I kinda feel responsible in a roundabout way for the name "Freedom Force".
Chris Claremont, who created the group, was doing a signing at a Toronto comic shop decades ago, just after Mystique and her team debuted in Uncanny X-Men as "the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants". I asked him why they'd call themselves that. He replied "well, because they're evil."
I said "Yeah, we think so, but they themselves wouldn't. They'd find some way in their own mind to justify their actions. Magneto could get away with the name because he was using it in an ironic political context. You think we're evil? Fine, we'll wear the name with pride! But not Mystique's group. They're in it for personal gain."
Claremont didn't say anything but I could tell he was thinking about it. Next time they appeared, they were "Freedom Force". |