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139-543: Their name "Stepford Cuckoos" is a reference to the books The Stepford Wives and The Midwich Cuckoos . The Stepford Cuckoos made their live action debut as the Frost Sisters ; Esme, Sophie, and Phoebe in the television series The Gifted (2017 - 2019), portrayed by Skyler Samuels . First appearing in New X-Men #118 (November 2001), they were jointly created by Grant Morrison and Ethan Van Sciver . Their origin, as

278-506: A diamond form . Now referring to themselves as the Thousand-in-One and under Sublime's control, the cosmically empowered psychics proceed to enact their programmed destiny of mutant destruction. Celeste, at Emma's behest, accepts her role as a Phoenix host and wrestles control of the Phoenix, freeing the clones from Sublime's control for the first time. However, the Phoenix goes on to destroy

417-399: A Horseman of Salvation, Elixir and Marrow were seen on Earth and members of Emma Frost's new Hellfire Club, while Exodus had established a new team of Acolytes, with Unuscione as one of its members. Taking the opportunity of Magneto disappearance, Joseph disguised himself as Magneto and appears to disband the former Brotherhood, only to sway Avalanche, Juggernaut, Pyro, Random and Toad to form

556-557: A Jew in the ghetto of Venice, but he was taken away from his parents and raised within the Catholic Church. At some point Enrique befriended Carlos Javier, that world's Professor X , who crafted a helmet to protect Enrique from his psychic powers. After Toad, their spy at the Vatican, betrays the fact that they have been sheltering any 'Witchbreed' (1602 word for Mutants) that can hide their powers, he and his children escape being burnt at

695-566: A Wolverine-lite body. In 2022, Grant Morrison addressed widespread rumors that they had intended for the first letter of the five Cuckoos' names ( S ophie, P hoebe, I rma, C eleste and E sme) to be an acrostic for "SPICE", as a reference to the British pop group, the Spice Girls . Morrison specified that, two decades after the fact, they no longer remembered whether this had been deliberate. Regardless of Morrison's intentions, they never mentioned

834-411: A counterfeit person. Phoebe Cuckoo demonstrated a power-hungry personality during the events of Warsong . In contrast to Celeste, who feared the consuming power of the Phoenix, Phoebe desired power out of the sheer affinity for wielding it. She readily embraced the Phoenix and enjoyed the destructive power it gave her. Mindee Cuckoo was the next Cuckoo to be written with a distinct personality. She had

973-458: A crush on Sophie. Sophie and the other Cuckoos considered him to be disgusting and rejected him completely. Partly as an expression of adolescent rebellion, partly under the influence of a mutant drug called Kick, and partly out of a desire to impress Sophie, Quire incited a student riot at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Sophie died stopping Quire, overexerting herself after using

1112-609: A flaw, the Cuckoo's hearts are flawless diamond. As such, the Phoenix fragment is literally sealed within their hearts. The price the sisters must pay for this is that they can never again feel emotion, leaving them more detached from others than they were before. The Stepford Cuckoos were considered as "potential recruits" for the Initiative program. The girls were next seen helping Elixir master medical and anatomical knowledge via Beast 's brain. They are soon after teleported to Limbo with

1251-457: A medieval costume, and Mastermind , with the power to create illusions of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had joined after Magneto saved Scarlet Witch from a mob who believed she was a witch after she accidentally made a house burst into flame. She joined to repay the debt, and Quicksilver joined to keep her safe. Time and again, the Brotherhood clashed with

1390-520: A mental transference device crafted by Dr. Marks to extrapolate and imprint psi-signatures onto healthy bodies with vast recuperative abilities to siphon Esme's mind from her faulty body over to Gabby's healthier vessel. But the process would be interrupted by Laura, who was alerted to their location via GPS tracker activated by her foster sister right as the experiment commenced. In the aftermath of which Esme's persona would successfully carry over onto Gabby's being while Laura herself had been blasted out of

1529-511: A new Brotherhood in the wake of the death of the X-Men. The Brotherhood went to an Air Force base in East Transia to put the fear in humans, but were confronted by a new group of X-Men led by a resurrected Cyclops. After the battle, Joseph's identity is revealed as the real Master of Magnetism was actually kidnapped by Nate Grey and mind-controlled to become one of his Horsemen of Salvation. Following

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1668-507: A new Sisterhood. Lady Deathstrike survived the destruction of Arkea. Following the war with the Inhumans and the destruction of the remaining Terrigen cloud, a new group claiming to be the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants appears, consisting of a new Avalanche, a new Pyro, Masque, Magma and a new reptile-looking member named Kologoth. They are led by a somehow-repowered Mesmero and secretly funded by an anti-mutant activist named Lydia Nance. It

1807-457: A plan to create a safe haven for mutants in a city within the Savage Land, but Magneto had other plans to make the mutants more dominant over the humans. The original Brotherhood first seen consisted of Blob , Mastermind , Magneto's twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch ; Toad , and Wolverine . Soon after their first appearance, Wolverine was planted in the X-Men as a mole and later defected to

1946-458: A relationship with another student, Germaine, who was killed by an anti-mutant mob when the students were trapped in a building in the aftermath of Xorn's destruction of Manhattan. She then had a combative relationship with Jay Guthrie who was always interrupting her while she played the piano. She later helped Gambit during Exodus 's Brotherhood's attack on the school. Her real first name is "Irma". Irma has now dyed her hair and cut it short; she

2085-576: A robot than commit to equality and recognise her as a whole person." There are many feminist themes in The Stepford Wives . The novel tackles the role of women in the nuclear family and the control they have over their bodies by allowing the readers to observe what happens in Stepford when Joanna moves in. Before the women in Stepford turned into lifeless, docile robots, they were avid activists and successful career women who had lives outside of being

2224-409: A romantic weekend with their respective husbands. All the women deny anything is wrong. Joanna's own husband, Walter, who seems to be spending more and more time at meetings of the local men's association, mocks her fears. As the story progresses, Joanna becomes convinced that the wives of Stepford are being poisoned or brainwashed into submission by the men's club. She visits the library and researches

2363-427: A short-lived Marvel series called The Brotherhood featured a large group of mutant terrorists, unrelated to any other version of the Brotherhood. The group was founded by the mutants Hoffman, Orwell and Marshal, but Marshal left the group and became a government agent. Hoffman hid his identity under the alias "X". Marshal had the orders to take down the Brotherhood, but was really planning on killing Hoffman and becoming

2502-842: A taste of their own medicine as restitution. Both versions were filmed in various towns in Fairfield County, Connecticut, including Redding , Westport , Darien , New Canaan , Wilton and Norwalk . The 1975 version had several locations in the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield , including the Eberharts' house and the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church. Additional scenes from the 2004 movie were filmed in Bedminster, New Jersey , with extras from surrounding communities. The term "Stepford wife" entered common use in

2641-580: A team that was later alternately called Mutant Force and the Resistants . Following a battle with the Defenders , the members of the Brotherhood were all transformed into infants by Alpha . The babies were brought to Muir Island , where they were placed under the care of Moira MacTaggert . Magneto was later restored to adulthood by Erik the Red , and quickly escaped MacTaggert's research facility. During this incident,

2780-556: A thousand eggs were stolen from Emma's ovaries during her coma, and the remaining hundreds (if not thousands) of clones reside within incubation chambers inside a hidden underground laboratory at The World , a complex housing the Weapon Plus (living beings designed to serve as weapons) program. They were created by Dr. John Sublime to be powerful weapons able to kill every mutant by combining their telepathic abilities. The Cuckoos were designated Weapon XIV. They were first introduced as

2919-426: A twist ending in which it is a powerful woman (played by Glenn Close) who is the evil mastermind of the injustice perpetrated on other women, and features a "Stepfordized" male partner of a gay town resident. Unlike the original novel and most of the adaptations, the perpetrators of the conspiracy neither die nor get away with their crimes; the victims are freed from their control programming and subject their husbands to

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3058-407: A wife. However, the men in Stepford were opposed to this, turning their wives into robots and reducing their only purposes in life down to serving their husbands. The theme of consent is tackled in The Stepford Wives franchise. The reason why the men in Stepford make their wives into submissive robots is that they are afraid of losing control over their wives. The similarity between sex robots and

3197-433: Is Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer newly arrived from New York City with her husband and children, eager to start a new life. As time goes on, she becomes increasingly disturbed by the submissive wives of Stepford who seem to lack free will, especially when she sees her once independent-minded friends (Bobbie, Charmaine), fellow new arrivals to Stepford, turn into mindless, docile housewives, each time beginning after

3336-573: Is a fictional group of mutants appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The Brotherhood are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men . While the group's roster and ideology have varied from incarnation to incarnation, most versions of the Brotherhood are generally founded and led by the mutant Magneto as a supervillain team or organization that believes in mutant superiority over humans at any costs. They are almost always at odds with

3475-401: Is also transformed into a docile housewife after a "romantic getaway" with her husband. At the end of the novel, Joanna decides to flee Stepford, but when she gets home, she finds that her children have been taken. She asks her husband to let her leave but he takes her car keys. She manages to escape from the house on foot and several of the men's club members track her down. They corner her in

3614-462: Is dismayed to discover the adversary before them was merely an illusion conjured up by Sophie waiting at the school of gifted youngsters. Sophie went onto reveal the depth and extent of Esme's betrayal to her other siblings, when the both of them questioned why she would do such a thing after all they went through just to bring them back. Esme coldly rebuts such claims while admitting she compelled their actions thus far from start to finish. Retorting that

3753-478: Is featured. This group consists of Magneta , Impact (a superstrong mutant able to increase the size of any part of her body), Pirouette (who can rotate at high speeds), and Headcase (a powerful psychic). In the alternate reality depicted in the 2005 House of M storyline, the Brotherhood was created as an NYPD strikeforce team to take down organized crime. Members included John Proudstar (leader), Frank Castle (only human member who left due to seeing how

3892-601: Is free. In The Ultimates 3 , Magneto leads Sabertooth, Blob, Unus, Multiple Man, Mystique, Pyro , Mastermind, and Lorelei in a fight against the Ultimates after the death of his daughter Scarlet Witch at the hands of Ultron . The battle results in the seeming death of Quicksilver as well (though he is later revealed to be alive), Unus being killed by Thor , and Mastermind being killed by Valkyrie who also dismembered Pyro's hands. Magneto, Blob, Detonator, Forge, Hard-Drive, Longshot, Lorelei, and Multiple Man are killed during

4031-410: Is horrified at the thought of losing her connection to her sister. Much to her despair, Emma welcomes the sisters' growing individuality. Celeste also finds that her sisters both have little problem with Jean, furthering their divide. Esme Cuckoo was the first to split from her sisters, falling in love with Shi'ar -soldier Stuff who disguised itself as a student. She soon attempts to murder Frost, and

4170-401: Is necessary for mutants to survive. His trip to the future assured him of that. Donning his classic red and purple costume, he steps onto his restored base, New Asteroid M, and calls upon his new Brotherhood of Mutants which consists of Briar Raleigh, Toad, Exodus, Unuscione, Marrow, and Elixir. This new Brotherhood was short-lived though, as Magneto was soon afterwards captured and turned into

4309-550: Is now a brunette. Triage is attracted to her and the feeling might be mutual. During the events of Warsong , Celeste Cuckoo expressed fears of losing touch with her sisters, changing personalities, and wielding the Phoenix Force. According to Emma, she is the tattletale of the group. She eventually accepted her powers, killing the Thousand-in-One clones and her resurrected sisters per the cosmic judgment of Phoenix. Disgusted by

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4448-634: Is possible for another one of the Cuckoos to wrest control of the gestalt and perhaps even use the powers of all sisters without the consent and knowledge of the others. With the loss of Sophie and Esme, The Cuckoos are not as strong as they were with five. Like their mother, Emma Frost, each Cuckoo sister also possesses the ability to transform into an organic diamond body, and as such gains invulnerability, durability, and super strength. Unlike Frost, however, their diamond forms are flawless; such that nothing can enter or escape. They demonstrate this ability by sealing

4587-696: Is taking the "Examinations of Post-Krakoan Diaspora " class with Kamala Khan . The other Cuckoos have joined a new iteration of the Quiet Council which is now located in New York City. The Cuckoos share a telepathic hive mind . Powerful telepaths individually, their combined power is even greater than its sum. These powers allow them the psychic standards of broadcasting/receiving thoughts, mind control, planting illusions, force blasts of pure psionic energy, astral projection, etc. Their gestalt mind allows them to communicate with one another instantaneously, though

4726-404: Is unknown, but Enrique had promised to punish him for his betrayal, a punishment which was ultimately left unseen. In the reality of Marvel Noir , this Brotherhood, led by Chief Detective Eric Magnus, is a cabal of corrupt and violent policemen, doing the bidding of Sebastian Shaw . It is formed by Magnus, Dukes, Toynbee, and Wyngarde. In Amazing Spider-Girl #22, a Sisterhood of Mutants

4865-609: The Battle of the Atom event, first posing as a future X-Men team who wanted to send the past X-Men to their own time. Their true reasons, to prevent the past X-Men from suffering and dying in the future, were revealed, and they were soon at war against the present X-Men, the Uncanny X-Men, and the true Future X-Men. Their members include Xorn (the past Jean Grey, who had to wear a Xorn mask to limit her power), Charles Xavier II (the alleged son of

5004-587: The Planet X storyline, in which it was revealed that Esme had been working for Xorn the entire time, and that she had developed a crush on him. However, Esme turned on him and tried to destroy his mind after he rejected her affections. Xorn, hopped up on the Sublime contrived drug Hypercortisone D at the time, angrily killed her by smashing her metal earrings through her skull. She dies in Emma's arms, who tells Esme that out of all

5143-546: The Ultimatum storyline, during which Magneto tries to destroy the human race with Thor's hammer before being killed by Cyclops. Quicksilver turned up alive and was the one who shot Cyclops as he meets up with Mystique and Sabretooth. Quicksilver later reforms the Brotherhood of Mutants with Mystique, Sabretooth, Blob II/Teddy Allan. In the alternate future of the 2005 miniseries Weapon X: Days of Future Now , Malcolm Colcord convinced people to hate mutants. In issue 4, most of

5282-546: The Mimic and Post as well as Blob and Toad. They freed Charles Xavier from prison and helped the X-Men against the animated Cerebro , who had created a team of fake X-Men . They later cooperated with Mystique in an attempt to capture the Machine Man . The team disbanded shortly afterwards. During this time period, it was revealed that the teleporter named Astra had been a member of the original Brotherhood, providing Magneto with

5421-573: The New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook , their last name was confirmed as "Cuckoo" and their codename as the "Three-in-One". In the " Age of X " reality, the Stepford Cuckoos are shown as inmates of Fortress X's X-Brig. The Stepford Wives The Stepford Wives is a 1972 satirical "feminist horror " novel by Ira Levin . The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer, wife, and young mother who suspects that something in

5560-572: The Purifiers attacked the school. The Cuckoos use Cerebro to track down Cable , who has the missing mutant baby for whom the X-Men are looking. When the X-Men arrive at the location indicated by the Cuckoos, the baby had already been stolen by the Marauders . The Cuckoos are unable to relocate the baby telepathically, so Emma Frost orders them to focus on finding the Marauders who kidnapped it. Following

5699-756: The Stranger , who they at first believed was a powerful mutant, but he revealed himself to be an alien. Mastermind had been turned to a block of solid matter by the Stranger, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left the team and later joined the Avengers . Later, back on Earth, Magneto reorganized the team three times, including such mutants as Blob and Unus the Untouchable , as well as the Savage Land mutate Lorelei , and creating

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5838-553: The X-Men . Frost and Summers divided the older students into several six-person training squads, each taught by a staff member. The remaining three Cuckoos, now calling themselves the " Three-in-One ," were assigned to the Corsairs squad, advised by Cyclops. The three girls were the co-leaders of the squad. In X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (March–June 2005), the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force came back to Earth seeking to inhabit

5977-487: The "Evil" from its name. Despite Jean Grey's proclamation that Havok was acting of his own free will as well as the plot point of Dark Beast brainwashing Havok, it was ultimately revealed that Havok formed the team as part of a sting operation designed to find out the illegal experiments the Dark Beast was performing and fell apart when Havok and the Dark Beast finally clashed. The following incarnation included new members

6116-425: The "Heroes and Villains" arc that concluded Chuck Austen 's run on X-Men , a new version of the Brotherhood appeared. The team was led by the powerful mutant Exodus , who had once been Magneto's herald, and its other members included Avalanche, Sabretooth (who had simply been hired by Exodus), and new members Black Tom Cassidy , Mammomax , Nocturne (who was revealed to be spying on the team), and Juggernaut (who

6255-400: The 1960s. The original Brotherhood was ultimately disbanded, with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch going on to become members of the Avengers . In 1981, the Brotherhood of Mutants was revived under the leadership of Mastermind, while the group's most visible incarnation during the early 1990s was led by Toad. The Brotherhood of Mutants has also appeared on several animated series featuring

6394-510: The Acolytes) to split off and attempt to continue Magneto's genocidal techniques. During this short-lived less violent phase, several mutant animal recruits rescued from laboratories were added (one of which was the mutated ape Prosimian), but Magneto rejected them upon his return seeing them as lower species like Homo sapiens and wiped out the mutant animals. In the Ultimate War and "Return of

6533-557: The Brotherhood are mistreating the human criminals ), Blob , Feral , Taskmaster , Avalanche , Boom Boom and Misty Knight (who had secretly infiltrated the "Avengers", and would later defect from the Brotherhood). In Ultimate X-Men , the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is called the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy , headed by a far more violent and genocidal version of Magneto . It was originally formed by Professor X and Magneto in

6672-431: The Brotherhood members had survived when they infiltrated Cyclops' new school, after the Brotherhood were defeated by the past-Jean Grey's mind powers, it is revealed that Xorn/Jean had been killed in their first appearance in the past, while all of the Brotherhood's other members- except for Raze Logan- were only working with the team due to the telepathic influence of Charles Xavier II. With Xavier II and Raze both subdued,

6811-496: The Brotherhood. In Earth-X, Uatu explained that Magneto chose it so that, as the opposing side, Charles would be forced to assume the role of "Good," and that Magneto believed that by locking Charles into absolutes of morality, he could manipulate him. Many of the group's members have been shown to be past victims of anti-mutant prejudice, which has made the group a haven for many mutants who feel they are outcasts and pariahs. While many of these outcast mutants have willingly embraced

6950-597: The Crimson Commando was crippled and the Blob and Pyro were abandoned on a mission in Iraq. The Toad also organized a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants of his own at one point, including the Blob and Pyro, a woman named Phantazia who could disrupt electronics and superhuman powers, and the vampiric humanoid Pteranodon called Sauron , who is not an actual mutant. Toad's Brotherhood was concerned mostly with hatching revenge schemes against

7089-496: The Cuckoos appear as supporting characters in Uncanny X-Men . During a pitched battle between the X-Men and a pack of genetically altered versions of Predator X , the Phoenix fragments that were contained in the Cuckoos' diamond hearts leave them and depart into space for reasons unknown. During their time on Utopia, the Cuckoos begin to experience boredom and start sneaking off the island to buy DVDs of horror films. Influenced by

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7228-506: The Cuckoos have demonstrated telekinesis. The power level of the Cuckoos, in all of their incarnations, have been reported by many of the staff at Xavier's School to be extremely impressive and strong. Sophie Cuckoo's personality is explored just before her death. She was stated as always being the dominant mind amongst her sisters. When Quentin Quire started a riot on the Xavier Campus, Sophie

7367-645: The Cuckoos keeping their prior hairstyle. The Cuckoos help oppose Skrull invaders in San Francisco. When the Skrulls place a blockade on all telepathic communication, they channel their telepathy through Cerebra into Emma as she attempts to find the psychic blockade and destroy it. Emma's psyche is briefly disconnected from her body and as she fights the Skrull psychics, the Cuckoos, on orders from Cyclops, use their telepathy to keep Emma's autonomic functions going. Afterward,

7506-422: The Cuckoos were little more than mindless drones without her to think their thoughts for them, Esme then stabbed Phoebe with Gabby's bone claw. While Laura got into a brutal fight with Esme with Sophie keeping their shared mind free of her psychotic sister's mental influence, Irma managed to make her way to Cerebro to galvanize the other Cuckoo's psychic powers through herself and Laura. All these efforts were towards

7645-424: The Cuckoos, she was most proud of her. In later publishing Esme shows just how cruel, deceitful, power hungry and megalomaniac she can be; the fourth volume of X-23 would reveal the true magnitude of her truly murderous nature; manipulating her living siblings from beyond the grave, murdering and injuring them in order to achieve a desirable outcome for herself and reveling in the newfound invincibility that came with

7784-465: The DNA of the original Omega Red ) with the apparent goal of exacting revenge on X-Force. The group was seen recruiting Genesis as their next member, in order to turn him into the new Apocalypse . Mystique has since gathered a new Brotherhood which consists of herself, Sabretooth, Blob, Silver Samurai II, and Lady Mastermind. By using Lady Mastermind's illusions, they commit numerous heists to incriminate

7923-521: The English language after the publication of Levin's book. It is generally used as a derogatory term for a submissive and docile wife who seems to conform blindly to the stereotype of an old-fashioned subservient role in relationship to her husband. Brotherhood of Mutants The Brotherhood of Mutants (originally known as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants , sometimes referred to as the BoEM or B.O.E.M. )

8062-550: The Five to bring both Sophie and Esme back to life. The once bitter enemies acted as tour guides to a group of government officials while showing off the new Jerusalem Habitat created by Krakoa . During the " Empyre " storyline, the Stepford Cuckoos are among the psychic mutants that are summoned to Genosha . They are among those who witness Magik 's fight with the Cotatinaught. Sophie is enrolled at Empire State University (ESU) and

8201-641: The King" storylines, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch defected to the Ultimates to help stop the resurfaced Magneto. Unus , Detonator, Juggernaut , Longshot , Hard-Drive , Rogue , Sabretooth , Vanisher , Forge , and Multiple Man join the Brotherhood. After being defeated by the X-Men, the Brotherhood receded for a time. Mystique and Forge free Magneto from his plastic prison cell in the Triskelion, with Mystique taking his place to prevent anyone from realizing that Magneto

8340-539: The NYPD, the Brotherhood of Mutants retreated to their hideout where Mesmero revealed that they were still under Lydia Nance's paycheck and she was the one who facilitated their escape from the Box and that she still has plans for the Brotherhood of Mutants. While Pyro walked away upon not wanting to work for an anti-mutant activist, Avalanche remained with Mesmero and asked for Pyro's cut as well. When Magneto time-traveled 20 years into

8479-530: The Sisterhood's location. She committed suicide. Arkea placed Lady Deathstrike's consciousness in the same body Arkea used for a host, Reiko. Arkea then took the Jean Grey genetic material she purchased and modified Ana Cortes corpse so that it could host Madelyne Pryor. Amora completed the resurrection of Madelyne Pryor. The X-Men assaulted the Sisterhood's hideout. They cut the hideout off the grid. The X-Men assaulted

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8618-413: The Sisterhood. As most members of the Sisterhood did not particularly care for Arkea, they did not defend her to the fullest of their capabilities. Karima killed Arkea with a bullet specifically designed to destroy hive mind bacteria. As Arkea Prime was the queen bee of Arkea, once she was killed all Arkea bacteria everywhere died. As Madelyne and Selene left, Madelyne informed the group of her plan to create

8757-517: The X-Mansion at the time when Spider-Man and his family are visiting. Spider-Man and his family join the fight against the Brotherhood of Mutants who are also shown to have Emma Frost in their group. Magneto wanted Emma Frost to operate Cerebro for the group. With help from Spider-Man's family, the X-Men defeat the Brotherhood of Mutants who are remanded to the Raft. This version of the Brotherhood appeared in

8896-455: The X-Men and has been Magneto’s group in the recent X-Men film series . The original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby and first appeared in X-Men #4 (March 1964). While later incarnations of the Brotherhood promoted the group's existence as a political and ideological rival to Professor Charles Xavier 's dream of peace with humans,

9035-633: The X-Men) later became the core membership of the government-sponsored team called Freedom Force . As Freedom Force, their membership briefly included Spiral and the second Spider-Woman , and later included Super Sabre , the Crimson Commando , and Stonewall . This group both fought and teamed up with several heroic groups, including the Avengers , but ultimately disbanded after Destiny, Super Sabre and Stonewall were killed in action, Mystique faked her death,

9174-409: The X-Men, as well as helping each one of them to achieve their individual goals. They have recently added the newly resurrected Selene to their ranks with the aid of the sentient virus, Arkea, and intend to bring back Madelyne Pryor herself as well. After Lady Deathstrike's host, Ana Cortes had a change of heart about being a supervillain and serving Arkea, she contacted the X-Men and informed them of

9313-466: The X-Men. Cyclops once sided with the Brotherhood during Wolverine's infiltration only to turn against the Brotherhood and assist the X-Men in fighting the Brotherhood of Mutants. When Magneto was seemingly killed by Professor X, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch tried to use the Brotherhood in more positive ways of gaining mutant rights such as proceeding with talks to the UN. This caused many splinter groups (such as

9452-425: The X-Men. The other Sisterhood members all escape. In the miniseries "Magneto: Not a Hero", Joseph is resurrected under unknown circumstances and forms a new Brotherhood of Mutants with Astra and mutated deformed versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad. It is soon revealed that the mutated versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad are clones created by Astra. All

9591-521: The X-teams, but was repeatedly defeated by X-Force , X-Factor , Darkhawk , Spider-Man , and Sleepwalker . After being captured and subjected to intensive brainwashing by the Dark Beast , Havok formed his own short-lived Brotherhood of Mutants whose membership included himself, the Dark Beast, Fatale , and, briefly, Aurora , Random , Ever, and X-Man . This incarnation was the first Brotherhood to omit

9730-868: The artificially created "daughters" of Emma Frost , is revealed in X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong . Esme and Sophie were among the feature characters in the 2011 two-issue limited series Chaos War: X-Men . In April 2024, it was announced that Sophie would have a starring role in the second volume of NYX , set for a July 2024 release as part of the " X-Men: From the Ashes " relaunch. It is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing with art by Francesco Mortarino. The new ongoing series centers on Sophie and several other mutant young adults – Kamala Khan , Laura Kinney , Anole , and Prodigy – attempting to adapt to life in New York City in

9869-550: The attack. Esme then abandoned her sisters to join Magneto's new Brotherhood of Mutants . Later, losing faith in Xorn, the Brotherhood turned on him and Esme, who attacked him, angry that Xorn did not return her affections. Xorn then killed Esme, and she died in Emma's arms, stating with her dying breath that she never wanted to end up like Emma. Soon afterwards, the institute is rebuilt, with Emma Frost and Cyclops as headmasters and leaders of

10008-413: The barn area where the procedure was underway. As a consequence of trying to intercept the occurrence, X-23 ended up with the consciousness of Sophie Cuckoo set within her mind. As Mindee was sent out to find whether or not Laura had perished in the blast. The newly rejuvenated Gabby/Esme began discussing her plan of ascendance to her two remaining sisters Phoebe and Celeste. Meanwhile, the former leader of

10147-470: The body of Jean Grey. Quentin Quire, still in love with Sophie, sensed the Phoenix and exhumed Sophie's body. He sought the Phoenix, which resurrected Sophie, but she promptly chooses to die again rather than be with him. The X-Men defeat the Phoenix, though a shard of it in firefly form locates Celeste. In New X-Men #154 (May 2004), the Stepford Cuckoos are identified as Weapon XIV (each girl being units 1 to 5, ordered alphabetically by their first names),

10286-527: The clones were killed by Magneto. Joseph is defeated by Magneto and remanded to Utopia 's X-Brig. In Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine 's son Daken forms a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Mystique, Sabretooth, Shadow King (back in Amahl Farouk's body), Blob ( AoA version), Skinless Man (Weapon III of Weapon Plus ) and the Omega Clan (consisting of Omega Red II, Omega Black and Omega White who each share

10425-594: The deciding vote to Celeste, who chose Utopia after learning that Quentin Quire was going to be at Westchester. Following the death of Charles Xavier and the appearance in the present day of the original five X-Men, the Cuckoos decide to join Cyclops's new iteration of the Xavier School. During AvX the Stepford Cuckoos came to stay at the Jean Grey School. When Cyclops and his team came to confront Beast about bringing

10564-409: The deranged Cuckoo's machinations. Sophie is also revealed to be incredibly insightful to the underlying character ticks of her sisters, having guessed Esme hated being a clone; but failed to see her growing to hate her other siblings for which over time as well. Accurately surmising that Esme's psychotic tendencies come from extreme self hatred, in part of feeling like she's less of a person due to being

10703-482: The destruction the Phoenix caused, she tried to expel the Phoenix fragment from her body, but was instead forced to seal it inside Mindee's, Phoebe's, and her own diamond hearts. She is portrayed as the most compassionate of all the Cuckoos. Upon meeting a teenage Jean Grey who was brought to the present by Beast, Celeste takes an instant dislike towards her and they are constantly bickering. When Irma decides to change her hair style and act more like an individual, Celeste

10842-633: The events of the Messiah Complex, the Cuckoos rejoin the X-Men in their new home of San Francisco , along with many of their former classmates. The girls later agree to help erase Josh Foley's memory of his work with the newly reformed X-Force team, so as to help the team maintain a sense of a secrecy from the main X-Men team. They agree to keep the team a secret, primarily out of loyalty to Cyclops. The girls have recently begun to dress more individually than before, no longer wearing matching outfits. Each of them also have different hairstyles, with only one of

10981-580: The former Brotherhood were freed and returned to their home future while Charles Xavier II and Raze Logan are left in the present, locked in the prison's Cage. In Neil Gaiman 's Marvel 1602 series, Magneto is Enrique, the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition during the year 1602, with Brother Petros and Sister Wanda (Pietro and Wanda Maximoff respectively) serving under him as messenger and assistant, respectively. Enrique had been born

11120-553: The former X-Men were attacked by Carrion Crow: Eater of the Dead. Esme later sacrificed herself to save her sister from Carrion Crow. In the aftermath of the defeat of the Chaos King, Sophie is returned to the afterlife after reality is restored by Hercules . Thunderbird even commented that the next time that he is resurrected, it would be with Sophie. After "Schism" Phoebe wanted to go to Westchester while Irma wanted to stay at Utopia, leaving

11259-416: The former head of the 5-in-one died over night. A chase would ensue after the three-in-one managed to send out a false text to call Gabby to their location at an abandoned church, wherein they put Laura under psychic hallucination as the three made off with their prize. X-23 would soon follow in hot pursuit but was bamboozled again into chasing the wrong mini van by the Cuckoos. The three of them would utilize

11398-455: The future to escape an attack, he found a city in ruins and statues of himself all around. He was greeted by mutants who saw him as a savior. He was also greeted by the time-displaced X-Men, who say Magneto is beyond redemption and that they should have stopped him when they had the chance. When Magneto returns to his own time, he decides it's time to stop pretending. He knows who he is, what he is, and he feels that being that person, that monster,

11537-489: The grave. Reluctantly offering her assistance to the Laura/Sophie amalgam in their efforts to stop the current three-in-one from reaching Cerebro before Esme can gain control of it. As Esme and the other Cuckoo's make their way to the Xavier Institute, they are intercepted by a bazooka packing Beast riding a helicopter while their leader rants about how the X-Men wasted their time and their lives protecting worthless humans. Esme

11676-411: The group was brought up in an interview, Stan Lee simply said "We were kind of corny in those days." Since the early 1990s, writers have attempted to explain this away by having Toad describe it as irony, based upon the perceived notion that all mutants are "evil." Later writers have opted instead to simply drop "Evil" from the group's name and refer to the group as "The Brotherhood of Mutants" or simply

11815-453: The group was originally conceived as simply a small, but powerful army of minions gathered by Magneto to aid in his schemes for world domination. But since the group's second incarnation, the group has become a much more politically motivated group designed for use of violence to provide justice and lead a 'mutant revolution' against mankind. One of the greater ironies of the group has been its use of "Evil" in its name. When his decision to name

11954-436: The group, before it was defeated by the X-Men and Mystique sucked into another dimension by X-Corps recruit Abyss (ironically landing the two into the arms of Azazel , who was the father of both Abyss and Mystique's biological son Nightcrawler). Following her being rescued from her former lover's realm, Mystique would become a reluctant agent of Professor X, doing black ops missions for him. While employed, Mystique claimed that

12093-504: The healthy body of an X-23 program subject, Gabby. In reality however, Esme had been manipulating both her sisters and their engineering assistants from behind closed doors the entire time. Subtly pushing her three living relatives into mind controlling several biophysical manipulation experts to giving herself a new lease on life, as well as having Helen create a cellular degeneration compound with which she used to murder her sister Sophie behind everyone's backs again. All while pleading that

12232-410: The island's school, thus giving them something to do with their time. During the " Chaos War " storyline, Esme and Sophie are among the fallen X-Men members who return from the dead after what happened to the death realms. Sophie confronted Esme about her death with little resolution. During this time, Sophie befriended Thunderbird . While searching for answers among the remains of the Xavier Institute,

12371-512: The leadership of Sunspot , Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club . However, this was just a manipulative ruse, and these four New Mutants were neither a team at the time nor conducting villainous activity. An all-female incarnation called the Sisterhood was formed by the "Red Queen"—revealed to be Madelyne Pryor —who recruited Martinique Jason , Lady Mastermind , Chimera , and the non-mutants Spiral and Lady Deathstrike . The Sisterhood

12510-461: The lineup. A training session also showed a new Super Sabre and Crimson Commando , but they were not included on the mission. This Brotherhood attempted to kill Senator Robert Kelly . This plot was thwarted by Cable , Gambit , Beast, Colossus , and Pyro (who died from the Legacy Virus saving Senator Kelly from Post), but managed to assassinate Moira MacTaggert before they were disbanded. Later,

12649-507: The living weapon code between Weapon XIII ( Fantomex ) and Weapon XV ( Ultimaton ). Manipulated by both the shard of the Phoenix and Dr. John Sublime, the Cuckoos reanimate Esme and Sophie as corpses and return to the World . At the World, they are greeted by a computer image of Sublime and learn of their thousands of cloned siblings. Their true purpose was to collect data on the X-Men and transmit it to

12788-481: The local supermarket, having given up her career as a photographer because, as she puts it, "housework's enough for me". Ruthanne Hendry (a new resident and the first black woman in Stepford) appears poised to become the next victim. Michelle Arrow says: "not only a satire of male fears of women's liberation, but a savage view of heterosexual marriage. In this telling, a man would rather kill his wife and replace her with

12927-627: The mental manipulation of one Dr. Helen Marks by Phoebe, Irma and Celeste, the professor was able to fabricate clone bodies from D.N.A templates identical to the trio's fallen siblings, whilst the Cuckoo's beckoned the wayward consciousnesses of Sophie and Esme from the afterlife to inhabit them. The process was flawed however, as the xeroxed bodies rejected the psychic imprint of their mortal hosts; causing their bodies to deteriorate at an accelerated pace. In order to properly preserve their dying matriarchs, Esme — carrying an ailing Sophie by her side — demanded they go through with an alternative plan: securing

13066-471: The more peaceful X-Men, though on rare occasions, the two sides have allied against a common threat, most notably Apocalypse . Among the Mutants who are frequently depicted as members of the Brotherhood are Mystique , Toad , Blob , Pyro , Mastermind , Quicksilver , and Scarlet Witch . The original Brotherhood was depicted as Magneto's primary allies in his early battles with the X-Men in comics published in

13205-448: The movies, the girls start mentally torturing their classmates using scenarios from The Twilight Zone and Ring among others. After Emma discovers this, she reveals that as a child she was a fan of the film Clash of the Titans , and that she occasionally daydreams of being in the movie herself. Realizing that she always loved teaching, Emma decides to make the Cuckoos into teachers for

13344-636: The name of the fifth Cuckoo during their run on New X-Men , and it was only later on that this fifth Cuckoo was named "Mindee" by Chuck Austen . However, writer Matt Fraction later rectified this, stating that Mindee's real first name was "Irma". They were first called the Stepford Cuckoos in New X-Men #123 (April 2002), which was also the first issue in which Esme was named. Sophie, Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee were named in New X-Men #134 (January 2003), New X-Men #149 (January 2004), New X-Men #153 (April 2004), and New X-Men #156 (June 2004), respectively. In

13483-517: The new "Brotherhood of Arakko" alongside Magneto, Sunspot, and the Fisher King. After Storm brings an end to the bloody "Genesis War" by destroying the staff that has kept Genesis trapped beneath Annihilation's whispering and corruption as punishment for the civil war, Arakko's Great Ring chooses to exile Genesis. But even in exile, Genesis is hardly ready to give up on battle. She announces her new Brotherhood, along with her children, War and Famine. As

13622-475: The new "X". This series was cancelled after nine issues, at which point all members had either been killed in the power struggle between Hoffman and Marshal or by the publicity-driven X-Force (later renamed X-Statix ). The next incarnation of the Brotherhood was led by Mystique again and included Avalanche, Blob, Mastermind, and new member Fever Pitch . This Brotherhood had infiltrated the X-Corps and took over

13761-467: The original Professor X and Mystique), Beast, Ice Thing (a semi-sentient ice construct created by the future Iceman), Molly Hayes , Deadpool , and Raze Logan (the son of Wolverine and Mystique, who first arrived disguised as Shadowcat). Some of the members of the Future Brotherhood died during the event, while some of them survived and remain living in the present. Although it appeared that all of

13900-410: The original X-Men forward in time the Cuckoos left with them. When Teen Angel tried to leave Wolverine's school Teen Jean tried to force him to stay against his will. As punishment the Cuckoos forced Teen Jean into submission and only relented after Teen Jean had learned her "lesson." Angel then left to join Cyclops's team much to Teen Jean's grief since they were supposed to stay together. After joining

14039-532: The original X-Men team (consisting of Cyclops , Angel , Beast , Iceman and Marvel Girl ), in their first appearance taking control of a small country with the aid of Mastermind creating an illusion of an army. They captured Angel and took him to their base, known as Asteroid M , but he was rescued. They tried to recruit the Sub-Mariner, and then the Blob, but the X-Men succeeded against them. Finally Magneto and Toad were captured by an extraterrestrial being called

14178-410: The original X-Men, who had recently been brought through time to the present by Beast. With the money the Brotherhood of Mutants robbed in the heists, Mystique acquired Madripoor from HYDRA and attempted to turn it into a mutant sanctuary. Posing as Dazzler, Mystique attracted Magneto to the island and showed him her plans. However, Magneto reacted violently to the plan, believing that Mystique and

14317-511: The other clones through shared nanotechnology in their bodies. It is revealed that the Phoenix fragment has manifested in order to destroy the Cuckoos and all of their clones to prevent them from being activated as a weapon and killing all mutants. The Phoenix manifests most strongly through Celeste, using her as its avatar, but is then diffused according to Sublime's plans among each of the cloned telepaths, boosting their powers. The Cuckoos then learn that they also shared Emma's ability to turn into

14456-672: The other members of the Brotherhood also regained their adult forms, but discovered that Magneto had abandoned them. Without their leader, the Brotherhood soon teamed up with the Vanisher as part of a plot to get revenge on the X-Men, but were beaten by the Champions . After this defeat, the Brotherhood was disbanded, and its remaining members were imprisoned. The shapeshifting mutant Mystique later organized her own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Members included Pyro , Blob, Avalanche , Destiny and Rogue . This team (minus Rogue, who had defected to

14595-762: The other students and captured by Belasco , who has helmets placed on them to keep them asleep to prevent them from using their powers. They were freed by a newly revived X-23 and turn the tide of the battle against Belasco. When the Hulk attacks Xavier, the Astonishing X-Men , and the New X-Men , the Stepford Cuckoos contact several other X-teams such as Excalibur , the Uncanny X-team, and X-Factor to get their help. They then help Prodigy access all his forgotten knowledge and abilities to compensate for his power loss as thanks for saving them when anti-mutant terrorists known as

14734-452: The others were traitors to their species in part due to allowing the use of Mutant Growth Hormone to run rampant in the streets to fund their operations. He heavily injured Mystique and the Brotherhood and left after making their base collapse. Inspired by Madelyne's attempt of defeating the X-Men, Lady Deathstrike has recruited the likes of Typhoid Mary and Enchantress and put together an all new Sisterhood, her own illuminati to take down

14873-433: The pasts of Stepford's wives, discovering that some of the women were once feminist activists and successful professionals. The leader of the men's club is a former Disney engineer and others are artists and scientists, capable of creating lifelike robots. Her friend Bobbie helps her investigate, going so far as to write to the state department of health to inquire about possible toxins in Stepford. However, eventually, Bobbie

15012-401: The post- Krakoan Age when mutants are hated and feared even more due to the actions of Orchis. As revealed in the first issue of X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong , the sisters are grown from ova cells harvested from telepath Emma Frost while she lay comatose after a Sentinel attack that killed her students, the original Hellions , and are only five of many cloned daughters. They state that over

15151-496: The protégés and favorites of Emma Frost, and were unaware of their true purpose. A telepathic block was used to mask their placement in the school, causing anyone who questioned their origins to lose their train of thought. They, along with student Quentin Quire , were noted as the strongest telepaths among the new students at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning . Although Quire and the Stepford Cuckoos were rivals, Quire had

15290-474: The purpose of excising their deranged number from Gabby's body, where afterwards the equally disembodied Sophie would bury her twisted psyche so deep she would never resurface again. In the aftermath, the remaining Cuckoo clones would disappear for a time. Laura would hear that they're squatting in Paris, something she knows that they know that Sophie would've enjoyed. Professor Xavier, now simply called X , calls upon

15429-421: The quintumvirate, Sophie, would communicate with Laura in the mental plane, explaining to her and Cuckoo family's life story just as Irma would run into Laura thinking it was Sophie in the physical world. After some harsh coercion by the former and more nuanced explanations by her deceased sibling, Mindee is appalled at the discovery Esme had schemed, lied and killed her only kin once more after returning from beyond

15568-564: The same drug to boost her powers. The Stepford Cuckoos held Frost to be partially responsible for Sophie's death - with Frost having "inspired her to heroism" - and disassociated themselves from her at that time. With the death of Sophie, the Five-in-One became the Four-in-One. Wary of having a part of themselves missing, they tested to see if their powers still functioned well by contacting Jean Grey telepathically and informing her that Emma Frost

15707-541: The second Xorn , who sucked them into the " black hole " within his head; Nocturne was sucked in as well, and Juggernaut followed her. They eventually landed in Mojoworld, where the others sold Nocturne and Juggernaut to Mojo , for their freedom. In Young X-Men , Donald Pierce , in disguise as Cyclops , deceives several X-Men in training into attacking what he dubs a new incarnation of the Brotherhood, which consists of Cannonball , Danielle Moonstar and Magma , all under

15846-629: The second and third Brotherhood formed by her were actually formed by someone trying to frame her, something Xavier dismissed as lies designed by Mystique to gain sympathy from Xavier. Another Brotherhood was formed by former X-Man Xorn , who thought he was Magneto. His Brotherhood were his former students Beak , Angel Salvadore , Martha Johansson , Basilisk II, Ernst, Esme of the Stepford Cuckoos , and old Brotherhood member Toad. Most members rebelled against Xorn after he accidentally killed Basilisk and his insanity became too obvious to ignore. In

15985-495: The splintered fragment of the Phoenix Force inside their hearts by permanently changing their hearts to diamond, in the process sacrificing their ability to ever feel genuine emotions again. The Phoenix Force eventually manages to escape, potentially allowing the sisters to regain their emotions. During the Warsong series, the Cuckoos gained the power of flight and pyrokinesis , presumably from Phoenix-induced telekinesis. Additionally,

16124-648: The stake, capture Toad, and sail to the Americas; as Gaiman's reinterpretation of Magneto is more rooted in religion than morality, here his group is named 'The Brotherhood of Those Who Will Inherit The Earth'. After a brief encounter with Carlos Javier in which Roberto Trefusis freezes their ship in the middle of the ocean, Enrique agrees to work with the other heroes. When the world is saved, Enrique departs, entrusting Wanda and Petros to Javier, and instructing him to take care of them until he returns, and never to tell them that they are his children. The fate of Toad in this world

16263-415: The sterility of suburban living, and thus the science fiction elements are only lightly explored, the movie still makes it much clearer than the book that the women are being replaced by some form of robot. Goldman's treatment of the book differed from that of Forbes, with the robots closer to an idealized Playboy Bunny ; it has been claimed that the look was scrapped when Forbes's actress wife Nanette Newman

16402-416: The strength of their gestalt depends on their proximity to one another; the further they are from one another, the weaker their ability to connect. Though they most often function and act as one unit, they are indeed capable of thinking and operating individually. When all five sisters were alive, Sophie was the dominant consciousness and often commanded the Cuckoos. However, as implied by Esme's actions, it

16541-499: The team and getting settled in, Irma changes her hair style, much to Celeste's horror, though Emma approves and encourages Irma and her sisters to be their own people. Irma spots Triage and both seem to have an attraction to each other, but neither acts on it. They later participate as members of Cyclops's team during the Battle of the Atom. When the time-displaced team of the original X-Men join Cyclops's team, Celeste becomes hostile towards

16680-553: The technology used to create Asteroid M and locating potential recruits, including Nightcrawler . Though she was in love with Magneto, he did not love her. This rejection led to her quitting the team and served as the motivation behind her creation of the Magneto clone Joseph . During the threat of the Legacy Virus , Mystique organized another Brotherhood, drawing members from nearly every incarnation like Avalanche, Blob, Toad, and Post and adding Sabretooth and Martinique Jason to

16819-510: The television sequels. Scherick was credited posthumously as producer of the 2004 remake. In a March 27, 2007, letter to The New York Times , Levin said that he based the town of Stepford on Wilton, Connecticut , where he lived in the 1960s. Wilton is a "step" from Stamford , a major city lying 15 miles (24 km) away. The premise involves the married men of the fictional Fairfield County town of Stepford, Connecticut and their fawning, submissive, impossibly beautiful wives. The protagonist

16958-546: The terraformation of Mars and the relocation of the mutant nation of Arakko to the newly verdant planet, Storm claimed a seat on the Great Ring of Arakko. While Storm attempted to navigate the complicated politics of the warlike Arakki, she found herself at odds with Abigail Brand and S.W.O.R.D.'s plans for the planet. When Brand proposed an X-Men team as a controlling influence for the Arakki, Storm declined her offer and instead formed

17097-430: The thousand clones, despite their newfound freedom and desire to experience life, by shattering their newly manifested diamond forms as well as Esme and Sophie. Disgusted by the destruction, Celeste casts the entity out of her body. However, it refuses to depart causing Celeste to reabsorb it into her own and Mindee and Phoebe's diamond hearts to end the Phoenix's destruction. Unlike Emma's diamond composition, which contains

17236-529: The three of them prepare to face Orchis , who "aimed [them] like a weapon". In the Age of Apocalypse reality, Apocalypse is served by a strikeforce of mutant fanatics calling itself the Brotherhood of Chaos. Its members are Copycat , Box , Spyne , Yeti and Arclight . In Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows , the Brotherhood of Mutants consists of Magneto, Blob, Toad, Mist Mistress, Jubilee, and an unnamed mutant that resembles Crucible . They appear to attack

17375-511: The time-displaced teenage Jean Grey. During an excursion to a mall, Jean reveals to Celeste that Irma and Phoebe do not have a problem with her like Celeste does. The group encounters a member of the Inhumans , and the Cuckoos as well as Jean Grey are knocked out. The remaining Cuckoos, feeling empty without their sisters, opted to seek out and employ a genetic regeneration specialist who did work at The Facility behind Laura Kinney 's genesis. Through

17514-404: The town of Stepford is changing the wives from free-thinking, intelligent women into compliant wives dedicated solely to homemaking. As her friends slowly transform, Joanna realizes the horrific truth. The book has had two feature film adaptations, both using the same title as the novel: the 1975 version , and the 2004 remake . Edgar J. Scherick produced the 1975 version as well as all three of

17653-478: The violent aspects of the Brotherhood's ideology, several have ultimately rejected it and left the group because of it. Most notably, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left the group due to their disillusionment with Magneto's ideology to join the Avengers, a group of heroes dedicated to protecting the world as opposed to ruling it. The original leader of the team was Magneto , a mutant with the ability to control magnetic fields. It would later be revealed that Magneto

17792-420: The wives and the children of the male residents were replaced by drones. It ended with the members of the conspiracy being killed. A 1996 version called The Stepford Husbands was made as a third television movie with the gender roles reversed and the men in the town being brainwashed by a female clinic director into being perfect husbands. Another film titled The Stepford Wives was released in 2004. It

17931-408: The women in Stepford is that they are both lifeless and docile, hence the men do not need consent in order to fulfill their sexual desire. In 1975, the book was adapted into a science fiction thriller directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman and starring Katharine Ross , Paula Prentiss , Peter Masterson and Tina Louise . While the script emphasis is on gender conflict and

18070-454: The woods, and she accuses them of creating robots out of the town's women. The men deny the accusation and ask Joanna if she would believe them if she saw one of the other women bleed. Joanna agrees and they take her to Bobbie's house. Bobbie's husband and son are upstairs, with loud rock music playing. The scene ends as Bobbie brandishes a knife at her former friend. In the story's epilogue, Joanna has become another Stepford wife gliding through

18209-577: Was "inspired to heroism" and used Kick to strengthen her powers and fight him. The strain killed Sophie, though it was secretly Esme's psychic influence that ultimately pushed her toward death. She has since been portrayed in other realities as the most free-thinking of the Cuckoos. Down the line of publishing, Sophie shows a more maternal and chivalrous expression of character towards her siblings. Even towards Esme whom had betrayed and killed her twice. Showing she felt extreme amounts of guilt over her siblings actions which nearly cost Laura her own sister due to

18348-575: Was a Holocaust survivor, explaining his distrust of humanity because of the actions done by the Nazi Party and its inability to accept those who are different. The other members of the original team were Quicksilver , who can move and think at incredible speeds, his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch , who has the power to affect probability fields, the Toad , a sniveling villain with incredible jumping ability and

18487-403: Was able to capture and brainwash the former X-Man Psylocke , making her a member also. Although being neither female nor a recruited member, former Hellions member Empath was revealed to be helping the team in their attack against the X-Men. The Red Queen is later lured into a trap set by Cyclops (Madelyne's former husband) and defeated. Psylocke broke free from her brainwashing and rejoined

18626-405: Was also discovered by the X-Men that Mesmero had used his powers to brainwash the members of his Brotherhood to join the team and force them to carry out those attacks. Once his control was broken, the Brotherhood was dissolved and Mesmero was arrested. Mesmero eventually escape from the Box and persuades Pyro and Avalanche to help him get revenge on Lydia Nance. After the fight with the X-Men and

18765-455: Was attempting to conduct an affair with her husband, Scott Summers . Secretly, Esme Cuckoo had been collaborating with X-Man Xorn , then disguised as Magneto . Taking control of the Cuckoos' group mind, she telepathically forced Angel Salvadore to attack Emma Frost, completely shattering her diamond body into fragments. Jean Grey managed to telekinetically reassemble Frost and return her to life, whereupon Emma revealed Esme's involvement in

18904-499: Was cast as one of the town residents. A 1980 television sequel was titled Revenge of the Stepford Wives . In this film, instead of being androids, the wives underwent a brainwashing procedure and then took pills that kept them hypnotized. In the end, the wives broke free of their conditioning and a mob of them killed the mastermind behind the conspiracy. In a 1987, a television sequel/remake titled The Stepford Children , both

19043-430: Was directed by Frank Oz and featured Nicole Kidman , Bette Midler , Matthew Broderick , Christopher Walken , Roger Bart , Faith Hill , Glenn Close and Jon Lovitz . It was intended to be more comedic than the previous versions. The new script by screenwriter Paul Rudnick has the women being transformed into carefully controlled cyborgs rather than being murdered and replaced with robots. The script culminates in

19182-414: Was later revealed to be a mole). After Black Tom killed Juggernaut's friend Squid-Boy (who was attacking Juggernaut for his "apparent betrayal"), Juggernaut lashes out and tried to destroy the Brotherhood. After knocking Juggernaut and several other Brotherhood members unconscious, Exodus led his team to the Xavier Institute to claim revenge for the apparent death of Magneto. The entire team was defeated by

19321-432: Was later revealed to be the one responsible for the events that killed Sophie. Wanting to seize control of the Cuckoos but encountering resistance from Sophie, Esme used the drug Kick on herself to augment her own psychic powers and take control of the Stepford Cuckoos' group mind. Esme manipulated her sister Sophie into also using the drug Kick in order to overexert her telepathic powers to the point of death. Esme returned in

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