While the X-Men and their superpowered allies have faced off against many fantastical foes, few if any could be so accurately described as the villains who abide in Otherworld. Though there are plenty of nefarious foes who hail from this Arthurian realm, none have made quite the name for themselves as Morgan Le Fay has. In her war against mutantkind, Le Fay’s legacy has been cemented as one of abject evil. At least, that was the case until Captain Britain took Le Fay’s life into her own hands. With a little help from the heart of her homeland, Captain Britain gave Britain the kind of champion it truly deserves.
With the threat of an Otherworld army invading Britain and Morgan Le Fay holding numerous mutants as prisoners within her stronghold, the titular hero of Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #5 (by Tini Howard, Vasco Georgiev, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Ariana Maher) and her allies launch a multi-front offensive on their mystically inclined enemy. Unfortunately, with Le Fay’s castle now resting firmly on British soil and Doctor Doom’s promise to defend his former lover at any cost, Captain Britain’s attack can’t be so overt as to cause an international incident. As luck would have it, Betsy knows precisely how to do just that, and it all hinges on returning the villain to both her figurative and literal roots.
How Captain Britain Transformed Morgan Le Fay from X-Men Villain to Marvel Superhero
When Morgan Le Fay was introduced as the Marvel Universe knows her all the way back in the pages of 1955’s Black Knight #1 in Stan Lee and Joe Maneely’s “The Menace of Mordred the Evil!,” she had joined forces with the story’s eponymous villain — who just so happened to be her nephew and the son of none other than King Arthur Pendragon himself. As the elder half-sister of Arthur and foremost apprentice of future villain Merlin, Le Fay sought power more so than anything else, especially if it came with the chance to overthrow her sibling. Thankfully, Merlin selected Sir Percy of Scandia to become the first Black Knight. As such, Merlin created a powerful warrior who could protect the king against all evils.
Though Morgan Le Fay’s old master worked against her various schemes early on, she continued plotting her brother’s downfall and her own eventual reign for centuries. By the time the modern day had arrived, Le Fay was well equipped to take on the likes of Spider-Woman and the Avengers, and in the course of those endeavors, she would cement a legacy for herself that no hero or villain could ignore. The ancient menace would even partial success, effectively taking control over individual corners of the globe on various albeit infrequent occasions.
Still, everything that Morgan Le Fay has done was always at its core in an effort to claim dominion over her homeland. Whether it be by traveling into the distant past in the hopes of manipulating the future or by transforming pockets of Earth itself into nightmarish landscapes of her own design, the heart of Le Fay’s machinations never strayed far from where they began all those centuries ago. Now, with the combined might of her Twilight Sword and Faiza Hussain — the current wielder of the legendary sword Excalibur — Betsy Braddock has given Morgan Le Fay a taste of exactly what she has always wanted. In doing so Captain Britain may have even saved Le Fay’s very soul.
What Morgan Le Fay’s Face-Turn Means for the Marvel Universe
Although Betsy hasn’t removed any of the power which Morgan Le Fay already commanded, she has effectively purified the darkness and hatred that has festered within her old enemy for thousands of years. Or rather, she has helped Le Fay to do that for herself, since it was the former villain opening herself up to hearing the true call of the land that has driven out her inner evils. By accepting Britain and its magic as they are instead of as she would see them twisted in her own image, Le Fay might even have become more powerful than ever before. There is no telling what good Morgan will do now that she is free from the shadows that once clouded her near-infinite vision.
As an immortal, shape-shifting, time traveling, reality warping demigod of a being, Morgan Le Fay was already as powerful as Doctor Doom long before he or his villainous contemporaries even took their first steps. Of course, up until now, Le Fay has been limited in the scope of what she has done with all of that power thanks to her lust for domination over Britain, Otherworld, and the realms that lie in between. Now that she has been freed from those restraints, however, Le Fay can begin not only making up for her past, but ensuring that Britain and Otherworld’s respective futures are brighter than ever. Whenever she needs advice or assistance, she has every ally she could ever ask for to help her along the way.
There are still plenty of reasons for the likes of the X-Men and Avengers not to trust Morgan Le Fay. But with a literally endless lifespan, Morgan will have even more opportunities to prove them wrong about her. On top of everything else, Le Fay will have Betsy Braddock, Askani, and the entire Captain Britain Corps to help her in the transition from power hungry sorceress into a timeless Marvel superhero. With any luck, that shift will come as easy as any have, especially now that the dust has settled between Earth and Otherworld. And, if it is kicked up again anytime in the near future, both of those worlds will have a new heroic deity looking out for them no matter how bad things get.