocke is just so iconic.

I love that Psylocke is back in her real body and same for Kwannon. Now the ninja fans who just cant get over the shallow sexy ninja have Kwannon and those that appreciate Psylocke for her history and backstory have the real version back in her true form.

The new introduction is so much better than the "I have two thumbs and I'm gonna use them" old intro. Good move ! ... and this episode was very interesting. Keep on the good work ! ;)

Personally marvel should have kept Betsy as body swapped Psylocke, that was when she was at her best. Writers have now made her a Jean Grey light, though admittedly this process began before Mystery in Madripor and Betsy's new (but old) body. Kwannon is around taking up the mantle of Psylocke but doesn't have the character building and fan base to carry through. It's just odd. To top it off, Betsy is now Captain Britain (I'm behind with x-books) so she still doesn't have a unique identity or power set of her own. Tragedy.

Magic space ducks sums up the 90's quite well

very nice!!

Mutant powers come from a person's physiology. So how could Betsy keep her powers in a body that doesnt have her same mutant gene?

Hey thanks for featuring my tweet!

I think it would be better if Psylocke(Betsy) was an adopted Japanese sister of the Bradocks.

The loss of only memories of what happened but not memories how to do things is perfectly normal and she simply lost her declarative memory meaning. One example is if you solve the maze then lost your declarative memory of solving that may hurt and say you have short-term memory loss then you’ll still be able to redo the maze as long as you haven’t lost your other kind of memory which I’m forgetting the name of. If you lose your declarative memory of all instances of riding a bike you will still be able to ride the bike perfectly fine but you won’t have remembered anything you did on the bike or how to ride it you will just be able to.

excellent videos

Most of this I already knew, but you hit on some things I wasn't aware of like Betsy's history in a UK Marvel line. Good video.

I think they should keep her asian, since it's the version of the character that seems to have stuck with readers for the longest time. Is it controversial yeah but honestly these days what isn't.

Out of all superheroes im familiar with psylocke has the most confusing back story I've ever read up on

2:18 pause....Marvelous.

Sup man! So mad I missed you at Retropalooza this past weekend. I walked past you a few times but you looked so much like my buddy Devin I was sure that wasn’t you. Oh well, maybe next time. Either way, fantastic video as usual! Keep em coming!

When you say psylock, the 90's version pops into my mind eye. I know about her past and everything (even applaud her relationship with sabertooth) but it will be strange not seeing an Asian psylock. It doesn't matter to me what the character looks like and I even look forward to changes but this is a big one that I will complain about because she isn't Asian in the first place.

I only know pyslocke through Claremont era and a little afterwards, so I always thought of her as a British woman, with a British accent in a asian (Japanese) woman’s body. That’s the best version of Betsy Braddock.

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I'd love to see you do a video on Knight and Squire. I found a graphic novel in my local library a few years ago and really enjoyed it. They're basically a British version of Batman and Robin. My favourite part is that there's a British Joker but he's too nice to actually commit a crime and mostly sticks to harmless pranks. Knight even has a Texan butler who dons a cowboy hat. I'd love to learn more about them!

I love psylocke regardless! This video gets straight to the point. I love all your videos. I was one of the few people to realize the body swap shenanigans. It makes me love her more actually 😂

no I really do agree and like that psylock, has her original body again. I feel now we can get to know who keannon is once and for all. and it would really be cool is Psylock and Kwannon got their own comics or movies! this could all really play out good in a movie!

Psylocke has to be one of my favorite Xmen characters

I just loved how Olivia Munn played her. 💖

That was a great video thanks I've always thought psylocke is one of the best characters in the x-men and I've always followed her history and it's been really crazy

That moment when you finally realise Psyloche was created by Alan Moore. Really interesting thanks. :)

This is my opinion from someone who has followed her since the early 90s. Rewriting her story would alienate old fans, and just make things confusing for new fans who might take interest in reading her backstory. I do feel making her Asian was problematic to begin with, but that is only bc it's like not real representation... it just made her confusing. Claremont should have just made her telepathically suggest to people that she was Asian in that whole story arc and non of this would have been an issue. I also feel they shouldn't have made her white again bc now there is this whole debate. Yes her sexy new bod and costume are iconic, but to me it wasnt what made her interesting. She doesn't really use her sexuality like Emma Frost does. I would have been more interested in her journey as a telepath who learned martial arts as a necessity...there were times when she was awesome with her powers and other times when she fumbled and that was more compelling to me. I feel like just giving her a new bod and ninja skills was too easy to begin with. Now that kwannon is back maybe she can be written as a whole new entity or somehow they both get combined and she just becomes this post racial person/racially ambiguous. Like people can't tell whether she's Asian or British and she just comes across as whatever ethnicity people perceive her to be. I know that is also problematic but hey controversy sells and is part of life? Idk.

I would love it if you do a video on Captain Britain.

Honestly a mcu psylocke casting a mixed race white/Asian actress like a 2nd chance with Olivia Munn with a better storyline or maybe an Asian race but British nationality actress would be great too

3:30 Psylocke also uppercuts real good in the Marvel vs Capcom games

Marvel: turns Psyloke into a sexy ninja lady Teenage marvel fans:(like said sexy ninja lady) Marvel: well I certainly was not expecting that

Good informative video

Chocolate mountain Charlie! Chocolate mountain!

I think characters like Armor and Sunfire would make great Asian X-Men representation if they were brought more into the mainstream and fleshed out a bit more (e.g. in movies and TV series). Either that or retcon any portrayals of Psylocke to have always been of Asian descent to avoid sticky issues like this.

I'm glad now both Betsy and Kwannon are on their own bodies and both with their own identities as Captain Britain and Psylocke

I had a bunch of xmen cards as a kid that i didn't understand or recognize every character, but I loved her card.

I've been watching these videos for a couple of days, just getting more and more in tune to start reading comics, and I.. Never tought she was Asian.

Sounds like an awesome thriller or comedy waiting for the big screen. Make it happen overlord Feige!

Great recap of the character...and to answer your question... personal opinion...no, she just looked right in the Asian body...but you know, comics will just be that...comics... she's bound to return to her Asian look sooner or later

I remember both Sue & Psylocke's "new outfits", back when I was a teen. It would've been simpler if Mandarin just used his rings to disguise Betsy. While I like the idea of 2 Psylocke's I think it should be a "fusion". She has the Asian body, but can split into Betsy & Kwannon when needed. Betsy can be the armored telepath/telekinetic, while Kwannon is the more skilled martial artist armed w/ psi-weapons that can do physical/psi-damage.

“After walking through a plot device” God that’s just the explainatiin for everything

I've been reading comics for years and was there for the Psylocke body swap and i'm happy things are back to "normal". Psylocke rebuilding her original body from atoms just shows how skilled she is in the use of her abilities an having Kwannon back gives Psylocke a enemy. The future story telling for her looks good from where i'm sitting.

wolverine did not even have to do anything. He literally gets stab and that helps others. Hilarious!

Im wearing an x men shirt rn with her on it lol

Who clicked for the thumbnail be honest

4:36 get out of my head

Tera Patrick would make a great Psylocke cosplay

If The MCU would cast Psylock, Just make Kwannon Psylock, No mention of Besty, meaning They can cast a Japanese Actress for the role.

NOW THAT THIS DISCOVERY HAS BEEN MADE THEN I WONDER WHAT’S FOR (PSYLOCKE) So if & when the next attempt at a (X-MEN) movie gets made then I wonder if (Ms.Psylocke) might make her appearance in it, and to add if her first original version of her known as (Betsy Bradic) of this character might be shown in the (X-MEN) movie as well? I also wonder a few more things like if the next attempt (X-MEN) movie is a success; Then I wonder if a twisted tale movie might get made that involves the story about the two different types of (Psylocke) warrior ladies, and to add each ones’s origin story as well too? In addition I can imagine that there is an alternate version of (Ms. PSYLOCKE) who is half Asian, and half Causation, and to add I can imagine that she might be the daughter of two amazing parents; For instance I can envision her father being a former SPY that worked for the (S.H.I.E.L.D.) AGENCY, and I can envision her mother being a very famous Private Detective who decided to retire. I also envision that the regular job that her father has now is that of an accident, and it is because his hobby is doing accounting research, and what I imagine Pylocke’s mother’s regular job is the Vice-President in charge of a special type of News network, and to add in charge of making sure no one fakes the facts on what is going to be introduced on the News.

lmao, I remember the live stream.

I had no idea. I have even seen Psylocke 5:42 but I thought it was just her hair looking diffrent not that it was a completely diffrent person. Really wierd but cool. I whould not mind stuff like this. Body switches and changes can create intresting stories like Wonderman, Rouge and many others.

I remember reading this storyline when it came-out. It was every bit as weird as you say. In fact, all the "X" titles were really weird between the late 80's and early 90's.

Make a video like this and the Hawkman+woman video but about Donna Troy's confusing history.

I see you have a very interesting thumbnail

Im here for the plot...definitely

Would love a Marvel UK explainer!

The only thing crazier is Valeria Richards parentage(father wise)!

I've always liked Psylocke. She's an awesome character.

This is the kind of thing that kind of turns people like me off of comic books. A character like Psylocke has such a convoluted backstory and such ambiguous superpowers that I would have never expected her to become popular if you pitched her current iteration to me, and yet she not only has a following, but has practically become the quintessential Asian representation for X-men, or even Marven heroes as a whole. This is a character that you won't understand unless you're REALLY into the lore, but you're probably going to see a lot of her. It's sort of like the reason why I'm hesitant to get into certain animes like, Naruto and One Piece; it will just take so much time to understand it all.

I had a thing for psylocke back in the day...good times.

1:30 what comic was that?

Im waiting for the hunt for wolverine hardcover from whatvu described it sounds like a good story