Ever since the cancellation of Archie’s Sonic book and the franchise’s move to IDW, one aspect of the old comics has remained in limbo: the status and future of Archie Sonic’s supporting characters, the Freedom Fighters…until now!

This cast, which included Princess Sally, Rotor, Antoine, Bunny, and Nicole, started out in DiC’s old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, but would subsequently live on for decades within the pages of Archie Sonic. That all came to an end when that comic was canceled, and Archie Sonic fans have been demanding their return ever since.

Well, Freedom Fighter fans got some good (and unsurprising) news today: IDW Sonic’s head writer, Ian Flynn, feels the same way. After an old and out of context quote of his popped up on Twitter yesterday, which implied he dismissed the characters as outdated and niche, Flynn decided to address the future of the Freedom Fighters.

The answer is: IDW is aware of the demand, and Flynn is considering where and when to possibly bring them back, but whether they can ever return is out of his hands. Flynn went on to say that if the characters ever do return, they will be “updated” to be more relevant within the comic, what he calls a “middle ground” between the character’s SatAm roots and modern Sonic. He confirmed that these new designs would need to be different from the character’s redesigns from the Archie Sonic “Genesis wave” reboot, as those designs are 100% off limits.

For Flynn’s full twitter statement, please check out the embedded tweets below:

A 7-year-old quote of mine is being trotted out in the most unflattering way possible (almost vilifying) so I'll comment on it briefly and indirectly:

If/When the FF return, they will almost assuredly be updated to fit into Modern!Sonic's style/world/themes. (1/3) — Ian Flynn (@IanFlynnBKC) October 20, 2019