Who Should be in the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?

[Vallant]

Definitely drop the 'Evil' prefix, and the kind of squad I'd like to see Magneto assemble is a real powerhouse team that definitely feels like its ready to rise up and can go toe to toe with any Avengers or X-Men team that come their way.

Magneto
Briar Raleigh
Blob
Danger
Daken
Dark Beast
Elixir
Exodus
Frenzy (Or Monet)
Magik
Mystique
Polaris (Kinda want to include Lorna as a 'positive' influence, in the same vein that Storm stuck around with the extinction team. Lorna is here to make sure no one goes too rogue)
Stepford Cuckoos (Or Quentin Quire)
Toad
Unuscione
Vanisher

I appreciate the mix of villain, anti-hero and ostensibly hero in this line up, whilst also catering to a variety of eras and generations.

[Harpsikord]

I agree: they shouldn't be "evil." Just antagonistic, and definitely remove the 'evil' from the name. I'd even argue that the 'of mutants' should also be dropped because when you're referring to comic books and anyone says the Brotherhood, you almost instantly know that they're referring to the X-Men's Brotherhood.

It would probably, ideally, operate as something similar to the Acolyte's and maybe even be based in the remains of Genosha or Avalon where Magneto is trying his hand again at a mutant society, since Jean seems against that as a long-term solution and Magneto being posed against Jean - especially given that X is a little bit of a seedier individual these days - seems like a perfect idea to me. I also like the idea of it being larger. I mean, the X-Men already have numerous active teams, right? Anyway:

Magneto
Polaris
Blob
Mystique
Toad
Monet
Exodus
Frenzy
Elixir
Stepford Cuckoo's
Vanisher
Madelyne Pryor
Jimmy Hudson
Feral
Sunfire
Unuscione
Dr Nemesis
Tarot
Empath
Rachel Grey
Blob

... and probably many more.

[Sutekh]

I like Frenzy and Unuscione too much to want to see them as full-on villains again, but if Magneto's new Mutant Brotherhood is going to be more proactive and less 'bwa-ha-ha evil mutant terrorists!', then yeah, I'd love to see both of them back. On a less 'evil' team, Elixir and Monet and Polaris and Empath could be fun to see again as well. Other ex-Acolytes like Scanner could also get in the fun, or other members of Jean's short lived 'assault on Genosha' team, like Pauli Provenzano.

In which case, the more villain-y villains, like Dark Beast, Exodus and Madelyne Pryor, perhaps not... I feel like hanging out with those sorts of 'evil mutants' would be character assassinating the ones who are more hard-nosed, cynical and / or 'the ends justify the means,' than actually 'evil.'

Fortunately, with folk like Vanisher, Ilyanna or even Amelia Voight out there to handle the 'team teleporter role,' Exodus in particular is surplus to the requirements. And Ilyanna's a double-threat, since she can also handle Maddy's 'slightly crazy summoner-of-demons' role.

[JudicatorPrime]

There's something appealing about a hero who becomes disenchanted with the noble calling and loses faith in the message as a consequence of the suffering they've endured because of it. As long as the Brotherhood numbers at least one prominent X-man gone bad, I'd be fine with any lineup.

Perhaps that can be Rogue? I could see a plot device where Remy can touch Rogue, but he loses all of his powers and fighting skills, becoming little more than a baseline human. Rogue suffers the same effect, but her downtime isn't as long as Remy's. It's a twist on their relationship dynamic that both would welcome, I think. So blinded by love, they fail to see the dangers of being all-too human in this world. Nevertheless, Rogue gets pregnant and the two are too overjoyed to care.

However, it's during a "no powers" down period that they are both attacked and abucted by an organized anti-mutant hate group. She remembers only the "Good Ol' Boys" patch on their pleather and denim vests and their "ZeZoZi" chants. The assault lasts for days; their bodies wouldn't be found until weeks later. Both Remy and Rogue are brutally beaten to the point where they are unrecognizable. Remy had been mutilated and partially decapitated. We will never truly know all that was done to Anna Marie. What we do know is that she watched the murderers kill Remy in front of her eyes. She's left for dead, having lost not only Remy, but their baby.

And if that wasn't enough, her Rogue powers have been permanently altered by a secondary survival mutation. Gone is the power mimicry. She is more like Deathgrip or Selene now, her slightest touch draining lifeforce and psychic energy. Not that she needs to touch you to achieve the desired effect. That's how she managed to survive, her body emitting a field of death, stealing life from plants and nearby critters that came into contact with it. One of the murderers finds that out the hard way as he perversely tries to have one last go at her after the others have left. She drains him completely into wisps of purple light -- disintegrated into biokinetic particles less than ash -- in a fraction of a second.

The X-Men eventually find Rogue, but in her psychologically regressed state, it's Mystique who she recognizes. It's Mystique who takes her home to heal. When next we see Rogue, she is completely changed, having eyes exactly like Remy's, but with a hunger and hatred behind them that only sadistic revenge can assuage.

It's Magneto who teaches her to love again. Who teaches her to focus her rage. Who teaches her how to expand her death field along the same lines of force that his magnetism uses. Her area of affect increases from the length of her arms to city blocks to the size of a small state. Rogue becomes the Brotherhood's most lethal weapon.

[Carabas]

How about there shouldn't even exist an organisation that calls itself the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?

[JudicatorPrime]

How about there shouldn't even exist an organisation that calls itself the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?

Mutants Without Borders?

It will probably be one of those things where certain humans and/or the media calls them the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but Magneto actually call his coalition something else. No matter what he calls them, they're going to be seen as an extremist terrorist group.

[WallStreeter]

There's something appealing about a hero who becomes disenchanted with the noble calling and loses faith in the message as a consequence of the suffering they've endured because of it. As long as the Brotherhood numbers at least one prominent X-man gone bad, I'd be fine with any lineup.

Perhaps that can be Rogue? I could see a plot device where Remy can touch Rogue, but he loses all of his powers and fighting skills, becoming little more than a baseline human. Rogue suffers the same effect, but her downtime isn't as long as Remy's. It's a twist on their relationship dynamic that both would welcome, I think. So blinded by love, they fail to see the dangers of being all-too human in this world. Nevertheless, Rogue gets pregnant and the two are too overjoyed to care.

However, it's during a "no powers" down period that they are both attacked and abucted by an organized anti-mutant hate group. She remembers only the "Good Ol' Boys" patch on their pleather and denim vests and their "ZeZoZi" chants. The assault lasts for days; their bodies wouldn't be found until weeks later. Both Remy and Rogue are brutally beaten to the point where they are unrecognizable. Remy had been mutilated and partially decapitated. We will never truly know all that was done to Anna Marie. What we do know is that she watched the murderers kill Remy in front of her eyes. She's left for dead, having lost not only Remy, but their baby.

And if that wasn't enough, her Rogue powers have been permanently altered by a secondary survival mutation. Gone is the power mimicry. She is more like Deathgrip or Selene now, her slightest touch draining lifeforce and psychic energy. Not that she needs to touch you to achieve the desired effect. That's how she managed to survive, her body emitting a field of death, stealing life from plants and nearby critters that came into contact with it. One of the murderers finds that out the hard way as he perversely tries to have one last go at her after the others have left. She drains him completely into wisps of purple light -- disintegrated into biokinetic particles less than ash -- in a fraction of a second.

The X-Men eventually find Rogue, but in her psychologically regressed state, it's Mystique who she recognizes. It's Mystique who takes her home to heal. When next we see Rogue, she is completely changed, having eyes exactly like Remy's, but with a hunger and hatred behind them that only sadistic revenge can assuage.

It's Magneto who teaches her to love again. Who teaches her to focus her rage. Who teaches her how to expand her death field along the same lines of force that his magnetism uses. Her area of affect increases from the length of her arms to city blocks to the size of a small state. Rogue becomes the Brotherhood's most lethal weapon.

This reduces a prominent female character to nothing more than a victim. Women in refrigerators. It really can't be done today. And there's no reason to make a popular hero like Rogue bad who has been a loyal X-Man AND an Avenger.

If anything now that Disney has full rights to the X-Men, we can be assured something like this will not happen.

[yogaflame]

How about there shouldn't even exist an organisation that calls itself the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?

I always thought the Mutant Liberation Front was the way better name and concept, even if it wasn't executed that great in X-Force. Still, I'd like to see Magneto take the name. I did like the Acolytes, too, though, when he had Avalon/Asteroid M. Plus their purple/red matching outfits were cute too.

[JudicatorPrime]

This reduces a prominent female character to nothing more than a victim. Women in refrigerators. It really can't be done today. And there's no reason to make a popular hero like Rogue bad who has been a loyal X-Man AND an Avenger.

If anything now that Disney has full rights to the X-Men, we can be assured something like this will not happen.

And yet, before she was an X-Man or an Avenger, she was a villain. Never say never.

And it doesn't make her a victim. Remy, in that scenario, was the victim. Her child(ren) were the victims. Rogue is a survivor. That's the whole point of her powers. She preserves whatever she consumes and endures.

I'm not saying the above scenario would ever find its way to print. It's too dark. I'm just saying that the X-Men all have their breaking points. There's nothing wrong with them exploring the dark side and it would be pretty cool if Rogue indulged hers along with Magneto and Mystique.

[JudicatorPrime]

I always thought the Mutant Liberation Front was the way better name and concept, even if it wasn't executed that great in X-Force. Still, I'd like to see Magneto take the name. I did like the Acolytes, too, though, when he had Avalon/Asteroid M. Plus their purple/red matching outfits were cute too.

Wasn't the MLF name borrowed from the Palestinian Liberation Front? And wasn't the name the Acolytes chosen because of it's religious fanatic connotations intended to conjure up the notion of a mutant Islamic State, one that had access to nuclear weapons under Magneto? So I guess if we're going to rename the Brotherhood, maybe we should pull from contemporary sources, too. What about the Mutant Federation (I can hear Wolverine or Sabretooth already calling them MFers) or the People's Republic of Mutants (PRoM)?

[yogaflame]

There have been a number of Liberation Fronts over the years, all over the world. It's a flexible acronym. Acolyte is also a versatile word, with uses going back to ancient Greece, for any follower of a leader, and later with various religious connotations(first Christian).

[Killerbee911]

My thoughts

- Of course no group should be named the "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" and someone mention earlier the "The Brotherhood" works just fine

- We have had the Extinction Squad , A Magneto lead Xmen squad with Psylocke,Sabertooth,M,etc and X-Force . So now have several concepts that work for a group that aren't moustache twirling bad villain roles and more complex grey area concepts. Making Magneto and his team the "Bad guys" is waste there is a world you can have Brotherhood as spin off line of X-books. Where X-men dream is to live in peace with humans, You can have them with the point of view that Brotherhood is "Mutants first" and Brotherhood will aggressive protect themselves even proactive hunting people who wish harm mutants.

- Viewing the Brotherhood as not evil group then opens the doors for wider group selection of characters like Polaris, Mimic, Blink, M, Lady Mastermind, Frenzy ,Jimmy Hudson, Daken, Callisto, Kymera, Omertà, Cipher, Tempus, Vanisher, Bedlam, Risque, Strong Guy, Darkstar, Thunderbird, Graymalkin and usual suspects Avalanche, Pyro, Neophyte, Unuscione, Amelia Voght, Exodus, Random, Tempo, Scanner, Vindaloo. I don't know who makes the final squad but the Xmen world is better off with a mutant group that can solid clash with X-men and present a rational place for mutants go other than X-men.

- I don't know if Magneto should be the face of the Brotherhood given the tendency for them to make him a out right villain. You might need to create character who is sympathetic figure who you believe is simple looking out for the safety of mutants at all costs.

[JudicatorPrime]

There have been a number of Liberation Fronts over the years, all over the world. It's a flexible acronym. Acolyte is also a versatile word, with uses going back to ancient Greece, for any follower of a leader, and later with various religious connotations(first Christian).

True, but you don't really think Liefeld was much of an historian?

As for acolytes, I'm pretty sure the religious context was deliberate. They worshipped Magneto as something more than a mere man. And when you're #2 is named Exodus, well, I'm just saying.

[yogaflame]

I don't mind either connotation. They both are appropriate to the metaphor. And both better than "Brotherhood", which is ultimately male oriented. It'd be funny if the 'bad guys' name is more gender neutral than the X-Men!

[jmc247]

How about there shouldn't even exist an organisation that calls itself the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?

In the 50s and 60s characters called themselves evil all the time to let the audience know they were the bad ones. Doom was much more interesting then Magneto back in the 60s because they let Doom be more of a Stalin figure who didn't exactly do that. Magneto was not all that popular until they moved him away from often clownish power hungry actions.