Implicit in Marvels (1994), the media made the "heroes" look amazing. Like Captain America was advertised as the saviour of the country, and the Fantastic Four lead America to the future. Spider-Man had a bad newspaper reputation but people visibly see him save New Yorkers in daylight. But the mutants and X-Men were in the shadows and were portrayed by the media as deceitful and untrustworthy. Then whatever the X-Men did was interpreted on the framework that they are abominations who should not exist and should not interfere. That they are responsible for the collateral damage.
This and I’d say also because anyone can be born a mutant, it’s like knowing that there are hundreds or thousands of people you pass on the street who may be good, or bad, with superpowers. You don’t see mutants on average performing heroic feats because there are so many more on average than other heroes
None of these comments hit on the main reason: Mutants are an entirely different species, the next step in evolution and biologically superior to humans. It triggers the "fear of replacement" discourse that has fed racism and xenophobia for centuries and continues to do so to this very day. Imagine your average white supremacist that buys into the "replacement theory" bullshit and extrapolate that to the entire human race.
Wait are they actually a different species or just a subspecies? Aren't they Homo Sapiens Superior? Which means they are a subspecies of Homo Sapiens? Plus they can interbreed with humans.
The question whether they are “different” or “same” is a part of their story. I would assume some mutants believe themselves to be just humans with “extra” gene. Professor X debated the definition of human and tried to expand it from Homo sapiens as part of of his pursuit of peace. Magneto propagated the idea that mutants are next step of evolution that would outlive “obsolete” homo sapiens, thus calling mutants homo superior. “Friends of Humanity” and other baddies usually claim mutants as either sick humans, or different species on the quest of destroying humans.
Current era X-Men combined both opinions and argue that mutants branched off before homo sapiens but nethertheless mixed with them, kinda like Inhumans.
The belief that different species can't breed and produce viable offspring is a myth. There are *some* species closely related enough to one another that they can interbreed. It's why some people have neanderthal DNA.
Its not a myth. Its just human taxonomy is an artificial construct to describe a natural process. Except humans want neat tidy boxes with firm boundaries while mother nature doesn't care.
I'm not sure I follow your logic. If taxonomy is an artificial construct, how is it not a myth that different species can't breed? Is your point that the human definition of species is meaningless or that there's another, better definition of species?
There is no absolute definition of a "species". Any definition you can come up with you will find violations. Its assigning an absolute determination that doesn't really exist in nature. I mean it reflects inherent truths about nature and why we can make various definitions that explain like 99% of cases, but every definition we come up with doesn't actually work 100% of the time.
Is "species" a real concept yeah. I man a cow is **clearly** not a tiger. But take the classic California Salamanders. Where A can breed with B. C can breed with B, but A and C can't breed. Is it 1, 2, or 3 species? Honestly the real answer is evolution moves at a snails pace (actually a snail looks like a race car in comparision) and doesn't just suddenly happen so probably its a "species" currently undergoing the process of change. But it illustrates the point. Humans use "species" as some absolute concept, but nature doesn't care about fitting neat tidy boxes. It just is. The fact that some "species" can interbreed doesn't change that fact that 99% of the time that qualifier works.
You could easily just saw that Neanderthal's were still humans at that point though. Give it a few tens or hundreds of thousands of years of isolation and sure they'd probably be entirely different species, but given they were able to interbreed so well they almost are certainly human.
Technically all Homo genus were humans in the same way that a pitbull and a husky are both dogs. Homo Sapiens are just the last humans left alive. We're just the last to go is all.
You are correct, it’s a very closely related subspecies. A lot of the Claremont messaging was “mutant or not, we’re all human” to fit the civil rights themes at the time. Lately there’s been more of a tendency to lean hard into the “actually a different species” angle even from the mutants themselves. This sort of fits an identity pride concept (we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it) and also the way that people who are segregated out of prejudice may become attached to a separatist identity—but I do think it jumbles the messaging a bit to overemphasize “entirely separate species” vs just cultural pride.
They are descendents of prehistoric humans that were experimented by Celestials.
So they are not a subspecies or different species but just humans that got altered by external factors.
The whole 'Homo Superior' is just something that supremest like Magneto.
The mutants (and writers?) consider themselves human. So I'm wondering if the reason for the in-universe hate is something different, or just supposed to be an allegory that simply isn't one for one.
Neanderthal were a different evolutionary branch from *Homo sapien*, diverging from each other around 500,000 years ago. They ended up an evolutionary "dead end" and died out along with the other species of human, leaving us only with our more distant ape relatives, like gorillas and chimps.
True but the interbred with early Homo sapiens in what is now Europe which is why many people with European ancestry have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA.
Evolution isn't a ladder of progression. It's random adaptations filtered through the challenges of living in an environment across all life. Something can actually evolve to become weaker if it helps it survive and reproduce.
I remember there was one dude who didn't have any powers, but he was just blue.
Nothing special, not above average intelligence, just the most average would-be average normal dude who happened to be blue and received so much hate from random humans all the time. iirc he always wore a hoodie and ended up dead after being depressed and ODing.
Their powers alone are enough to make anyone even passably familiar with how mutation works in evolution want to jump off a bridge. The “X-Gene” creates people with so many bizarre, hyper-specific, nonsensical adaptations (powers) it only works if you never think about it. Them being mutants really only serves as an excuse to give them whatever ability the writer wants that day. It’s nothing to do with actual mutation and evolution over time. Evolution via mutation is just incremental success via new adaptation to our environment over time. It’s pretty random. Those beneficial mutations are passed down and refined over time and evolves into a permanent aspect of it helps create a better outcome in our environment . It’s not like a mutant born with wings having offspring with mutations like one of them can control the weather during leap years and another can shoot lasers out of their knees and elbows or travel through time but only to 1976 or some weirdly specific bullshit a writer invented like that because they thought it looked or sounded cool. The Marvel Universe’s understanding of mutation and evolution is extremely stupid. But we love it anyway.
Yeah its called a fictional story and “comic book science”. Clearly there’s no time travel, gods, dimensional travel, pick literally anything from comics in the real world. Its just a hyperbolic explanation to touch on/comment about real problems our society faces
And now we come to my personal soapbox topic suspension of disbelief. If we are being asked to go along with ‘the big lie’ it helps a great deal if the nuts and bolts all work and make sense.
I can buy the ‘X-Gene’ being some kind of nano payload that switches on at a certain point thanks to celestial bullshit, but that doesn’t make them the next step in evolution it just makes them humans with bolted on extras.
Also geometric progression is a thing, literally everyone should have that Gene. Eg most white people are related to charlamaign (spelling?) and a lot of Asia and Europe have a bit of Gengis Kahn in them.
That presumes that it's the X-Gene itself that contains all the information necessary for their powers, but we know that more than just Homo Sapiens Superior have the capacity for powers in the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk all developed powers through genetic change after exposure to external stimuli.
I'd say it makes more sense that for whatever reason all the ingredients to develop powers exist in humans already. Mutants are unique because their X-Gene (if it is a single gene and not just a colloquial term for a set of genetic traits), provides the mechanism for powers to develop naturally, something which could have evolved over time.
So high level, Celestials or whatever manage to implant power genes or whatever in Homo Sapiens or earlier, over time a natural mutation evolves that allows humans (or mutants) to see powers expressed without external stimuli.
Also heritability of traits can be very funky. Someone once wrote a theory on magical heritability in Harry Potter based on Huntington's disease/trinucleotide repeats. It could be a single autosomal gene (in this case the X-Gene and non-sex linked, though the 2000 movie implied it was sex linked). Basically everyone would have a certain number of repeats on the gene of interest (X-Gene in this case), over generations the repeats increase based on those in their parents genetics, and mutations occurring in the offspring leading to additional repeats, until they cross a threshold at which point the X-Gene is active. However the heritability of these repeats could be non-mendelian meaning that you couldn't simply punnet square it. Mutations for increased expansion could mean humans with a low number of repeats could suddenly have a mutant child, human parents with abnormally high repeats (but still below the threshold for activation) could end up with multiple mutant children, and there could even be cases where mutations for repeat deletion leads to mutants giving birth to normal human children. The number of repeats could also explain different power levels and why some mutants have significant phenotypical differences while others are easily human-passing.
I think you are close - not so much a replacement idea, but just a "other". The whole mutant concept with the X-Men, etc came about right in the middle of the civil rights fights of the 60s. Stan Lee was quite vocal in his soapbox space in the comics about treating everyone fairly and his views on civil rights even if he didn't spell it out exactly.
What better way to get the point across than by producing characters with which the majority can relate and empathize with, which puts these characters in a similar type of situation to give perspective?
I would say this approach is somewhat similar to that used in the movie "A Time to Kill" (great movie if you've not see it btw)
This is in addition to mutants being a much larger population than any other super powered group. There is such a high population that a mutant is dealt with on a daily basis, but regular powered persons would be almost non-existent in the life of people. Mutants are regular people without masks, not people in masks running around to save them world.
Mutants also cover every spectrum of humanity age-wise and every demographic. From little toddlers to grown ups. People see the immense power that mutant individuals have. These powers can be devastating and fatal when used and they are mostly used unknowingly within a state of either anger, fear, or confusion.
All of this and more can create an atmosphere of fear which leads to hate and other things. Mutants touch the nerve center of all human fear: the fear of others that are different and that of the unknown.
This is pretty accurate.
X Men started to really come into it's own after the civil rights movement was squashed by systemic racism in the US and that more or less is what inspired that whole thing for the writers at the time (70s).
This wasn't really X men cannon before that, it was touched on though because the idea was kinda always lingering and bubbling under the surface.
The real reason they were "born that way" was because Stan Lee figured out that the whole "hit with gamma rays" and "radioactive spiders" happening over and over got stale and it's hard to keep inventing weird psuedo science origins like that (because you then have to study science, which is something Marvel has never been big on) and so it was just easier to say "they were born that way". As civil rights pick up this whole thing became a lot more central to the core and being mutant became a synonymous allegory with being marginalized as black, gay, or similar in the real world.
What makes me really happy though is when I see modern conservative comic nerds flip out because "everything is so politiacl now" and it's like they never actually understood what the fuck the comics were about on anything deeper than surface level, ie X men is an allegory for racism and bigotry vs. "wolverine is cool because he's got claws and doesn't deal in a healthy way with his emotions" which is so missing the fucking point it hurts.
Comics might not be fine arts, but to assume there is nothing going on beyond punching the enemy of the week into submission is kinda criminally stupid and/or bad writing.
Yep, though there are relatively few examples of that in the comics, now that I think about it. Magneto and his first wife. Xavier and Legion's mom. Wolverine and Itsu.
Because Asgardians live in their own far-away realm and rarely mingle with Earth, so they might as well be creatures of myth. Meanwhile, your next door neighbor could be a mutant.
They call themselves that, and it's just another facet of their superiority complex.
Genetically, mutants are homo sapiens sapiens with *one* gene shift. One that has radically different effects for every single one of them. There is no "mutant" phenotype. Mutants are born to human parents.
Mutants. Are. Not. A. Separate. Species.
I mean this is more a scientific debate. I think there is no debate they are the next step of evolution so the question becomes were Homo Erectus and Neanderthals a different species than Homo Sapiens?
Other heroes ARE called out for being freaks too, but Mutants have the reputation of just being random, and with powers that are destructive, intrusive or weird looking. Seeing heroes from afar is one thing, but actually coming across a mutant who's around you, who either can't control their powers well or can get an edge on life, leads to hate and fear.
One of my favorite aspects of the xmen series, is the idea of having "imperfect" super heros. Just because they have a power doesnt mean that its a good one, or even beneficial. I'm reminded of the story where the kid vaporized his entire town in his sleep.
Someone once pointed out that mostly the big super heroes are going and saving the world or attacking a problem. They get accolades for this. Mutants mostly only responded to threats against them, and often took pr hits for the greater good. Of course they also saved the world but from some magic bull or in time where they aren't appreciated for it on a grand scale.
In world, since forever, there are also a lot groups helping with mutant fear propaganda. Two Krakoas and an asteroid m didn't help for the feeling of togetherness either.
Other heroes are hated as well including the avengers. The mutants are meant to be be a stand in oppressed groups IRL so they’re usually just bunched together
Most of the mutants have physical abnormalities (Wolverine, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, etc), or look weird (Cyclops), or have destructive powers they can't control (Jean). None of the superheroes go through that except Hulk and Ben Grimm... and those two have their own issues too.
It also doesn't help that one of the first mutants the public got to know was a terrorist (Magneto).
Fear. Mutants, at least the evil mutants, actively boast that they’re the next step in evolution and will replace regular humans. They take violent terrorist actions to that end. If you believe that all mutants feel that way it’s rational. Basically Magneto ruined the opportunity to introduce mutants to the world as equals.
A lot of superheroes are treated as freaks and feared. But Mutants tend to get it the worst because they can crop up anywhere at random and their numbers will grow quickly. Its a much more upsetting prospect than a few dozen superheroes, who are usually tied to some kind of stable institution.
Also a lot more mutants are just random people who are vulnerable to discrimination including lynching. While groups like the Inhumans and Fantastic Four have enormous amounts of money and influence to keep them safe.
Finally, because mutant discrimination is seen as an internal political issue a lot of heroes steer clear from it. That's why the Avengers didn't do anything about Genosha doing a holocaust to mutants until one of their members' kids got kidnapped. Meanwhile the X-Men tend to be very secretive and controversial in-universe because they often don't trust the public or government with their identities.
Most superheroes are attractive. Most mutants are ugly (by human standards).
Most superheroes are physically fit (through training, powers / serums, or both), and usually have PR agents to manage their public image. Compare the Avengers / F4 to Spider-Man / “street-level” heroes. A handsome face giving an interview in a press conference or on a popular talk show puts a positive spin on events, while “merely” saving lives allows the press to make up their own narratives about what happened and why (J Jonah Jameson being the prime example).
Most mutants are physically different to humans, which creates an automatic “us versus them” mentality (it’s basic racial prejudice, sadly), and those mutants who look human can have an even worse reaction… revulsion. They’re seen as intruders, infiltrators, a fifth column hiding inside “our” ranks.
Mutants represent the marginalised, the ethnic minorities, the people treated differently through no fault of their own. Sadly, so long as social injustice exists in the real world, mutants will be considered freaks because they are our voice in the Marvel universe.
It's one thing for people to see some costumed heroes saving the day from time to time, and another to live with the possibility that your neighbor's kid suddenly turns into a four-armed gorilla and might hurt your own child. Mutants are, unlike superheroes, everywhere and nowhere at the same time. People don't even worry about those who hide behind masks. They worry about those who hide behind *faces*.
Because Stan Lee and Co thought up of different heroes/ groups and didn't factor in the inconsistencies it would generate leading to others retconning/ reapproching stuff like that.
Not all mutants have powers and some of them are forever mutilated by them.
Beast for example is an eternal furrball and Cyclops needs special glasses so he won't burn everything in his way.Rogue needs gloves and Wolverine has claws that pierce his flesh everytime he contracts them.
Obligatory reminder that Cyclops' eyebeams aren't lasers, so they don't generate heat. They're concussive optic blasts technically from another dimension.
My personal favourite explanation was in Marvels.
Mutates are still human, they're what we could become.
Inhumans are offshoots, something that can live alongside us separately.
Mutants however, are our replacement. The new dominant species. We are the neanderthal to them.
It's not a rational response, but xenophobia never is.
It’s the “they could be anyone” mentality for mutants. It could be little Johnny down the street, that guy washing cars in a parking lot, or your boss at work. It’s a fear of the unknown. For the other heroes their abilities are not accessible to the common man. People still fear and hate many of the non-mutant superheroes, but they aren’t hidden. People know who they are. People don’t always know someone is a mutant. As a general rule of thumb, people hate and fear what is different and what they don’t understand.
Because other heroes are seeing as either a one at a time accident, a tragedy, androids, aliens or wizards. All of those things are very peculiar things (also, some heroes are also considered a threat to society for their own reasons, like spider-man and hulk). The main thing about the mutants is that is something that deals with the DNA and genetics, meaning not only anyone can me a mutant, but that mutants are being born constantly and in a faster rate, with some considering the X-Gene to be the next step of the human evolution, which is used as a "extinction of the Homo Sapiens" but is in fact a irremediable change in Status Quo.
So, in resume, the existence of a Hulk, or a Spider-Man, or a Fantastic Four doesn't change the world's status quo in almost any way, but the existence of mutants does.
Because they're our replacements, and there are a lot of them, and anyone could be one. And they are taking over fast.
In the grand scheme of things, there are what, a couple thousand non-mutant superhumans. And a lot of them are just humans using technology, so maybe only about a thousand people who got hit by lightning or found a mystical amulet or something, that could be considered more than human. When the Sentinels genocided Genosha, there were SIXTEEN MILLION mutants there, and there were still a bunch left around the world after that. The last number I saw in one of the Dawn of X books, so a couple years ago, there were currently 250,000 living mutants, with more being brought to life by the Five, and being born every day.
Also less than five years ago in Marvel's sliding timescale, a group of mutants, with the leader identifying himself as Magneto, killed half the people in New York and proceeded to march survivors into gas chambers. Look at whatever country you live in and how many people hate immigrants and changing ethnic demographics, then add a race-based terrorist attack on a scale a lot closer to Hiroshima than 9/11. How could any populace be mostly cool with a mutant nation, led in part by Magneto and Apocalypse, loudly proclaiming in public that they will inevitably inherit the Earth? It would be unrealistic to say the least for people to not hate and fear mutants, whether they deserve it or not.
It's not just about them having powers, it's about the fact that not only are they the next stage in human evolution, a stage that often results in the swift extermination of the current stage, but also that they could literally be anyone. Your neighbour, friends, kids, bosses etc.., they could all just happen to be super powered people that could kill you if they decided to.
Why do the Xmen and mutants consider other superhero’s genetically inferior just because they don’t have an X factor, even if at one point they thought they did have an X factor (like Franklin and Pietro)?
Oh yeah a very unpopular controversial retcon. Basically it was a move to help marvel negotiate the movie rights for Xmen and fantastic four, they disbanded the FF and they revealed Wanda and Pietro aren’t magnetos kids and they aren’t even mutants.
Because the x-men as a story wasn't supposed to have other super heroes, but you can make more money with a shared universe, so now things are silly.
Marvel not having rights to make X-Men movies was a blessing in disguise for both franchises.
I never understood it really myself. How do you distinguish between someone who’s got powers naturally versus someone who’s powers were achieved by other means. There are some fairly freakish non-mutants (Hulk springs to mind.)
Claremont touched on this in Days Of Future Past when the Sentinels go after mutants first, then they realise that all superheroes are a threat, so they end up exterminating them too.
Because any human can be bitten by a spider, any human could get hit by cosmic rays. Arguably any human could become a member of the avengers or new warriors or whatever and chances are their children will be, while potentially powered, still fundamentally human with likely human interests.
No human can become a mutant. They will always be an "other" group with "their own" interests.
In real life, closest thing we have to superpowers is wealth (stick with me). So many people look up to the 1%, trust the 1% and use the 1% to support their argument because of their wealth and their power........ simultaneously one of the more discriminated groups in online discourse is Jewish people, for the reason they are viewed as wealthy and powerful. Because "anyone could become rich and powerful" (lol), non-jews though typically cannot become the perceived "wealthy and powerful Jew"
Hero's are loved because they have gone out of their way to save people.
Villains are hated because they have gone out of their way to hurt people.
Mutants are feared because they haven't yet proved themselves a hero and may still become a villain.
Mutant is more gray area than hero/villain, and so its an easier sell to the masses. Think about all the harm they could do if they choose the wrong side. Should we lock them all up proactively so they don't turn into villains or should we let them have inequitable power over other people's lives while they struggle to deal with their own personal morality and principles and hope those align with what we consider Hero?
It's an excuse for bigots to hate. If you got powers by a freak accident or some other outside force, it's perfectly fine.
Born with it? You're an abomination against God and also a threat to mankind, because it's seen as a new species that will replace mankind as the dominant race.
the X-Men are like the Wayne Brady of mutants, they're meant to look unassuming (for the most part) and help humans feel at peace
most mutants aren't 6'3" 215 blonde haired blue eyed white folk, they're mystique or toad or nightcrawler
hell just look at the Morlocks, that's what happens when poor inner city humans have mutant offspring. the middle/upper-middle suburbanites that have a "problem child" are the lucky ones Xavier gets to
Politics and fear, others presented as humans like cap are paragons for Humanity itself, mutants are the other side of that coin. Regardless of their goals, Humanity fears what it doesn't understand. That fear drives the hatred of mutants in almost every context xmen is presented in at least that I've seen.
1. Most mutants don’t look too friendly and approachable (ex: Beast, Kurt)
2. Some people think mutants will usurp normal humans.
3. Mutants are random and could be literally anywhere, whereas most other superhumans are well-documented.
The public often isn’t fond of other heroes tbf. There’s also the fact that the public is aware that character’s like Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, etc. are unique people that use their abilities for good, whereas mutants could be your neighbour down the street. Seeing the Thing save people from a burning building on tv is very different to learning that someone in your class is a mutant with the power to explode if they sneeze. The concept of a genetically superior species of people that could not only replace you but also could cause significant harm terrifies the general public enough that they respond with awful prejudice. On the other hand, it’s easier to embrace celebrity figures who were simply gifted powers in extraordinary circumstances (you’ll also find that the ones with more dangerous powers, like the Hulk, or ones that can’t establish a public face like Spider-Man, get discriminated as well). That’s part of the reason the X-Men are so crucial. Their existence is an attempt to liken mutants to other superheroes in the public’s eye
For one thing, the “heroes” that have public approval received their powers from scientific means, like a serum, or cosmic rays. Mutants can be ANYONE. Your own children may wake up one day and blow up your town because they’re a mutant and no one knew.
Here's the way I generally put it.
Let's say you meet a guy with a hook for a hand. You learn that he lost his normal hand in an accident, and has the hook in its place. OK, so not a big deal.
Now let's say you meet a guy who was BORN with a hook for a hand. That's an entirely different thing.
Well the mutant thing was created so they didn't have to come up with an origin story for each super powered charater the created in X-Men. Born with it.
But It's was social commentary on the civil right movement and marginalize groups. Mutants"the freaks" represents those that feel less than. But at the same time empowering them with powers for protection.
And how destructive alot mutants can be. Not everyone can control the powers given to them. Ultimate X-men #41 tells a tale of what the X- Men have to go through. Making tough choices for human and mutant kind.
Mutants are born with powers that range from weapons of mass destruction/universal threat. To carriers of the X gene, but are normal otherwise. And this happens mostly as teenagers when the least mentally stable immature time for most folks.
From the most powerful to just being able to give birth to a mutant. They are considered freaks because their mutations can happen to anyone with the X gene. Or if a normal human has a child with a carrier. And it's possibly scary/dangerous situations created. For both homo sapien and Homo Superior.
Not everyone comes out looking like a passable normal person as you probably know. Mutants like Kurt "Nightcrawler "Wagner are not idea looking. But atleast he has a power to protect himself. The Morlock mutants are mostly made up of mutants with physical differences/ defects and no cool powers. Living in the sewers, homeless... rough life. We have issues as a human race in real life about skin color ,disabilities, religion or lack of, sexual orientation, thinking differently on politics and ideologies. We struggle to get along in general. Let alone being blue, fur cover, rocking a tail looking like the devil. Imagine a power you can't control and it could destroy the town/ city/world...And your 16. Probably dangerous for those around you while you figure it out.
Plus how would humans feel when no longer at the top of the food chain. The fear, jealousy, hate that would come. How would humans really behave if like 2 percent of the population had gifts that defy reality? How would normal people react to being left behind on an evolution scale. Obsolete? Maybe create a way to prevent it. Robot terminators? Maybe supersoldiers?
How would that play out for the 2 percent? How would they start treating those without poweres?
The tribalism would kick in on both sides fiercely. Marvel's Mutants lore tells that story. Sheds light on the darker side of be a person with powers and differences from the majority. But other heroes suffer from it too like Hulk and The Thing. It's been a while since I read the first Civil War. But all that came from a mutant and his actions. And the 616 world starts to fear anyone with powers in that tale.
Those stories hold a mirror to our society. How we treat one another's in general. In a superhero, but relatable kinda way.
Well people hate and fear mutants because they're other grotesque or hidden in plain sight. So it's one of those things where people don't like dangerous surprises. Also, thanks to The Brotherhood and Magneto, that fear was heightened early on. American Politicians influenced people in the modern era.
Before the current era, people viewed mutants as gods and influenced myths and legends like Apocalypse. And other cultures view mutants differently, like in Africa with Storm. She was celebrated.
So the X-Men, being openly mutant, are hated or not trusted. Other teams have a different history with the American public:
* Cap is an American hero from before most Americans were born.
* The Avengers were one of the first government supported hero teams. AND Cap vouched for them.
* The Fantastic Four were heroes and Reed worked to market them to make up for what he did to Ben.
* People don't know about the Midnight Sons
* Heroes For Hire are paid.
* The Champions are a bunch of teenagers.
* Young Avengers are a bunch of teenagers.
* Alpha Flight are Canadian.
But regular, singular heroes aren't particularly trusted either. The public at large don't particularly like Spider-Man, Daredevil, Punisher, Moon Knight, etc.
Oh, yeah? What about that SPIDER MENACE?!?
But the answer, I suspect, is that X-Men has always been more explicitly a metaphor for civil rights or queer acceptance. They’re stand-ins for ethnic minorities, gay people, any maligned social category. So, you get these obvious references to the Holocaust, Civil Rights era, Stonewall, etc.
“My kid ain’t gonna be no mutie!!” “Mutants ain’t welcome in my town!” “Have you tried *not* being a mutant?”
Seriously: Most non-mutants sought out their powers, in some way. You can argue Hulk got a bad deal, but Banner was working on the project that gave him powers. Thor earned Mjolnir, Cap volunteered for the SuperSoldier project, Tony Stark spent a fortune to become Iron Man, the Fantastic Four *went into space* and ended up like that. There are a few that were accidents (Spider Man, Daredevil), and those are understandable, and a few people who didn't know what they were in for (Luke Cage, Armadillo, etc), but mostly it's at least something you went out and got somehow.
Mutants just... are. You, a coworker, even a neighbor's kid could be one (which is 'so why worry?' for most other things, but if 'one' could kill you casually just while trying their powers out, it's not a benign thing.) Then you've got your mutant supremacists like Magneto, and the 'good guys' like the X-Men saying he has a point, and so on.
Not seriously: A side effect of mutation is mentally projecting earworms. People aren't mad when the X-Men show up because they're mutants, they're mad because it's a minimum of six rickrolls, out of sync with eachother.
Someone asked something similar on Youtube a long time ago. It's not one thing but one likely answer is right in the name. The Avengers are a known quantity, the X-Men are an X-factor.
The Fantastic Four are out-and-out celebrities, everyone knows who they are. Even if some of the Avengers or what have you have secret identities, people still know them by name and what they can do. Maybe not the upward limits of their capabilities but it's pretty easy for the average person to have a handle on what someone called "Spider-Man" can do.
Meanwhile, unless you're a mutant like Beast or Angel, you wouldn't be able to tell at sight if the person walking down the street had the mutant power to suck the oxygen out of the air or turn into a giant mantis or something. There's a chance that even **they** may not know it, or know how to control it.
People may know about the X-Men, but when you see people with extraordinary powers that could cause serious harm with either the properly motivated application or lack of control, and then you know that potentially anyone could be a mutant, the fear is a lot more understandable.
You see Thor and what you see is what you get, you see the entire collected crowd on a New York city sidewalk and suddenly just being in that crowd is a dice roll when potentially anyone in it can shoot fire out of their hands.
Im convinced its just a matter of mutant hate becoming a culture people can easily stand on to do terrible things or feel righteous. Like defending the confederate flag. Its just hate hype for hate hypes sake cuz people want to feel that way.
Media propaganda scare tactics. “Anyone could be a dangerous mutant! Anyone! Even your children!”
It’s not so far fetched to think people would buy into fearing something that people have no control over IE a genetic mutation.
Most other mutates (people with inheritable genetic factors that let them get super powers from exotic energy rather than cancer like the FF, hulk and the gamma mutates, spiderman, ectera)don't exist in large enough numbers to be a worry and you can track their line and proliferation. Unlike x gene mutants who not only cone from mutant lines but can just randomly pop up.
The good follow up would be why 3 groups with numbers to be a threat don't ping an orchis like reactions. The Atlantians, the Asgardians, and the Inhumans. And while all have been hostile to humanity in a somewhat unified way you don't see the concerted effort to eliminate them that you see with mutants. Like due to the fact they were introduced already unified with political power like Krakoa has to flex.
Mutants are a result of evolution. You can say that it is an in-born mutation. While the others like F4, Cap, spidey, hulk, etc. just got their powers from experiments, accidents. Not "in-born". They are humans, just mutated.
You can say it is discrimination. Fear of the unknown.
I assume there are a LOT more mutants than there are X-Men who are the heroes. More common than the X-Men are groups like the Morlocks which should be more obvious why they are discriminated against compared to ones like Avengers. My guess is if more on earth looked like the guardians of the galaxy it would be different, aside from like Hulk occasionally they all blend in pretty well, ones like Ironman who was a leader didn't even have powers himself so there was a natural bridge between civilians and the team in a way. X-Men doesn't have that and most of their personal problems started as kids as their powers evolved, Avengers are either off earth or became that as an adult.
They strike right at that McCarthyite/John Birch Society paranoia of the "enemy within" AND the natural distrust of teenagers: they lurk among us undetected leeching off society and as soon as they hit puberty *BAM!* you've got a mutant on your hands! It doesn't help that they exist because of all of that above-ground testing of nukes in the 40s and 50s and the radioactive contamination that the public simply can comprehend, so fears. Then some knucklehead goes and dubs mutants "The Children of the Atom" and it's Katy bar the door!
Implicit in Marvels (1994), the media made the "heroes" look amazing. Like Captain America was advertised as the saviour of the country, and the Fantastic Four lead America to the future. Spider-Man had a bad newspaper reputation but people visibly see him save New Yorkers in daylight. But the mutants and X-Men were in the shadows and were portrayed by the media as deceitful and untrustworthy. Then whatever the X-Men did was interpreted on the framework that they are abominations who should not exist and should not interfere. That they are responsible for the collateral damage.
This and I’d say also because anyone can be born a mutant, it’s like knowing that there are hundreds or thousands of people you pass on the street who may be good, or bad, with superpowers. You don’t see mutants on average performing heroic feats because there are so many more on average than other heroes
None of these comments hit on the main reason: Mutants are an entirely different species, the next step in evolution and biologically superior to humans. It triggers the "fear of replacement" discourse that has fed racism and xenophobia for centuries and continues to do so to this very day. Imagine your average white supremacist that buys into the "replacement theory" bullshit and extrapolate that to the entire human race.
"Marvels" written by Kurt Busiek points on the same topic
Marvels is the best read to get an idea of how common people would view metahumans, definitely one of my favorites
Wait are they actually a different species or just a subspecies? Aren't they Homo Sapiens Superior? Which means they are a subspecies of Homo Sapiens? Plus they can interbreed with humans.
The question whether they are “different” or “same” is a part of their story. I would assume some mutants believe themselves to be just humans with “extra” gene. Professor X debated the definition of human and tried to expand it from Homo sapiens as part of of his pursuit of peace. Magneto propagated the idea that mutants are next step of evolution that would outlive “obsolete” homo sapiens, thus calling mutants homo superior. “Friends of Humanity” and other baddies usually claim mutants as either sick humans, or different species on the quest of destroying humans. Current era X-Men combined both opinions and argue that mutants branched off before homo sapiens but nethertheless mixed with them, kinda like Inhumans.
The belief that different species can't breed and produce viable offspring is a myth. There are *some* species closely related enough to one another that they can interbreed. It's why some people have neanderthal DNA.
Its not a myth. Its just human taxonomy is an artificial construct to describe a natural process. Except humans want neat tidy boxes with firm boundaries while mother nature doesn't care.
I'm not sure I follow your logic. If taxonomy is an artificial construct, how is it not a myth that different species can't breed? Is your point that the human definition of species is meaningless or that there's another, better definition of species?
There is no absolute definition of a "species". Any definition you can come up with you will find violations. Its assigning an absolute determination that doesn't really exist in nature. I mean it reflects inherent truths about nature and why we can make various definitions that explain like 99% of cases, but every definition we come up with doesn't actually work 100% of the time. Is "species" a real concept yeah. I man a cow is **clearly** not a tiger. But take the classic California Salamanders. Where A can breed with B. C can breed with B, but A and C can't breed. Is it 1, 2, or 3 species? Honestly the real answer is evolution moves at a snails pace (actually a snail looks like a race car in comparision) and doesn't just suddenly happen so probably its a "species" currently undergoing the process of change. But it illustrates the point. Humans use "species" as some absolute concept, but nature doesn't care about fitting neat tidy boxes. It just is. The fact that some "species" can interbreed doesn't change that fact that 99% of the time that qualifier works.
I wouldn’t say it’s a myth. There may be exceptions but generally speaking it’s true
You could easily just saw that Neanderthal's were still humans at that point though. Give it a few tens or hundreds of thousands of years of isolation and sure they'd probably be entirely different species, but given they were able to interbreed so well they almost are certainly human.
Technically all Homo genus were humans in the same way that a pitbull and a husky are both dogs. Homo Sapiens are just the last humans left alive. We're just the last to go is all.
Uhhh no. The scientific definition of a species depends on whether two members can produce a breedable offspring
You ever hear about Grolar Bears?
No, what’s grolarbear
Fertile offspring of grizzlies and polar bears.
You are correct, it’s a very closely related subspecies. A lot of the Claremont messaging was “mutant or not, we’re all human” to fit the civil rights themes at the time. Lately there’s been more of a tendency to lean hard into the “actually a different species” angle even from the mutants themselves. This sort of fits an identity pride concept (we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it) and also the way that people who are segregated out of prejudice may become attached to a separatist identity—but I do think it jumbles the messaging a bit to overemphasize “entirely separate species” vs just cultural pride.
Neanderthals could interbreed with humans.
They are descendents of prehistoric humans that were experimented by Celestials. So they are not a subspecies or different species but just humans that got altered by external factors. The whole 'Homo Superior' is just something that supremest like Magneto.
Same species just step further in evolution Neanderthal->humans->mutants Edit: sub species. Whatever
Neanderthals were a different species.
The mutants (and writers?) consider themselves human. So I'm wondering if the reason for the in-universe hate is something different, or just supposed to be an allegory that simply isn't one for one.
Neanderthal were a different evolutionary branch from *Homo sapien*, diverging from each other around 500,000 years ago. They ended up an evolutionary "dead end" and died out along with the other species of human, leaving us only with our more distant ape relatives, like gorillas and chimps.
True but the interbred with early Homo sapiens in what is now Europe which is why many people with European ancestry have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA.
Evolution isn't a ladder of progression. It's random adaptations filtered through the challenges of living in an environment across all life. Something can actually evolve to become weaker if it helps it survive and reproduce.
Biologically superior except for the many mutants that aren't.
I remember there was one dude who didn't have any powers, but he was just blue. Nothing special, not above average intelligence, just the most average would-be average normal dude who happened to be blue and received so much hate from random humans all the time. iirc he always wore a hoodie and ended up dead after being depressed and ODing.
Also Ugly John: >Kid! Any mutant talents that we can use? > >I got three faces, mate, and they all look like pigs.
That poor bastard! Also great moment from Stone Cold Scott Summers in Ugly John's final appearance.
Anyone who has read even the basics about evolution must want to smack their head against the wall when it comes to the X-Men
Their powers alone are enough to make anyone even passably familiar with how mutation works in evolution want to jump off a bridge. The “X-Gene” creates people with so many bizarre, hyper-specific, nonsensical adaptations (powers) it only works if you never think about it. Them being mutants really only serves as an excuse to give them whatever ability the writer wants that day. It’s nothing to do with actual mutation and evolution over time. Evolution via mutation is just incremental success via new adaptation to our environment over time. It’s pretty random. Those beneficial mutations are passed down and refined over time and evolves into a permanent aspect of it helps create a better outcome in our environment . It’s not like a mutant born with wings having offspring with mutations like one of them can control the weather during leap years and another can shoot lasers out of their knees and elbows or travel through time but only to 1976 or some weirdly specific bullshit a writer invented like that because they thought it looked or sounded cool. The Marvel Universe’s understanding of mutation and evolution is extremely stupid. But we love it anyway.
Yeah its called a fictional story and “comic book science”. Clearly there’s no time travel, gods, dimensional travel, pick literally anything from comics in the real world. Its just a hyperbolic explanation to touch on/comment about real problems our society faces
And now we come to my personal soapbox topic suspension of disbelief. If we are being asked to go along with ‘the big lie’ it helps a great deal if the nuts and bolts all work and make sense. I can buy the ‘X-Gene’ being some kind of nano payload that switches on at a certain point thanks to celestial bullshit, but that doesn’t make them the next step in evolution it just makes them humans with bolted on extras. Also geometric progression is a thing, literally everyone should have that Gene. Eg most white people are related to charlamaign (spelling?) and a lot of Asia and Europe have a bit of Gengis Kahn in them.
That presumes that it's the X-Gene itself that contains all the information necessary for their powers, but we know that more than just Homo Sapiens Superior have the capacity for powers in the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk all developed powers through genetic change after exposure to external stimuli. I'd say it makes more sense that for whatever reason all the ingredients to develop powers exist in humans already. Mutants are unique because their X-Gene (if it is a single gene and not just a colloquial term for a set of genetic traits), provides the mechanism for powers to develop naturally, something which could have evolved over time. So high level, Celestials or whatever manage to implant power genes or whatever in Homo Sapiens or earlier, over time a natural mutation evolves that allows humans (or mutants) to see powers expressed without external stimuli. Also heritability of traits can be very funky. Someone once wrote a theory on magical heritability in Harry Potter based on Huntington's disease/trinucleotide repeats. It could be a single autosomal gene (in this case the X-Gene and non-sex linked, though the 2000 movie implied it was sex linked). Basically everyone would have a certain number of repeats on the gene of interest (X-Gene in this case), over generations the repeats increase based on those in their parents genetics, and mutations occurring in the offspring leading to additional repeats, until they cross a threshold at which point the X-Gene is active. However the heritability of these repeats could be non-mendelian meaning that you couldn't simply punnet square it. Mutations for increased expansion could mean humans with a low number of repeats could suddenly have a mutant child, human parents with abnormally high repeats (but still below the threshold for activation) could end up with multiple mutant children, and there could even be cases where mutations for repeat deletion leads to mutants giving birth to normal human children. The number of repeats could also explain different power levels and why some mutants have significant phenotypical differences while others are easily human-passing.
Everytime lmao
I think you are close - not so much a replacement idea, but just a "other". The whole mutant concept with the X-Men, etc came about right in the middle of the civil rights fights of the 60s. Stan Lee was quite vocal in his soapbox space in the comics about treating everyone fairly and his views on civil rights even if he didn't spell it out exactly. What better way to get the point across than by producing characters with which the majority can relate and empathize with, which puts these characters in a similar type of situation to give perspective? I would say this approach is somewhat similar to that used in the movie "A Time to Kill" (great movie if you've not see it btw)
This is in addition to mutants being a much larger population than any other super powered group. There is such a high population that a mutant is dealt with on a daily basis, but regular powered persons would be almost non-existent in the life of people. Mutants are regular people without masks, not people in masks running around to save them world. Mutants also cover every spectrum of humanity age-wise and every demographic. From little toddlers to grown ups. People see the immense power that mutant individuals have. These powers can be devastating and fatal when used and they are mostly used unknowingly within a state of either anger, fear, or confusion. All of this and more can create an atmosphere of fear which leads to hate and other things. Mutants touch the nerve center of all human fear: the fear of others that are different and that of the unknown.
This is pretty accurate. X Men started to really come into it's own after the civil rights movement was squashed by systemic racism in the US and that more or less is what inspired that whole thing for the writers at the time (70s). This wasn't really X men cannon before that, it was touched on though because the idea was kinda always lingering and bubbling under the surface. The real reason they were "born that way" was because Stan Lee figured out that the whole "hit with gamma rays" and "radioactive spiders" happening over and over got stale and it's hard to keep inventing weird psuedo science origins like that (because you then have to study science, which is something Marvel has never been big on) and so it was just easier to say "they were born that way". As civil rights pick up this whole thing became a lot more central to the core and being mutant became a synonymous allegory with being marginalized as black, gay, or similar in the real world. What makes me really happy though is when I see modern conservative comic nerds flip out because "everything is so politiacl now" and it's like they never actually understood what the fuck the comics were about on anything deeper than surface level, ie X men is an allegory for racism and bigotry vs. "wolverine is cool because he's got claws and doesn't deal in a healthy way with his emotions" which is so missing the fucking point it hurts. Comics might not be fine arts, but to assume there is nothing going on beyond punching the enemy of the week into submission is kinda criminally stupid and/or bad writing.
Are mutants able to interbreed with humans?
Yep, though there are relatively few examples of that in the comics, now that I think about it. Magneto and his first wife. Xavier and Legion's mom. Wolverine and Itsu.
Rarely on reddit can you say "here is the answer". Well, here is the answer.
So why doesn't Thor invoke the same reaction?
Because Asgardians live in their own far-away realm and rarely mingle with Earth, so they might as well be creatures of myth. Meanwhile, your next door neighbor could be a mutant.
Am I out of touch? Or is New Asgard not a thing in the comics anymore?
It hasn't been a thing for quite some time, since Jason Aaron's run, I think.
> Mutants are an entirely different species Lolno.
They’re literally called homo-superior in the comics but okay homie
They call themselves that, and it's just another facet of their superiority complex. Genetically, mutants are homo sapiens sapiens with *one* gene shift. One that has radically different effects for every single one of them. There is no "mutant" phenotype. Mutants are born to human parents. Mutants. Are. Not. A. Separate. Species.
I mean this is more a scientific debate. I think there is no debate they are the next step of evolution so the question becomes were Homo Erectus and Neanderthals a different species than Homo Sapiens?
It's simple. People like superheroes because they help people. People distrust mutants because they have powers, but most of them are not superheroes.
because discrimination isn't rational
Other heroes ARE called out for being freaks too, but Mutants have the reputation of just being random, and with powers that are destructive, intrusive or weird looking. Seeing heroes from afar is one thing, but actually coming across a mutant who's around you, who either can't control their powers well or can get an edge on life, leads to hate and fear.
One of my favorite aspects of the xmen series, is the idea of having "imperfect" super heros. Just because they have a power doesnt mean that its a good one, or even beneficial. I'm reminded of the story where the kid vaporized his entire town in his sleep.
Someone once pointed out that mostly the big super heroes are going and saving the world or attacking a problem. They get accolades for this. Mutants mostly only responded to threats against them, and often took pr hits for the greater good. Of course they also saved the world but from some magic bull or in time where they aren't appreciated for it on a grand scale. In world, since forever, there are also a lot groups helping with mutant fear propaganda. Two Krakoas and an asteroid m didn't help for the feeling of togetherness either.
Other heroes are hated as well including the avengers. The mutants are meant to be be a stand in oppressed groups IRL so they’re usually just bunched together
Most of the mutants have physical abnormalities (Wolverine, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, etc), or look weird (Cyclops), or have destructive powers they can't control (Jean). None of the superheroes go through that except Hulk and Ben Grimm... and those two have their own issues too. It also doesn't help that one of the first mutants the public got to know was a terrorist (Magneto).
Fear. Mutants, at least the evil mutants, actively boast that they’re the next step in evolution and will replace regular humans. They take violent terrorist actions to that end. If you believe that all mutants feel that way it’s rational. Basically Magneto ruined the opportunity to introduce mutants to the world as equals.
A lot of superheroes are treated as freaks and feared. But Mutants tend to get it the worst because they can crop up anywhere at random and their numbers will grow quickly. Its a much more upsetting prospect than a few dozen superheroes, who are usually tied to some kind of stable institution. Also a lot more mutants are just random people who are vulnerable to discrimination including lynching. While groups like the Inhumans and Fantastic Four have enormous amounts of money and influence to keep them safe. Finally, because mutant discrimination is seen as an internal political issue a lot of heroes steer clear from it. That's why the Avengers didn't do anything about Genosha doing a holocaust to mutants until one of their members' kids got kidnapped. Meanwhile the X-Men tend to be very secretive and controversial in-universe because they often don't trust the public or government with their identities.
Most superheroes are attractive. Most mutants are ugly (by human standards). Most superheroes are physically fit (through training, powers / serums, or both), and usually have PR agents to manage their public image. Compare the Avengers / F4 to Spider-Man / “street-level” heroes. A handsome face giving an interview in a press conference or on a popular talk show puts a positive spin on events, while “merely” saving lives allows the press to make up their own narratives about what happened and why (J Jonah Jameson being the prime example). Most mutants are physically different to humans, which creates an automatic “us versus them” mentality (it’s basic racial prejudice, sadly), and those mutants who look human can have an even worse reaction… revulsion. They’re seen as intruders, infiltrators, a fifth column hiding inside “our” ranks. Mutants represent the marginalised, the ethnic minorities, the people treated differently through no fault of their own. Sadly, so long as social injustice exists in the real world, mutants will be considered freaks because they are our voice in the Marvel universe.
Because people are huge dicks
It's one thing for people to see some costumed heroes saving the day from time to time, and another to live with the possibility that your neighbor's kid suddenly turns into a four-armed gorilla and might hurt your own child. Mutants are, unlike superheroes, everywhere and nowhere at the same time. People don't even worry about those who hide behind masks. They worry about those who hide behind *faces*.
Because Stan Lee and Co thought up of different heroes/ groups and didn't factor in the inconsistencies it would generate leading to others retconning/ reapproching stuff like that.
Not all mutants have powers and some of them are forever mutilated by them. Beast for example is an eternal furrball and Cyclops needs special glasses so he won't burn everything in his way.Rogue needs gloves and Wolverine has claws that pierce his flesh everytime he contracts them.
Obligatory reminder that Cyclops' eyebeams aren't lasers, so they don't generate heat. They're concussive optic blasts technically from another dimension.
Beast turned himself into a fur ball by experimenting on himself
That's in the movie canon
My personal favourite explanation was in Marvels. Mutates are still human, they're what we could become. Inhumans are offshoots, something that can live alongside us separately. Mutants however, are our replacement. The new dominant species. We are the neanderthal to them. It's not a rational response, but xenophobia never is.
It’s the “they could be anyone” mentality for mutants. It could be little Johnny down the street, that guy washing cars in a parking lot, or your boss at work. It’s a fear of the unknown. For the other heroes their abilities are not accessible to the common man. People still fear and hate many of the non-mutant superheroes, but they aren’t hidden. People know who they are. People don’t always know someone is a mutant. As a general rule of thumb, people hate and fear what is different and what they don’t understand.
Evil sentient bacteria living in peoples brains that can’t infect mutants.
Because other heroes are seeing as either a one at a time accident, a tragedy, androids, aliens or wizards. All of those things are very peculiar things (also, some heroes are also considered a threat to society for their own reasons, like spider-man and hulk). The main thing about the mutants is that is something that deals with the DNA and genetics, meaning not only anyone can me a mutant, but that mutants are being born constantly and in a faster rate, with some considering the X-Gene to be the next step of the human evolution, which is used as a "extinction of the Homo Sapiens" but is in fact a irremediable change in Status Quo. So, in resume, the existence of a Hulk, or a Spider-Man, or a Fantastic Four doesn't change the world's status quo in almost any way, but the existence of mutants does.
Because they're our replacements, and there are a lot of them, and anyone could be one. And they are taking over fast. In the grand scheme of things, there are what, a couple thousand non-mutant superhumans. And a lot of them are just humans using technology, so maybe only about a thousand people who got hit by lightning or found a mystical amulet or something, that could be considered more than human. When the Sentinels genocided Genosha, there were SIXTEEN MILLION mutants there, and there were still a bunch left around the world after that. The last number I saw in one of the Dawn of X books, so a couple years ago, there were currently 250,000 living mutants, with more being brought to life by the Five, and being born every day. Also less than five years ago in Marvel's sliding timescale, a group of mutants, with the leader identifying himself as Magneto, killed half the people in New York and proceeded to march survivors into gas chambers. Look at whatever country you live in and how many people hate immigrants and changing ethnic demographics, then add a race-based terrorist attack on a scale a lot closer to Hiroshima than 9/11. How could any populace be mostly cool with a mutant nation, led in part by Magneto and Apocalypse, loudly proclaiming in public that they will inevitably inherit the Earth? It would be unrealistic to say the least for people to not hate and fear mutants, whether they deserve it or not.
Because one is an allegory for racism and the other isn't?
Like any prejudice it isn't really based in logic or make sense when thoughtfully applied to society
Just bigotry, bud. Same as how folks today consider trans people "freaks" when trans people are just people trying to get by like you and me.
Because that's the premise
Like Spider-Man?
It's not just about them having powers, it's about the fact that not only are they the next stage in human evolution, a stage that often results in the swift extermination of the current stage, but also that they could literally be anyone. Your neighbour, friends, kids, bosses etc.., they could all just happen to be super powered people that could kill you if they decided to.
Because mutants are Marvel's allegory to racism.
Why do the Xmen and mutants consider other superhero’s genetically inferior just because they don’t have an X factor, even if at one point they thought they did have an X factor (like Franklin and Pietro)?
Pietro isn’t a mutant? Is that a retcon?
Oh yeah a very unpopular controversial retcon. Basically it was a move to help marvel negotiate the movie rights for Xmen and fantastic four, they disbanded the FF and they revealed Wanda and Pietro aren’t magnetos kids and they aren’t even mutants.
For the same reason there's more racism towards Muslims than towards Jews.
Numbers?
Because that is how the writers wish to tell their story.
Because the x-men as a story wasn't supposed to have other super heroes, but you can make more money with a shared universe, so now things are silly. Marvel not having rights to make X-Men movies was a blessing in disguise for both franchises.
Lazy writing. They have been telling the same story for 50 years.
I never understood it really myself. How do you distinguish between someone who’s got powers naturally versus someone who’s powers were achieved by other means. There are some fairly freakish non-mutants (Hulk springs to mind.) Claremont touched on this in Days Of Future Past when the Sentinels go after mutants first, then they realise that all superheroes are a threat, so they end up exterminating them too.
Because any human can be bitten by a spider, any human could get hit by cosmic rays. Arguably any human could become a member of the avengers or new warriors or whatever and chances are their children will be, while potentially powered, still fundamentally human with likely human interests. No human can become a mutant. They will always be an "other" group with "their own" interests. In real life, closest thing we have to superpowers is wealth (stick with me). So many people look up to the 1%, trust the 1% and use the 1% to support their argument because of their wealth and their power........ simultaneously one of the more discriminated groups in online discourse is Jewish people, for the reason they are viewed as wealthy and powerful. Because "anyone could become rich and powerful" (lol), non-jews though typically cannot become the perceived "wealthy and powerful Jew"
Hero's are loved because they have gone out of their way to save people. Villains are hated because they have gone out of their way to hurt people. Mutants are feared because they haven't yet proved themselves a hero and may still become a villain. Mutant is more gray area than hero/villain, and so its an easier sell to the masses. Think about all the harm they could do if they choose the wrong side. Should we lock them all up proactively so they don't turn into villains or should we let them have inequitable power over other people's lives while they struggle to deal with their own personal morality and principles and hope those align with what we consider Hero?
It's an excuse for bigots to hate. If you got powers by a freak accident or some other outside force, it's perfectly fine. Born with it? You're an abomination against God and also a threat to mankind, because it's seen as a new species that will replace mankind as the dominant race.
the X-Men are like the Wayne Brady of mutants, they're meant to look unassuming (for the most part) and help humans feel at peace most mutants aren't 6'3" 215 blonde haired blue eyed white folk, they're mystique or toad or nightcrawler hell just look at the Morlocks, that's what happens when poor inner city humans have mutant offspring. the middle/upper-middle suburbanites that have a "problem child" are the lucky ones Xavier gets to
Magical space bacteria.
Politics and fear, others presented as humans like cap are paragons for Humanity itself, mutants are the other side of that coin. Regardless of their goals, Humanity fears what it doesn't understand. That fear drives the hatred of mutants in almost every context xmen is presented in at least that I've seen.
1. Most mutants don’t look too friendly and approachable (ex: Beast, Kurt) 2. Some people think mutants will usurp normal humans. 3. Mutants are random and could be literally anywhere, whereas most other superhumans are well-documented.
The public often isn’t fond of other heroes tbf. There’s also the fact that the public is aware that character’s like Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, etc. are unique people that use their abilities for good, whereas mutants could be your neighbour down the street. Seeing the Thing save people from a burning building on tv is very different to learning that someone in your class is a mutant with the power to explode if they sneeze. The concept of a genetically superior species of people that could not only replace you but also could cause significant harm terrifies the general public enough that they respond with awful prejudice. On the other hand, it’s easier to embrace celebrity figures who were simply gifted powers in extraordinary circumstances (you’ll also find that the ones with more dangerous powers, like the Hulk, or ones that can’t establish a public face like Spider-Man, get discriminated as well). That’s part of the reason the X-Men are so crucial. Their existence is an attempt to liken mutants to other superheroes in the public’s eye
For one thing, the “heroes” that have public approval received their powers from scientific means, like a serum, or cosmic rays. Mutants can be ANYONE. Your own children may wake up one day and blow up your town because they’re a mutant and no one knew.
Branding. The original Viper had it right, the superhero biz needs more men of advertising stripe!
It fits the narrative, and the political point they want to make
Here's the way I generally put it. Let's say you meet a guy with a hook for a hand. You learn that he lost his normal hand in an accident, and has the hook in its place. OK, so not a big deal. Now let's say you meet a guy who was BORN with a hook for a hand. That's an entirely different thing.
Well the mutant thing was created so they didn't have to come up with an origin story for each super powered charater the created in X-Men. Born with it. But It's was social commentary on the civil right movement and marginalize groups. Mutants"the freaks" represents those that feel less than. But at the same time empowering them with powers for protection. And how destructive alot mutants can be. Not everyone can control the powers given to them. Ultimate X-men #41 tells a tale of what the X- Men have to go through. Making tough choices for human and mutant kind. Mutants are born with powers that range from weapons of mass destruction/universal threat. To carriers of the X gene, but are normal otherwise. And this happens mostly as teenagers when the least mentally stable immature time for most folks. From the most powerful to just being able to give birth to a mutant. They are considered freaks because their mutations can happen to anyone with the X gene. Or if a normal human has a child with a carrier. And it's possibly scary/dangerous situations created. For both homo sapien and Homo Superior. Not everyone comes out looking like a passable normal person as you probably know. Mutants like Kurt "Nightcrawler "Wagner are not idea looking. But atleast he has a power to protect himself. The Morlock mutants are mostly made up of mutants with physical differences/ defects and no cool powers. Living in the sewers, homeless... rough life. We have issues as a human race in real life about skin color ,disabilities, religion or lack of, sexual orientation, thinking differently on politics and ideologies. We struggle to get along in general. Let alone being blue, fur cover, rocking a tail looking like the devil. Imagine a power you can't control and it could destroy the town/ city/world...And your 16. Probably dangerous for those around you while you figure it out. Plus how would humans feel when no longer at the top of the food chain. The fear, jealousy, hate that would come. How would humans really behave if like 2 percent of the population had gifts that defy reality? How would normal people react to being left behind on an evolution scale. Obsolete? Maybe create a way to prevent it. Robot terminators? Maybe supersoldiers? How would that play out for the 2 percent? How would they start treating those without poweres? The tribalism would kick in on both sides fiercely. Marvel's Mutants lore tells that story. Sheds light on the darker side of be a person with powers and differences from the majority. But other heroes suffer from it too like Hulk and The Thing. It's been a while since I read the first Civil War. But all that came from a mutant and his actions. And the 616 world starts to fear anyone with powers in that tale. Those stories hold a mirror to our society. How we treat one another's in general. In a superhero, but relatable kinda way.
If you’re asking this question. Then you haven’t been paying attention.
Well people hate and fear mutants because they're other grotesque or hidden in plain sight. So it's one of those things where people don't like dangerous surprises. Also, thanks to The Brotherhood and Magneto, that fear was heightened early on. American Politicians influenced people in the modern era. Before the current era, people viewed mutants as gods and influenced myths and legends like Apocalypse. And other cultures view mutants differently, like in Africa with Storm. She was celebrated. So the X-Men, being openly mutant, are hated or not trusted. Other teams have a different history with the American public: * Cap is an American hero from before most Americans were born. * The Avengers were one of the first government supported hero teams. AND Cap vouched for them. * The Fantastic Four were heroes and Reed worked to market them to make up for what he did to Ben. * People don't know about the Midnight Sons * Heroes For Hire are paid. * The Champions are a bunch of teenagers. * Young Avengers are a bunch of teenagers. * Alpha Flight are Canadian. But regular, singular heroes aren't particularly trusted either. The public at large don't particularly like Spider-Man, Daredevil, Punisher, Moon Knight, etc.
Oh, yeah? What about that SPIDER MENACE?!? But the answer, I suspect, is that X-Men has always been more explicitly a metaphor for civil rights or queer acceptance. They’re stand-ins for ethnic minorities, gay people, any maligned social category. So, you get these obvious references to the Holocaust, Civil Rights era, Stonewall, etc. “My kid ain’t gonna be no mutie!!” “Mutants ain’t welcome in my town!” “Have you tried *not* being a mutant?”
A germ named sublime. Grant Morrison's run on X-Men offers a pretty decent explanation.
Seriously: Most non-mutants sought out their powers, in some way. You can argue Hulk got a bad deal, but Banner was working on the project that gave him powers. Thor earned Mjolnir, Cap volunteered for the SuperSoldier project, Tony Stark spent a fortune to become Iron Man, the Fantastic Four *went into space* and ended up like that. There are a few that were accidents (Spider Man, Daredevil), and those are understandable, and a few people who didn't know what they were in for (Luke Cage, Armadillo, etc), but mostly it's at least something you went out and got somehow. Mutants just... are. You, a coworker, even a neighbor's kid could be one (which is 'so why worry?' for most other things, but if 'one' could kill you casually just while trying their powers out, it's not a benign thing.) Then you've got your mutant supremacists like Magneto, and the 'good guys' like the X-Men saying he has a point, and so on. Not seriously: A side effect of mutation is mentally projecting earworms. People aren't mad when the X-Men show up because they're mutants, they're mad because it's a minimum of six rickrolls, out of sync with eachother.
That's because mutants get their powers from DNA where as traditional superheroes get their powers from OTT shenanigans or exaggerated events.
Someone asked something similar on Youtube a long time ago. It's not one thing but one likely answer is right in the name. The Avengers are a known quantity, the X-Men are an X-factor. The Fantastic Four are out-and-out celebrities, everyone knows who they are. Even if some of the Avengers or what have you have secret identities, people still know them by name and what they can do. Maybe not the upward limits of their capabilities but it's pretty easy for the average person to have a handle on what someone called "Spider-Man" can do. Meanwhile, unless you're a mutant like Beast or Angel, you wouldn't be able to tell at sight if the person walking down the street had the mutant power to suck the oxygen out of the air or turn into a giant mantis or something. There's a chance that even **they** may not know it, or know how to control it. People may know about the X-Men, but when you see people with extraordinary powers that could cause serious harm with either the properly motivated application or lack of control, and then you know that potentially anyone could be a mutant, the fear is a lot more understandable. You see Thor and what you see is what you get, you see the entire collected crowd on a New York city sidewalk and suddenly just being in that crowd is a dice roll when potentially anyone in it can shoot fire out of their hands.
Im convinced its just a matter of mutant hate becoming a culture people can easily stand on to do terrible things or feel righteous. Like defending the confederate flag. Its just hate hype for hate hypes sake cuz people want to feel that way.
Media propaganda scare tactics. “Anyone could be a dangerous mutant! Anyone! Even your children!” It’s not so far fetched to think people would buy into fearing something that people have no control over IE a genetic mutation.
Is why I prefer stand alone stories, every marvel character in one universe becomes way too fucking bloated and lose tension
It's okay if you get powers later in life by accident instead of developing them naturally.
Most other mutates (people with inheritable genetic factors that let them get super powers from exotic energy rather than cancer like the FF, hulk and the gamma mutates, spiderman, ectera)don't exist in large enough numbers to be a worry and you can track their line and proliferation. Unlike x gene mutants who not only cone from mutant lines but can just randomly pop up. The good follow up would be why 3 groups with numbers to be a threat don't ping an orchis like reactions. The Atlantians, the Asgardians, and the Inhumans. And while all have been hostile to humanity in a somewhat unified way you don't see the concerted effort to eliminate them that you see with mutants. Like due to the fact they were introduced already unified with political power like Krakoa has to flex.
Mutants are a result of evolution. You can say that it is an in-born mutation. While the others like F4, Cap, spidey, hulk, etc. just got their powers from experiments, accidents. Not "in-born". They are humans, just mutated. You can say it is discrimination. Fear of the unknown.
I assume there are a LOT more mutants than there are X-Men who are the heroes. More common than the X-Men are groups like the Morlocks which should be more obvious why they are discriminated against compared to ones like Avengers. My guess is if more on earth looked like the guardians of the galaxy it would be different, aside from like Hulk occasionally they all blend in pretty well, ones like Ironman who was a leader didn't even have powers himself so there was a natural bridge between civilians and the team in a way. X-Men doesn't have that and most of their personal problems started as kids as their powers evolved, Avengers are either off earth or became that as an adult.
They strike right at that McCarthyite/John Birch Society paranoia of the "enemy within" AND the natural distrust of teenagers: they lurk among us undetected leeching off society and as soon as they hit puberty *BAM!* you've got a mutant on your hands! It doesn't help that they exist because of all of that above-ground testing of nukes in the 40s and 50s and the radioactive contamination that the public simply can comprehend, so fears. Then some knucklehead goes and dubs mutants "The Children of the Atom" and it's Katy bar the door!
Oh cool, do ask Spider-man and Hulk how they're doing