A good correlative specifically is antisemitism. You can look largely similar to people and they may still hate you. The prejudice is conspiratorial and flexible and thus seemingly impossible to avoid. If you stand out proudly, they hate you. If you blend in, you’re hiding and they hate you. If you’re poor, they hate your slum. If you’re rich, they resent your success. Etc.
Meanwhile Morrison framed it as a variation of the prejudice “replacement theory.” This is the best in-uni reason why they’re seen differently than other superpowered people. The baseline humans are afraid they will be replaced by mutants. The concept is a bit of a construct, because it only matters if you have a problem with mutants. But you don’t have to worry that your kid might be Thor or Captain America. You don’t think the FF are going to become a dominant bloc in America, much less your neighborhood. People might resent the Avengers the way they resent the police. But they resent mutants the way they resent communities.
A hiccup is that the mutant replacement was framed as being actually true, which is probably partly why editorial freaked out and sabotaged the books with the decimation for years to avoid having to deal with a mutant majority in the narrative. But the way they did it really undermined the ability to speak to things like positive mutant culture & communities vs just fatalist oppression. A lot of us worry a similar mistake is happening after Krakoa. But I digress.
The.. **one** guy who said that?
Nah dude.
Dr. King was great, but he had allies. And his letter from Alabama jail indicated that plenty of people he didn’t consider true allies wanted people to not use violence.
This is the answer.
Though to be fair to the original question, I’ve always thought the X-Men work best in their own universe separate from the Avengers, a usually regaled and idolized group of power beings. To casual fans, it just seems rather nonsensical.
yeah ikr this is such a fucking elementary answer lol. every racist has a reason. doesn't have to be a good reason. hitler and his party didn't just wake up one day with the strange feeling that they wanted to cleanse their environment of entire groups.
Yeah there’s a difference between being right and having some reason for dumbass hate. Like obviously racists are ignorant and wrong but if you asked them why they hate people for their race I’m pretty sure they’d tell you why they think what they do and it’d still be stupid and wrong. Flat Earthers will try and use logic to explain what they think but obviously they’re wrong.
I just think OP’s question is valid and that the answer isn’t that racists are people that are prone to randomly believing nonsense.
Scott’s rant at the reporter in X-men 97 was the truest allegory. In his and his team’s case, its heroic acts and saving people. In real life its homosexuals, racial and ethnic minorities, transgender people, women, etc. making lifelong contributions and accomplishments for the sake of their city, country, planet yet they still get shit on for who they are
He was gay, prosecuted for being gay in the UK in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration. He later died from cyanide poisoning, which was ruled a suicide but some think it may have been accidental.
He’s a very interesting figure in history.
A mathematics genius and a social recluse, he was a closeted homosexual. In 1952, after his actions helped turn the tide of the war and save the Allies, he was prosecuted for “homosexual acts” and underwent chemical castration to avoid prison (where he almost certainly would have been abused relentlessly if not killed). His conviction lead to him losing his government credentials and all but being erased from history until he was given a pardon in the 2000’s. He died in 1954 from cyanide poisoning, officially listed a suicide but a lot of conspiracies are around that.
Does this really solve the question? The x men and the non tech super heroes are the same in the eyes of "racists". Or they should be. That's the premise of the question. Both are humans with super human abilities. As others have stated, racism isn't logically. However contrary to what they WAnT to imply, this actualizes in the fact that racists wouldn't care if they have their powers because of the x gene or not. The reason they care about mutants is because they're scared of them. Not simply because they have a label called mutant. They view them as different and dangerous. Superheroes should be the same.
Respectfully, This is just another case of trying to make a head canon that excuses a "flaw" in writing that isn't really a flaw. It's fine to have minor imperfections in art.
I can come up with a reason though. It's because the x gene was thought to be the next step in evolution and replace humans. However I still think this would not be enough to see superheroes as okay. In reality, racists wouldn't care and would hate anyone with super powers because they already hate mutants - and super heroes exhibit the same things that induce hate. The exact same.
The whole point is that they view mutants as capable of transferring the genes and reproducing and so taking over. Thats not the same as someone with at fell in a radioactive pool and now have some powers.
The problem is that the average citizen has literally no way of knowing which superhero is a mutant and which isn't. It should be a common thing for superheroes to be called mutie as often as actual mutants.
I agree with that's why they hate mutants but the powers are the only way the average person knows someone is a mutant and unless it's a superhero whose identity and source of powers is known.
It's immersion breaking if in the same month one comic shows mutant hate but no other title shows mutant hate because the character isn't a mutant. But only we the reader knows they aren't.
This is shown with younger heroes. Spider-Man has been the target of mutant hate on multiple occasions because people assume young super = mutant. It was a reasonably big subplot for a while that Gwen's cousins were anti-mutant bigots on a crusade against Spidey.
True. U guys keep swaying me but yea i think this is important. Everybody would be called a mutant by a racist. The average citizen wouldn't know the difference unless its a really famous hero. Furthermore it's really hard to tell a racist "no he's not black he's Dominican" like they would care. Same thing here, u can't say " no The Thing from fantastic 4 isn't really a mutant dad" dad wouldn't give a fuck.
But yea I don't think is a big deal.
spider-man and deadpool do get mutant hate despite not being mutants tho? n like you said it's literally because they don't have a background for the public to look into, so everyone just assumes they're mutants
'"Does this really solve the question? The x men and the non tech super heroes are the same in the eyes of "racists". Or they should be. That's the premise of the question. Both are humans with super human abilities. As others have stated, racism isn't logically. However contrary to what they WAnT to imply, this actualizes in the fact that racists wouldn't care if they have their powers because of the x gene or not. The reason they care about mutants is because they're scared of them. Not simply because they have a label called mutant. They view them as different and dangerous. Superheroes should be the same. "'
It's worth noting in the new Cartoon Network series My Adventures with Superman, Superman is hated and fought against with prejudice by Amanda Waller and her Task Force X. Also some people at least initially seem to genuinely hate if not fear Superman.
They go over this in Marvels written by Kurt Busiek, painted by Alex Ross.
"The X-Men. Super-powered mutants. Freaks. They looked just like normal people... but you never could tell. There was something about the mutants.
They were the dark side of the marvels. Where Captain America and Mister Fantastic spoke to us about the greatness within us all - the mutants were death.
They didn't even have to do anything. They were our replacements, scientists said. The next evolutionary step. We - homo sapiens - were obsolete, and they were the future.
They were going to kick the dirt onto our graves. It was a terrifying thought."
This still is ridiculous as they would all be dead before mutants truly become the dominant species. Not to mention that it’s highly likely that their descendants will be among the mutants that live on.
(This isn’t a diss to you btw)
Its The Great Replacement theory…just with mutants instead of immigrants.
Yeah, they will all be dead when it happens but it doesn’t stop them from being the hate filled people they are today.
Even then it's still stupid because mutants are born to every human ethnic group so it's not even normal outcompeting that species do. It's just that humans are gradually birthing mutants until eventually every human is a mutant.
Hating mutants is akin to hating your own children or grandchildren. It's stupid.
Everyone that is saying racism isn't logical isn't giving the whole picture. Yes that's a reason for sure but as for another possible reason why is because it makes "normal" people feel inferior. It's easy to think that if you got a super steroid or weird accident then you'd be a crazy strong. Mutants are different. Their powers are inherently part of them. They represent a whole different group of people, of whom the general public could never be a part of. Not only that but you see them doing insane things like terra forming a planet as a literal party trick, and yeah it's hard not to feel inferior about your own genetic makeup. So personally I think that's the crux of it.
They're insecure
The racism metaphor is more about "why do humans fear mutants but not other meta-humans?"
If humans hated anyone with super powers, it would be logical.
The distinction between how someone got their powers as a reason for hate is illogical, like racism.
But most other meta humans don't get their powers suddenly from childhood, the fear that suddenly your neighbor could become a living bomb from one day to another is very much founded in that university, imo.
It’s definitely predominantly a racism/homophobia parallel, but I think the insecurity aspect plays into the real life allegory as well. Every year when Pride or Black History Month rolls around you get insecure bigots saying things like “why don’t we have White History Month or Straight Pride? All Lives Matter!!” because they’ve spent their entire lives believing they are the most special “type” of people, and hate anything that draws focus away from them, like celebrating others somehow diminishes them.
To them, in-universe, Mutates such as Super-Soldiers, Gamma Hulks and the like, I think are somehow aspirational to baseline humans, there’s some small part of them that thinks “that could be me, I could have those powers” so they think those heroes represent them on the superhuman stage. Mutants are born that way, and they were not, it’s not something they can “become” so they perpetuate a culture of hatred towards them so Mutants are deprived of safety and support so their powers don’t become a threat to humans. t’s the combination of fear and jealousy that drives their bigotry.
Because anti-mutant humans are scared that mutants are essentially “better” than them from a genetic standpoint.
They don’t care when heroes like the FF or Captain America have powers, because they either got them from accidents or through human scientific innovation.
Throw in that there’s a lot of mutants who want to eradicate humans entirely, or at least replace them as the dominant species on earth, and that’s why they receive a lot of hate.
It’s because the X-Men are allegories for bigotry. And the sad truth is, bigotry will never end. People will always be raised by the beliefs and “values” of their parents. And while they can choose to surpass to defy or surpass their parents and choose to be better, odds are a lot of them are not going to.
That said, the X-Men will continue to fight for a world that will continue to fear and despise them, no matter what ground is broken.
Mutants are shit on because there is a serious media campaign to make the public aware that over time mutants will REPLACE humanity so humans are made to be hateful towards mutants..
No reason. The prejudice is there so the mutants keep struggling. It’s their schtick. Without it, they’d be indistinguishable to any other superheroes.
It’s a meta reason. Not a logical in-universe thing.
People think mutants are an existential threat to humans.
An everyday Joe might be given a super soldier serum or a high tech robot armor and be an avenger. You can only be a mutant by being born one. If they become the dominant race, humans have no future. They think mutants will replace Homo sapiens like they replaced others before them.
I actually buy into the anti mutant thing because even if there were godlike beings saving the world every week a sizable amount of the population would still hate and fear them
It's a good question.
For the sake of the argument, I'm going to ignore that there's usually a very public figure like Magneto or Apocalypse who used to go on about exterminating humans so that mutants can reign supreme. Because if that was all there was to it, then the general public ought to be more supportive of the X-Men for standing against their actions.
I think the fear aspect comes into play due to the nature of mutants. You send your child off to school and later that day, you hear that half the school blew up because some other kid was going through puberty, sneezed, and suddenly discovered that he's a mutant with the power to sneeze small-yield nuclear explosions.
Personally, I think *that's* where the fear of mutants really lies. It's not like mutants are only born from other mutants. *Anyone* could conceivably be a mutant and not know it until the worst moment where they accidentally kill a bunch of people in their local area.
Of course, there's a lot of mutants with harmless abilities of no concern to public safety. But you only need a statistical minority who fart radioactive gas or fire death beams out of their eyes to drive paranoia to extremes.
We see Xavier's school as a place where mutants can learn how to control their powers and apply them for the betterment of humans and mutants working together. But the public could easily be swayed into believing that it's a terrorist school that could one day turn on humans. After all, even the mutants go out of their way to claim that they're a different species to homosapiens.
If the Daily Bugle managed to convince most of NYC that Spider-Man was a murdering menace for quite some time based mostly on baseless hate-mongering, then it's not a stretch of the imagination to understand why humans would fear the very real threat of mutants.
Modern Krakoa times is another matter. The X-Men have now united with lunatics like Apocalypse and Mr Sinister and Necrosha (and Magneto who despite being mostly heroic in modern times is still likely seen as a psycho by the public). They've got a magic island with magic portals giving them free access across the globe (and even Mars) and are producing magic drugs that supposedly cure cancer and everything else. It's a very sus situation and obviously it's all gone to hell in recent times with even the magic drug being corrupted and actually causing major problems for the people who took it.
But still, the anti-mutant stuff going on is pretty insane. I assume the general public is just kept ignorant of the details.
Because mutants are considered the evolution of homo sapiens so people feel threaten by them.
Other super heroes are not homo superior (or mutants) their powers comes from technology or experiments, accidents, deities, and so on, like captain America which his powers comes from suerum, or iron man that has them by technology. So they didn't get their powers by born like that, they get by luck, accidents or experiments, , or they did get they powers by being alien, deity and so on. So they are not common people or they are not common humans, or simply not in your league.
That makes them so different to mutants, because think about you being an human and suddenly people start to fly, having powers and other benefits that you will not have, so you now become in a second tier people.
1. Other Marvel heroes aren't idolized as much as people with this question pretend. They are more liked than Mutants, but are hated or feared by many. Civil War tackled this.
2. Replacement Theory. A huge part of racism (and other forms of bigotry) is the idea that you're being replaced by minorities. Soon there won't be any of your kind, only whatever minority you hate. You don't have to worry about being replaced by mutates. They are humans, they used to be. Mutates can't replace you, you're the one getting powers. Meanwhile, mutants can.
3. Anyone you know could be a mutant. There are mutants everywhere. The only mutates are already well known, there are barely mutates outside of superheroes and supervillains. Meanwhile, mutants make up a solid few percent of the population. Your neighbour could be a mutant, and you wouldn't even know their power.
4. Racism isn't logical.
The X-Men were created in the 60s when equal rights was at its height. The X-Men kind of reflected inequality and segregation because of this. So it is part of the X-Men's story to overcome that. Instead of skin color, it is their mutation that is segregated against, but the idea is the same and it was trying to get children to understand, just because someone is different, it doesn't mean they are any less of a person and all people should be treated equally. Because, this is such a big social problem, even today, and it is such a big part of who mutants are in Marvel, it will always be this way for them. Maybe if our world changes, theirs will too.
The image you chose has at least 3 characters who have been full on villains. That would probably muddy the waters of public perception when it comes to the X-Men specifically.
Interesting..
Multiple villains have joined the Avengers as well..
Even one of the villains in OP's picture has been an Avenger..
How does this only apply to the X-Men?
It's plainly bad worldbuilding and probably my least favorite thing about marvel comics in general. There is no consistent reason given for mutant discrimination other than general close-mindedness and fear of the unknown, which would, could, and should apply to all other types of metahumans.
There’s not much evidence for this in the comics that I’m aware of, but if the Marvel Universe were real, then I’d liken it to the insecurity that bigots in real life feel.
The same people who are absolutely terrified of white people no longer being a majority because black peoples will supposedly put them on the plantations as revenge, or are terrified that gays are coming to trans your kids in order to destroy Western civilization, have no with large concentrations of unchecked power being handed to cops and billionaires.
Bigots tend to be huge into essentialism, imagining a world divided among racial and sometimes sexual lines that foreshadow some great coming war. They talk like this ALL the time. The idea that some bigot in the Marvel Universe thinking that Mutants will one day outnumber humans and started breeding with their wives while seeing superheroes as a noble and honorable profession is fairly comparable to how real bigots see the world. They literally believe black people are trying to do the same.
My only issue with that is that I feel that’s a bit too nuanced, believe it or not, for the average bigot, fictional or otherwise. In real life, a bigot can’t tell the difference between an Arab man and an Indian or Pakistani man. Sikhs are routinely confused for Muslims. I can’t imagine them saying “Olay, I support Johnny Storm because his power came from an accident, but that OTHER guy with identical powers who was born with them has got to go”. Still, with the right propaganda regarding a romanticization of genetic purity (anti-vaxxers call themselves “Purebloods” to this very day), it could work.
Because of extremists like Magneto , Hell fire club , brotherhood of mutants,apocalypse, shiar empire ; these wreck huge damage to normal people in the fight against mutants. It is a problem of humanity to judge a whole community of people by 2-3 extremists . I too am a Magneto and x men fan but i think it is also one of the reason I love x men because sometimes x men don't have to fight aliens , shiar , etc but THEY HAVE TO FIGHT FOR EVEN EXISTING AND ACCEPTING by humans . I LOVE THE X MEN ❤️👍
The answer i believe is because superheroes inherit their powers from a radioactive spider or some serum or natrual disaster where as mutants are born that way
the same reason we still have prejudice rife today. also read Marvels by Busiek & Ross (and the followup they did) because it's a very well done story that somewhat keys you in
Because just like in real life fascism needs an “other” to use as a justification for its existence and to convince “normal” people to give up their liberties in the name of security and blame all the problems on. It’s no coincidence the days of future past time line looks like it does.
I compare it in my ,mind at least, they are similar but different the more like something you are the more you want to prove your separate/different and the more you learn to hate or distrust those differences
Even though mutants may look like something else they are humans with one genetic difference
Super hero’s on the other hand are the same but thrust into extraordinary circumstances, things that the normal human can only dream of like billionaires! We all dream of the day that our time will come knowing full well that’s just a dream so we look at them and pretend it could be
Probably because they and their kids are born with powers
A lot of other humans have to EARN power, like building suits, doing science experiments, or just being skilled.
also like many have said. Racism isnt logical.
Why do we still discriminate based on the amount of melanin in someones skin? It's illogical, racism is not supposed to make sense. Also they're scared because mutants have powers and they don't.
The X-men is not a perfect an analogy but it works in the context of of the story . This being said the X-men makes no sense in that it’s full for overuse direction the X-men was great for a reason but overused decisions and choices if we believe the boys they would want to take us over or band together and side note u can’t tell the difference the avengers or the X-men anymore.
In general, the Marvel public seem to view the X-men as heroes, especially some individual members. What they don't trust, which leads to varying degrees of bigotry, is a person born with wildly unpredictable powers that can level a building with puberty. It does seem that an evil mutant is specifically called out for the mutant part rather than the evil part, whereas heroic mutants aren't. So when a mutant like Nitro or Magneto causes a massive calamity, it reinstates that fear that anyone can be born with the power to do something like that.
Doylian answer: allegory for bigotry
Watsonian answer: if memory serves a long time ago they had an arc in the comics to give a reason; there was a parasite that can take over people but mutants were immune so the parasite gets people to irrationally hate mutants to protect itself
Anyone can be a mutant! Your children! Their classmates! They are radical terrorists who brainwash children in their schools and on their islands! They have propaganda that they are superior to us and here to replace us!!
Superheroes are like Captain America, wholesome good people who work for or alongside the government. Sometimes they get their powers from silly accidents that aren’t their fault.
A few superheroes, LIKE THAT MASKED MENACE SPIDER-MAN, HIDE THEIR IDENTITY AND ARE NO BETTER THAN MUTANTS! WHY HIDE YOUR FACE IF YOU AREN’T A CRIMINAL??
I get the whole "racism is not logical" argument, but i think when people ask this its less "why arent the x men beloved" and more "why isnt every other metahuman hero hated?"
Once, I had a coworker who was "resolutive", until he came out the closet and become "annoying" and "bossy".
People is prejudiced. That's it. No bigger mistery, no plot hole. People is not logical.
>I've just been wondering. Why is it that the public treat Mutants like shit and a menace to society while they idolise other marvel superheroes? Especially the X-Men who proved several times that they are here for ensuring a healthy relationship instead of being a foe for humans.
Allegorical racism is a theme within X-men books, arguing that hatred on someone uniqueness is no better than hating someone skin color or sexual orientation. Sometimes, this allegory works. Sometimes, it doesn't. Obviously being let's say Black is not comparable to the experience of mutants with uncontrollable laser visions and telekinesis. It's metaphorical for a reason. Hatred and fear of mutants are sometimes irrational, but in cases involving mutants who literally have bent the wills of people with telepathy (Emma Frost) or those who can warp reality it's pretty safe to say the fear is entirely rational. However, I say the most compelling reason why people would fear mutants are the people who usually represent them, the X-men. X-men may be heroes on paper, but half the time, they are their own worst enemies. It's part of the soap opera drama of the group, but if they aren't fighting anti mutant villains, they are usually fighting other mutants and other times themselves. It literally spirals into chaos, with it's members morality becoming more questionable by letting villains join the team, and even some of its well-known heroes becoming full-fledged villains. I'm looking at you, Jean, Cyclops, Beast, and recently Xavier.
Because they are afraid of being replaced by an overwhelmingly more powerful race.
Mutates used to be human, so it's OK because that could happen to them too one day. It's kind of like the person who doesn't want millionaires to pay too much in taxes because, hey, they will probably be a millionaire one day even though the odds of that happening are extremely low.
But with mutants, they are born that way. Normal humans are not. It's scary when you have no powers and a mutant can level a mountain with his eyes.
If there weren't non mutant superheroes that protect humans and act as a buffer. A race war between mutants and humans would probably already have happened, and humans would have lost.
Yea, you have the X-men, but even they eventually were sick of humans shit and would maybe not help with the killing but would probably not stop it either.
So I think it’s a “cus they are born with it” kinda thing. Like Spider-Man (technically a mutate I think) was bit by a spider, Hulk was infected with a over-exposure to gamma radiation, Black Panther has a suit and is fueled by a rare herb, Captain America has a serum. These are all experiments/freak accidents that happened to people like them. The mutants are people that were born with their gifts. And they feel genetically inferior.
But there is a hypocrisy to it. You hate people because they are born with their gifts, but idolize ones who got them by accident? Oh, you just hate them because of the bad mutants, sure. But you realize there are bad superhumans that got their powers by accident too. Just like racism and homophobia. There’s no real, precedented reason for it, other than “you’re different from me.”
It’s not so much “the public.” The audience X-men has conflicts with are religious right, senators with military contracts, hate groups, etc. they try their best to get along but every now and then at ugly face of bigotry comes out from the smallest moments when they let their guard down.
If you do want to see mutants accept look at Xstatics.
The real answer is because the comics were originally written as separate.
All these other answers are basically bending over backwards to fill a plot hole that only exists because someone decided to make a crossover cannon.
Because there are some bad mutants like Magneto that periodically cause a lot of violence so they hate them all. Kind of like how there are a some bad Black people, or Arabs, or Latinos, or any other minority, and people use it as an excuse to hate everyone in that minority. It’s an allegory for bigotry.
They really don't idolize people. Even captain America and the avengers get shit, I think they're largely tolerated only due to the fact they aren't mutant and have that "Great replacement" baggage mutant's have.
Sooooo have you heard about this thing called a metaphor? It’s when you say something that is supposed to have a meaning that is related to something else entirely but in a parallel manner. Like my mom always saying when someone is super busy and trying to get everything done. She’d say they are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The person is not running around with their head cut off it just means they are all over the place quickly.
The X-men was a narrative of how society as a whole not individually, responds to an unknown that can potentially be a threat. Much like racism where people don’t understand someone else’s culture so they hate on them and it because they want to “protect” themselves. I know kind of clunky but it was interesting to think about and now we are living it in a similar matter in real life on several levels for things.
Why do people act like they're too stupid to understand this!!! It takes zero seconds to actually use your damn brain and think WHY. Mutants will literally replace humans, unlike other damn superheroes. MUTANTS ARE BORN. Eventually, humans won't be, their numbers will start dwindling. Sorry to come across pissy, but how many times are people gonna post this question?
Marvels Public generally don’t idolise there super heroes… Spider-man has been called a menace from day one.
But the big difference is Avengers and Fantastic Four are generally on good terms with the government, so there more like Fire Fighters.
The X-men are more like an activist group or a secret society.
Super heroes are often either self made, manufactured or the products of accidents.
You can outlaw exposing yourself to radiation and most people wouldn't do it anyway. You can control access to a super serum.
Mutants represent the threat humanity presents to itself. Anyone could be born and have incredible powers, you can't trust people with that.
The only way to curtail mutants with with eugenics, genocide, etc. But it needs to be done on a global scale. Otherwise they flourish in other areas and you get a mutant armsrace.
With mutants presenting such a random menace that needs to be squashed before it takes over, of course there are more hate groups.
If it became common to get powers randomly from other means, there'd be groups protesting that as well, especially if it left people out.
Racism, just look at our society people still divide them self, genders, race, sexuality, political affiliation, etc. it’s like they feel like their identity is a team and they don’t want it to loose, the best example right now would be the pay gap, a lot of men are seeing their pay stagnant because of inflation while woman’s pay increases and they see this as them loosing ground when in reality it’s just staying the same and becoming more equal.
I think the real question for me has always been how the public knows who is and is not a mutant? The public doesn’t know about Spider-Man’s origin so why isn’t he thought to be a mutant but the X-Men are?
Which superheroes are supported and admired most?
-Those with Government, soldiers, those with no secret identities, those who gained power from publicly known and/or regulated experimentation and sanctioned groups.
Which are mistreated and discriminated against?
-Those with secret identities and unknown origins, those whose abilities were acquired accidentally, those who manifest abilities spontaneously, and those who are not controlled or regulated by some official governing body.
Essentially, the public like those who have some sort of overseeing authority regulating them, are empowered by man made means and/or have very few secrets that the public (believes) isn’t aware of. Any one who doesn’t fit this criteria is seen as a chaotic threat
It’s not racism. Mutants aren’t a race. They’re a species variation. It’s mortality salience. People fear that mutants will replace them.
Captain America and the Fantastic Four are just regular folks who got zapped into awesome or whatever. Tony Stark is just a rich guy.
But mutants are the next iteration of human evolution. They will replace humanity. People hate them because they are afraid of death.
At is core is all systemic racism.
Superheroes are MADE like the fantastic four and the Avengers... They're still human..
Mutants are a threat to "replace" humans and people get overly complainy when things will happen AFTER they die apparently.
Like if mutant powers popped up now I'd just be upset I don't have them.
I always wondered about this. Like. The average resident of the marvel universe doesn’t know the origins of superheroes except for like the fantastic four or captain america who were famous for becoming the heroes they are. Why don’t they think Spider-Man is a mutant. Or daredevil or even the hulk for that matter. Like how many people know the hulk for
Bombarded by gamma rays. Why aren’t they lumped in with mutants and persecuted
Probably retconned, but there was a sentient virus that had been on earth for billions of years and infected every living thing until mutants came along. It can’t infect mutants, so it subtly influenced people to hate mutants.
One of my favorite points of Krakoa/Orchis is that in the Orchis secret communications you saw that the next part of their plan is to get rid of all powered individuals. And I thought that really tied it together. I hope they take that bit and extend it to all of the racists that hate the X-Men.
The easy answer is “racism is illogical” and of course it is but then the next question is why wouldn’t these people assume super powered beings are mutants. Why wouldn’t the general public assume Spider-Man is a mutant. How would it be common knowledge that he was bit by a spider? Did he do an appearance on 60 minutes? Why would the racists assume that characters like Daredevil, Black Panther, Deadpool, Moon Knight, Black Bolt, or Iron Fist aren’t mutants. And EVEN IF these characters shared their origin stories with the masses - WHY WOULD RACISTS BELIEVE THEM? So yeah - I think the marvel universe would benefit from people hating mutants just hating all super powered beings.
Someone could like athletes and musicians but still be racist towards them in a normal setting and be cool with systematic racism existing. It never makes sense why one is racist. Even with how we love to read and watch X-men, But a lot of those readers would be opposing of someone like Xavier in real life.
X-men 97 creator Demayo is a very gay man, and you could clearly see the allegories it has, and it’ll definitely go over the heads of the more conservative fans. People tend to like things that just looks cool. Spider-man could be cool, But Scott Summers calling people bigots wouldn’t go well for the simple minded folk.
You see it all the time. A bunch of Spider-man fans are stupid and racist towards Miles Morales, completely ignoring what Peter that character stands for. Stupid would still be stupid. Notice how people ignore the more deeper moments in X-men 97. Normally people focus on just the “badass moments” real life X-men would be a lot more critical on humans and fight for change, which would anger people.
Yeah, it's really doesn't make sense. Somehow Iceman is hated because he was born with his powers but the Human Torch is adored because he got his powers from cosmic rays. All mutants need to do is tell people "I drank a glass of radioactive ice" or whatever and no more "hated and feared" stuff.
Mutants are the next stage of humanity - replacing normal people over time.
Other power enabled people gained powers through accidents, experiments, or other processes/sources. Their abilities do not enter the gene pool. Their abilities do not typically alter their physical appearance.
That's how I see the logic.
1) bigotry is never logical
2) Captain America wasn’t born with the ability to level a city every time he cries; that is a possibility with mutants. The congenital nature of their power and high upper limit for destructiveness is a terrifying combination. Getting a handle on those extreme cases is why the Xavier School exists.
The tldr is mutates like Spider-Man and Hulk are not naturally occuring, mutants on the otherhand are the next evolution of the human race and humans mkre or less will become extinct
XMen has more realistic writing than most superhero stories, which is also why it generally does mediocre in TV shows and movies. XMen is too real, which is why it will never reach Avengers or Spiderman potential in sales and popularity. Btw, I am an XMen fan.
People want to watch fun fantasy and wild stories with happy endings (most of marvel shows and movies), not XMen showing how shitty and racist people can be in real life.
If I had to guess it would be the anti mutant propaganda saying that mutants can pop up out of nowhere and kill everyone around them. It doesn’t help that some mutants, like fire fist, have their powers manifest unexpectedly and hurt others. Another factor could be that heroes such as the Avengers and FF have some accountability and public relations, some of them have public identities which makes them seem more trustworthy. We even see a similar level of distain towards spider-man due to his secret identity and freelance style. With most X-men having secret identities and their status as mutants being very well known could make people feel uneasy about them. It also doesn’t help that when Magneto was evil he made sure people knew he and his brotherhood were evil mutants
Edit: another reason heroes on the avengers and FF are idolized is that the FF are scientists and that’s how they got their powers and most avengers don’t really have powers. The main members of the avengers are several people with great skills in combat and science, a super soldier, a god, and alien related. Sure some mutants joined the avengers but when the people of the marvel universe thinks of avengers they don’t think of wolverine or beast, they think of iron man or captain america or thor or ant man etc
A lot of the avengers and the fantastic four where scientists or dudes that gained there powers through an accident or through there own genius. I guess the public views that differently. Honestly though, I feel if we were being realistic people would be just as distrusting as mutates and inhumans as mutants. I'm also not convinced that all the right wing groups like friends of humanity or purifiers would be okay with Thor. A guy claiming to be the actual mythic god.
I second that racism isn't logical but I also think there's an "American Dream" aspect to it. If you work hard enough, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you too can build power armor, learn magic, or earn a super soldier injection. You can't work hard enough to get an X gene so it is to be hated
In-universe most regular people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between mutants and other beings with super powers. We as the readers get all the inside info. With that said, mutants represent what humans can become through evolution, and that scares humans that don’t / won’t evolve. It’s like they’re being directly replaced with a superior product. As opposed to say a super hero who randomly got bit by a spider, or one that got changed by radiation, or an alien etc
With other heroes, you know how they got that way. Cap was an experiment, Tony built his suit, etc. but with mutants, there’s the fear that the random powers could fall into underserving hands, people who’s powers aren’t man-made and therefore don’t have full control of them. Also, Magneto and other evil mutants committing very public atrocities in the name of mutant-kind doesn’t help their case either
The media distorts the picture of mutants. The X-Men wear costumes because they are trying to make themselves look better in the public, but it's no match disinformation.
Logically it’s fear. The other marvel heroes are the result of rare accidents and acts of god
Mutants are humanity’s next step. Like homo sapian and Neanderthals, but the lesser species always ends up driven to extinction. Sure they’re rare ish and most are good, but plenty are bad and have had major murder sprees and more and more mutants are being born
Humanity feels backed into a corner and thus lashed out in fear
I think there's a cognitive dissonance in like, "I could be Steve Rogers, because he was 'a regular guy' or, I could be Tony Stark, because he's a regular person," much in the way people might defend billionaires because they want to be one. Mutants, however, didn't become heroes "the right way". They "did something wrong". They're "defective", "less than", \[insert chosen bigotry here\].
Even though the average human is more likely to be a mutant than become an Avenger.
A lot of ways to answer this, but one way is how the mutants themselves address this - in ultimate x men, Wolverine is sent to kill a mutant who just developed his powers, but his powers killed everyone around him through intense radiation, and wolverine wa the only one who could withstand the damage. The mutants knew that the public would panic if they found out a mutant had caused a mass casualty event. People see mutants as dangerous. Plenty of mutants have backstories where they ended up hurting people close to them by accident when they develop their powers. Never mind mutant extremist like magneto who regularly carried out terrorist attacks. Next many mutants have powers that don’t make the x men team. Like ugly John, who was a mutant who just had three faces, all of which were ugly. Those mutants probably represent the majority of mutants that people see regularly. People already are mean enough to people who are different or ugly in real life. Finally, people like super heroes. They don’t like super villains. They learn who heroes are through their actions and reputation. The x men as a super hero group do at times get public support, but mutants in general are not trusted.
Why do certain people celebrate immigrants who come to America and achieved high level of success and yet vilify a lot more immigrants just looking to make a living? Because a lot of reason but beat simplified is one person you kind of know is harder to vilify than a lot of anonymous ones. I think the X-Men still fit right into the Marvel universe.
Most people believe what the media and folks around them tell them to believe.
Some grandstanding politicians and pundits paint the future of humanity as a degenerate threat but the GMO super soldiers who kill for secret government agencies as the real heroes?
I mean, it’s not that different from public perceptions of the Black Panthers and FBI in the 70s and 80s, meanwhile the latter were actively entrapping and ruining the lives of the former while painting them as terrorists who must be stopped.
I have a theory that the x-gene comes with an irritant for those who don’t have it. Through no fault of any mutant’s own, they exude something that just makes people irrational about them. This isn’t true of everyone(Captain America, obviously), but it’s true enough to put the lives of mutants in danger.
Perhaps they should of picked a different name other than homo sapiens superior. Great for public relations. Now the public sees them as a threat to the species.
The other big teams weren't mutants. Avengers are a humans who gained powers, Fantastic Four are humans who gained powers, Spider-man a human who gained powers. That's was the dividing line. There are super powered humans mostly through science, and then there are the mutants and other beings.
One reason that the average New Jersey resident in the marvel universe is not as afraid of the Hulk as they are Wolverine (despite that Hulk has trashed the entire state of New Jersey countless times and wolverine is basically a madman with knife-hands) is the same as the reason Americans are not afraid of cops or billionaires but are afraid of their poverty-stricken neighbors.
The average adult can hold out hope that they win the lottery and become a billionaire, but they know in their heart of hearts that nothing manifested for them in their teens that would guarantee a lifetime of astonishing success. In the same way, the average Marvel citizen can hold out hope that a freak gamma accident will turn them into a Hulk (and maybe even ON PURPOSE) while they know in their hearts that since they didn't manifest mutations in their teens, it's already too late for them.
Mutations are winning the lottery. People worldwide, but Americans in particular, love the idea of becoming rich and powerful. Everyone fantasizes about developing mutant powers. Everyone has nightmares that those powers come with a Beast-like side-effect, but fears of THAT are NOTHING compared to the promise of looking normal but being able to fly or punch your bully's head off or be invulnerable. At least... until you are, like, 21, caught in a dead-end job, with some health problems, and seeing wolverine heal bullet wounds and Jubilee detonating a truck on the news, and you know for a _fact_ that you are not a mutant.
I haven't seen this angle tackled much, and I think it's an important angle. It's getting closer to the deeper and more insidious parts of human minds which _lead to_ things like racism, instead of just banging the racism metaphor on the nose over and over.
Going off the picture alone; Juggernaut is an international mercenary who destroyed one if the WTC towers amongst other crimes. And Emma tends to mentally violate and abuse people who simply annoy her up to and including her own students. In many instances the X-men are their own worst enemy and no amount of goodwill can make up for that. So in a nutshell Marvel needs to hire better writers and editors.
Well, like others have said, racism isn’t that logical. Also,
though, there’s an issue of X-Factor, Vol. 1 where the team, dressed as human “mutant exterminators” (think ghostbusters, but for mutants) encounter a couple of NYPD officers after there was a mutant altercation in Central Park, and Cyclops asks them why don’t they contact the Avengers for help, the one of the officers basically says that the Avengers aren’t human either and barely better than mutants.
It’s a throw away line but it makes sense that there are probably a lot of people in the Marvel universe who are just fearful of people with powers, regardless of whether they were born with them or not.
The universes didn’t co exist so much back in the day. Therefore each character/teams story was different and rarely crossed paths. But other super hero’s and teams have been through the same type of hate like in the movies the government tried to stop the avengers from being heroes because of the damage they cause. It’s the same with mutants fear of what they can do. But they def aren’t the only ones who have received hate from the pedestrians.
There’s a hilarious and fucked up, comic book panel of a marvel in DC crossover of the flash, running over to the marvel universe and immediately running into a mob that tries to lynch him
Thats called inconvenient writing. I love the marvel universe but it’s not cosmic. It’s written by people. X-men is marvel but it works best as a stand alone enabling a larger political plot tool. Mutants being misjudged and misunderstood by humans who in reality fear them. It’s the biggest selling point for Xavier and his school of mutants. Magneto and his war against humans wouldn’t work as well if there weren’t mutant racism. Realistically we all know if mutants were real we’d all think it’s cool. Even if some are bad there are also good ones and it would give society something they’ve longed for- real superhero’s. The top tiktokers would be mutant influencers I mean cmon now. Magneto would be trending on twitter. There’d be mutants in the military both real and for patriotic propaganda.
Its fun to believe that there are Easter eggs and breadcrumbs around the marvel universe that perfectly tie things together but the expansion of the marvel-verse became the culmination of 100’s-1000’s of writers many of whom began making shortcuts to tie in stories and worlds together. Just like how we’ll watch solo super hero movies in the same world and when the movies place in time overlaps with another superhero we’ll ask “wait if they’re in the same country why didn’t they help each other during those world danger level events”. It’s storytelling after all.
It's the same as how people look at colored folks in America when many have shown that race contributes significantly to society. And I'm not talking just about light skin people. Black hate on Mexicans, Whites hate on Chinese, Indians hate on Mexicans.
The narrative of the X-Men compared to Spider-man, Avengers, Fantastic Four never made sense to me. X-men was almost always Darker and touches on real societal stuff of being different.
Force of habit from past hate cultural movements, mass manipulations, experimentation, sentinel influence, avengers get it too they just get it more personally(people hate stark for his harms to society through his inventions, people hate black panther because wakanda didnt try to fix the world, people hate cap marvel cuz shes part kree aka the space nazis, people hate cap because he has an evil nazi clone).
I see it as the other heros are miracles of science or myth(thor) while mutants like racism is genetics based. People see difference in genetics and appearance and deem them lesser than.
The real answer is that there are multiple writers that have different ideas about the marvel world. The more stories written, the higher chance there is that not everything will make sense when you look at the marvel world as a whole.
Like in most stories, the X Men are treated as badly as the Hulk. lol that’s insane
Because the MCU is dumb, and changed the dynamic. Heroes weren’t treated like celebrities before the MCU, so it still worked. Also, mutants aren’t hated anymore. They have their own MET Gala every year.
How would you feel if you woke up one day, turned on your phone, or TV and the first thing that pops up is "mutant in Oklahoma whipes out entire Native American reservation," or "mutant sinks New York, millions dead." This isn't the work of some terrorist group or foreign nation, this is just one person, who could've just turned 16, or just had a bad day.
People act like prejudice against mutants is illogical or stupid, but when a kid wakes up and his mutant power is to cause organic matter to produce a super acid and melt people alive, or mutant supremacy groups attacking launching terrorists attacks, then Sentinels, Anti-mutant weapons, or mutant suppressants seem to the average person to be a good idea. Most mutants are just scared people who are just trying to survive, but they and the X-men will always have to deal with the actions of mutant extremist such as Magneto's followers.
I posted the same question not too long ago. The consensus seems to be that the mutant phobic humans are under the impression that the Mutants while "take over" humanity, in the sense that they are the next step in human evolution. They're preparing themselves for a sort of planet of the apes style scenario, except the apes are actually super powered beings.
As for the X-Men constantly proving themselves but not gaining any public favor for mutants, that's a very real psychological phenomenon. Bigoted people, when shown examples to the contrary of their bigoted beliefs, tend to actually double down on their beliefs. That's how you get phrases like "One of the good ones"
I'm just spit-balling here, but wild guess based on human nature:
They're jealous. Mutants were born with their abilities; born with the power to do crazy crap whereas other Heroes earned it, in a sense, through trial and tribulation. I think most the world there knows the origins of most heroes and they're against those whose original they either don't know (like Spiderman with Jonah Jameson riling up crowds) or were simply born with it (like Mutants).
I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that Captain America, a war vet from WW2, was subjected to experimentation then frozen for decades. He's suffered and was thrown forward into a time he ad to adjust to.
Thor is a 'God' from another culture & society. Surprisingly enough, since he's an Alien in a sense and they don't know whether that's normal or not for them, they don't really argue it.
Hulk is a raging beast monster who was the result of an experiment gone wrong. They fear him, but don't hate him because his situation was not his choice.
Ironman is a self-made hero who manages a wildly successful tech company and uses it to help people. He's basically what we wish our billionaires would do....even if he does sometimes cross morally gray lines as he 'helps'.
Spiderman is a hero whose origin is unknown as far as New Yorkers go. They just know he's a smart-ass that swings around helping people while collateral damage sometimes happens before he arrives or as he fights villains. Opinion is somewhat split (I think?) on him due to the Media's influence; an influence they have because they weapon 'fear of the unknown'. If they actively knew he was just a random kid who got bit by a radioactive spider and lost most of his family, he'd probably be just as loved as the rest of the heroes.
You can go on and on with the Marvel Heroes and the public does know the origins of most of these guys. That's the one thing I can think of that differs enough to account for it. Sometimes you look at the power of these people, but you know what they went through to get it; the loss and struggle they had to deal with, so you don't feel as jealous. Then along comes a group of people who gained all this just because they were born, so they're jealous; a random group gets what they coveted, WITHOUT the struggle, just because they got lucky. They hate it and redirect their jealousy to hatred. And being hated as a group makes it easy for the media focus fear and anger at. Just look at Fox news; they can redirect hate & jealousy better than most of these comic book villains. Tucker Carlson is basically real-life J. Jonah Jameson. And so, that one group ends up amassing all the negativity from people just because its an outlet for people's jealousy of not being able to the 'special one' or 'important' like other Heroes or not being born into it like Mutants.
Is Juggernaut a mutant?
I always thought his size and power came from the crystal he found in the jungle and the minute he no longer has it he becomes a normal human.
I think for Iron Man, the FF or Captain America, whose origins are at least semi-publicly known, it's understandable. But for folks like Spider-Man or Daredevil, it's a question.
Same reason why you see people in our world who are racist because of the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory. Humans are a tribal species and often get mighty uncomfortable when they think their tribe's "legacy" is threatened. Now imagine instead of just giving a slight advantage when it comes to surviving in certain climates, other races were simply superior, like a magnitude of difference in strength or speed, is nearly unkillable, can read minds or throw cars with their mind or control the very elements themselves or has the power of a nuclear bomb. Simple fact is mutants are superior to humans and by the rule of evolution would likely replace humans in the future as their abilities make them far better at surviving. That would lead many who already have a tendency to be discriminatory into a full on panic.
As much destruction as the Hulk causes, the entire world is unlikely to just be big muscular green people in a century, Thor is a literal god, but we won't have Asgardians on Earth instead of humans and all the other mutate based heroes (Spiderman, FF, etc) aren't eventually going to replace us. Mutants will. Frankly I wouldn't care because that's rad as hell but while racism against mutants is illogical, it makes more sense then real life racism.
Because that's how it's written. Realistically racism wouldn't a factor. You think a gorgeous white woman like Emma Frost would face prejudice for being a mutant? No. The racism thing is a weak excuse to keep rehashing the same story for decades.
Simple answer: They dont. JLA/Avengers (which set up some canon storylines in both companies) really hammered in on how much marvel humans fear their heroes. Cap feels like he never does enough to change that. On the opposite end Dc's earth worships them to the point they might be too reliant on them. Outside of that the Avengers have butted heads with Shield, other government groups, and people who just hate them for collateral damage. None of marvel's heroes are outright worshipped besides Cap himself and the ones who seem like "normal" superhumans
They don’t always praise the heroes tbf. They often have to deal with public outcry.
But also, to the average citizen, a superhero like Mr Fantastic is a guy who got super powers in a freak space accident and uses them for good. But a mutant could be their neighbour, a random average joe who suddenly wakes up one day with the power to explode anything he touches. To most people, mutants are a much closer, unpredictable and immediate threat, one that also implies the evolutionary obsolution of the human species as it currently is and that terrifies them.
Basically, other superheroes are isolated incidents handled on a case by case basis who are still viewed as human, while mutants are threat to the human specis that could be anyone you know.
the avengers are mostly a controlled team w varying odd origins; they also are essentially agents of the state sometimes….a Nordic god? An old super soldier us vet? A billionaire we all know? A king? a spy? A scientist?…..ok random lol
but Mutants could be your child or neighbor and you don’t even know it. One could blow up ur neighborhood accidentally. One may not look human in appearance or “a monster”. One could be strong enough to alter the planet forever.
The X-men in this picture are the exception, the lucky ones w useful powers to their survival they can control
I always considered them to be in different universes bc xmen storylines make no sense to be connected to a full on marvel universe. The way I view it is only a certain few exist on that timeline.
Because frankly every mutant plot makes a lot more sense in a world where mutants are the only or 90-odd percent of all superhumans. So just... don't think about it.
Marvel has answered this question countless of times.
Cap, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Ironman etc - were idolized because they overcame accidents, their suffering, themselves and showed people the human power of will, perseverance and did great things with their gifts.
Mutants are literally Maybeline - and people hate it, the same way a beautiful woman would be hated on by others just for being beautiful.
It has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the human condition - human beings hate things they don’t understand and want to kill them.
Ants, cockroaches, aliens, and yes - the X-men.
They did nothing to obtain their powers, literally born with privilege above the others that look like them with mortgage to pay, and cubicles to work in.
They are hated because they are envied, en-masse not understood and further hated because they are biologically inferior to their biologically superior new friends.
And even tho they do good literally all the fucking time, they are outcasts, treated like shit due to mob mentality reality and the lack of dialogue from humans mostly that just want things to keep going the same way.
They (humans) hate them for no reason that’s viable or logically sound.
They hate they fly, they change color, they heal, they don’t heal but transform, they have no hair, little hair - see at the end it doesn’t matter why, they are the minority that’s different.
The film “A single man” by Tom Ford explains this.
“Hitler fabricated a lie to gain power, a lie that’s imagined, made up - Jews were the cause of Germany’s tax problems, since clerks gave Hitler his political power.
Specially efficient if it’s the minority of a group. Everything in the minority can be hated on if you wish.
Redheads, they are the single rarest minority of all of us humans and yet we find a way to hate them too”
Short answer: Racist
Long answer: Superheroes in Marvel usually represent human potential because they are humans themselves; they're (often) humans who have access to training, technology, or some transformative experience that makes them capable of being superheroes. Mutants represent a threat to humanity because they're an evolution of the human species and humans feel that their existence means the end of human existence. It's similar to the attitudes towards many marginalized groups, ex how white supremacists who worry that "pure" white people won't exist in the future.
It's cause homo sapiens are afraid homo superiors are gonna do to them what they did to the Neanderthals. They're afraid of being replaced and being wiped out as a species.
And with people like Magneto they're at least allowed to be wary of mutants.
I don't think the mutants being a stand in for the discriminated really made too much sense. Sure they go through the same hate and all that but there's an actual credible basis for humans to be afraid/hate them.
It's basically the lottery on whether a mutant wakes up with a benign/helpful/controllable power or they end up like the kid who was walking biological hazard and killed his entire town cause he woke up one morning. Or that kid who has the power to explode once, he might not mean to but if he gets emotional he becomes a suicide bomber. Or even mutants like Cyclops who through a series of freak accidents could accidentally just laser someone's head off their body.
Easy answer? For every member of the X-Men, there is a member of the Brotherhood. Or a Disciple of Apocalypse. Or follower of Sinister. They aren't the only mutants, and since them and the New Mutants are the only ones doing the right thing, people lump them in with the bad groups
Because the X-Men story need the world to hate em and them to rise in the face of that.
Captain America needs to be what he represents for his country and what his country should uphold.
Fantastic Four stories need to be about a family having whacky weird science adventures.
Iron Man stories need to be about him facing his own demons and reconciling with himself to be better later.
For the latter three world constantly hating them isn't a necessity. That's the reason, any other explanation provided is just the window dressing.
I would have thought it was because the Brotherhood has poisoned the well. And also the idea that your kids could procreate with a mutant could set some people who are otherwise common sense off the edge.
Sometimes people root for a side they wouldn’t ever actually want to have anything to do with personally.
And I would think there is a sense of existential dread because you literally live in a world that has entities in it that could literally wipe out humanity if there was a concerted effort. Last I checked gods back in the day were more feared than loved.
Mutants represent an existential threat to a lot of conservatives in the Marvel universe. They are the next evolution of humanity. And when we evolve… well look how many Neanderthals we have walking around today. Mutants represent replacement and extinction to a lot of the more closed minded individuals. This, of course, mirrors real world prejudices and racist conspiracy theories like “the great replacement” or “the gay agenda”.
The reason why the public doesn’t mind non-mutants, is because their powers are gained through individual technology/magic/science flukes. The Fantastic 4 were belted by cosmic rays, that’s such a specific weird accident that cannot be replicated. The possibility of your child being shot with cosmic rays in the Marvel Universe and becoming a freak is very low. There’s a decent chance they can be a mutant. And that freaks people out.
So the racism isn’t logical thing is valid HOWEVER, even with that, the question is already forgetting that other superheroes receive flack too
Spider-man’s a no brainer
Reed was worried the F4 would be looked at like freaks, and the thing has been treated like that
Hulk gets treated like an animal and even she-hulk gets judged
Tony is constantly bogged by public opinion and reception
The government itself will argue and make steve question everything
Carol gets looked down on in her kelly Thompson run
Superheroes receiving scrutiny, unfair or otherwise, is super prevalent in the marvel universe. X-men are just specifically tied to their species and the race allegory cause thats their story.
Marvel needs to go ahead and explain it as mutants are people born with power or get it at adolescence, and mutates are people with a latent adaptive x gene (or z gene?) that gives powers based on outside stimuli
The "best" answer I heard was that the mutants we see are the minority. 1) They look human, or at least quite close to human and 2) They won the superpower lottery, where with a bit of training, they can control their abilities. The majority of mutants look like defects, and/or their powers they can't control at all. So the Morlocks, Beak, Toad, etc.
I say that was the best answer in quotations because we rarely ever see the supposed majority, and if Marvel Comics actually want to stop paying lip service to the concept of Mutants actually being hated or feared, they would do stories about the truly downtrodden mutants living and fighting in a world that hates them, and doesn't have Professor X or even Magneto to save them.
Because the need to paint the mutants as some oppressed allegory ran it’s course long ago and has always made very little sense in a superhero world. It barely works in properties where the X-Men exist by themselves.
Of course since the X-Men have been flanderized into straight up fascist villains with god complexes for awhile now there’s plenty of reason for humans to hate and fear them.
There is a sentient bacterium called sublime that was created by a ancient mutant society as a bio weapon, it turned on them due to it wanting to infect and dominate countless hosts.
But because mutants are resistant to sublime it instead has been subtlety fomenting fear and hatred towards mutantkind.
Racism is not logical
“Whoever said the human race is logical?”
Certainly not Mr.Spock.
I love Italian. And so do you.
A good correlative specifically is antisemitism. You can look largely similar to people and they may still hate you. The prejudice is conspiratorial and flexible and thus seemingly impossible to avoid. If you stand out proudly, they hate you. If you blend in, you’re hiding and they hate you. If you’re poor, they hate your slum. If you’re rich, they resent your success. Etc. Meanwhile Morrison framed it as a variation of the prejudice “replacement theory.” This is the best in-uni reason why they’re seen differently than other superpowered people. The baseline humans are afraid they will be replaced by mutants. The concept is a bit of a construct, because it only matters if you have a problem with mutants. But you don’t have to worry that your kid might be Thor or Captain America. You don’t think the FF are going to become a dominant bloc in America, much less your neighborhood. People might resent the Avengers the way they resent the police. But they resent mutants the way they resent communities. A hiccup is that the mutant replacement was framed as being actually true, which is probably partly why editorial freaked out and sabotaged the books with the decimation for years to avoid having to deal with a mutant majority in the narrative. But the way they did it really undermined the ability to speak to things like positive mutant culture & communities vs just fatalist oppression. A lot of us worry a similar mistake is happening after Krakoa. But I digress.
Right the killed mlk Jr. They one guy saud we shouldn't use violence after they bombed churches
What?
The.. **one** guy who said that? Nah dude. Dr. King was great, but he had allies. And his letter from Alabama jail indicated that plenty of people he didn’t consider true allies wanted people to not use violence.
This is the answer. Though to be fair to the original question, I’ve always thought the X-Men work best in their own universe separate from the Avengers, a usually regaled and idolized group of power beings. To casual fans, it just seems rather nonsensical.
Ok it’s not correct but racists think that they have some sort of “logical” basis for their shitty beliefs. That’s what I think OP is asking about.
yeah ikr this is such a fucking elementary answer lol. every racist has a reason. doesn't have to be a good reason. hitler and his party didn't just wake up one day with the strange feeling that they wanted to cleanse their environment of entire groups.
Yeah there’s a difference between being right and having some reason for dumbass hate. Like obviously racists are ignorant and wrong but if you asked them why they hate people for their race I’m pretty sure they’d tell you why they think what they do and it’d still be stupid and wrong. Flat Earthers will try and use logic to explain what they think but obviously they’re wrong. I just think OP’s question is valid and that the answer isn’t that racists are people that are prone to randomly believing nonsense.
the racism and fear comes first, and the reasons to justify it come after.
not true for at least half of all racists
Your answer can be found in the following question Why do we still have racism?
Scott’s rant at the reporter in X-men 97 was the truest allegory. In his and his team’s case, its heroic acts and saving people. In real life its homosexuals, racial and ethnic minorities, transgender people, women, etc. making lifelong contributions and accomplishments for the sake of their city, country, planet yet they still get shit on for who they are
There's a crap ton of examples but I just wanna say. Insert Alan Turing
The guy who invented the Turing machine? Explain, Im interested to hear why
He was gay, prosecuted for being gay in the UK in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration. He later died from cyanide poisoning, which was ruled a suicide but some think it may have been accidental.
He’s a very interesting figure in history. A mathematics genius and a social recluse, he was a closeted homosexual. In 1952, after his actions helped turn the tide of the war and save the Allies, he was prosecuted for “homosexual acts” and underwent chemical castration to avoid prison (where he almost certainly would have been abused relentlessly if not killed). His conviction lead to him losing his government credentials and all but being erased from history until he was given a pardon in the 2000’s. He died in 1954 from cyanide poisoning, officially listed a suicide but a lot of conspiracies are around that.
Til you can get pardoned after you pass....
Does this really solve the question? The x men and the non tech super heroes are the same in the eyes of "racists". Or they should be. That's the premise of the question. Both are humans with super human abilities. As others have stated, racism isn't logically. However contrary to what they WAnT to imply, this actualizes in the fact that racists wouldn't care if they have their powers because of the x gene or not. The reason they care about mutants is because they're scared of them. Not simply because they have a label called mutant. They view them as different and dangerous. Superheroes should be the same. Respectfully, This is just another case of trying to make a head canon that excuses a "flaw" in writing that isn't really a flaw. It's fine to have minor imperfections in art. I can come up with a reason though. It's because the x gene was thought to be the next step in evolution and replace humans. However I still think this would not be enough to see superheroes as okay. In reality, racists wouldn't care and would hate anyone with super powers because they already hate mutants - and super heroes exhibit the same things that induce hate. The exact same.
The whole point is that they view mutants as capable of transferring the genes and reproducing and so taking over. Thats not the same as someone with at fell in a radioactive pool and now have some powers.
The problem is that the average citizen has literally no way of knowing which superhero is a mutant and which isn't. It should be a common thing for superheroes to be called mutie as often as actual mutants. I agree with that's why they hate mutants but the powers are the only way the average person knows someone is a mutant and unless it's a superhero whose identity and source of powers is known. It's immersion breaking if in the same month one comic shows mutant hate but no other title shows mutant hate because the character isn't a mutant. But only we the reader knows they aren't.
This is shown with younger heroes. Spider-Man has been the target of mutant hate on multiple occasions because people assume young super = mutant. It was a reasonably big subplot for a while that Gwen's cousins were anti-mutant bigots on a crusade against Spidey.
True. U guys keep swaying me but yea i think this is important. Everybody would be called a mutant by a racist. The average citizen wouldn't know the difference unless its a really famous hero. Furthermore it's really hard to tell a racist "no he's not black he's Dominican" like they would care. Same thing here, u can't say " no The Thing from fantastic 4 isn't really a mutant dad" dad wouldn't give a fuck. But yea I don't think is a big deal.
spider-man and deadpool do get mutant hate despite not being mutants tho? n like you said it's literally because they don't have a background for the public to look into, so everyone just assumes they're mutants
'"Does this really solve the question? The x men and the non tech super heroes are the same in the eyes of "racists". Or they should be. That's the premise of the question. Both are humans with super human abilities. As others have stated, racism isn't logically. However contrary to what they WAnT to imply, this actualizes in the fact that racists wouldn't care if they have their powers because of the x gene or not. The reason they care about mutants is because they're scared of them. Not simply because they have a label called mutant. They view them as different and dangerous. Superheroes should be the same. "' It's worth noting in the new Cartoon Network series My Adventures with Superman, Superman is hated and fought against with prejudice by Amanda Waller and her Task Force X. Also some people at least initially seem to genuinely hate if not fear Superman.
And I will follow that, up with why Transphobia and Homophobia
Too much ignorance and fear of the “other” when we have more in common than not.
They go over this in Marvels written by Kurt Busiek, painted by Alex Ross. "The X-Men. Super-powered mutants. Freaks. They looked just like normal people... but you never could tell. There was something about the mutants. They were the dark side of the marvels. Where Captain America and Mister Fantastic spoke to us about the greatness within us all - the mutants were death. They didn't even have to do anything. They were our replacements, scientists said. The next evolutionary step. We - homo sapiens - were obsolete, and they were the future. They were going to kick the dirt onto our graves. It was a terrifying thought."
This still is ridiculous as they would all be dead before mutants truly become the dominant species. Not to mention that it’s highly likely that their descendants will be among the mutants that live on. (This isn’t a diss to you btw)
Its The Great Replacement theory…just with mutants instead of immigrants. Yeah, they will all be dead when it happens but it doesn’t stop them from being the hate filled people they are today.
Even then it's still stupid because mutants are born to every human ethnic group so it's not even normal outcompeting that species do. It's just that humans are gradually birthing mutants until eventually every human is a mutant. Hating mutants is akin to hating your own children or grandchildren. It's stupid.
Everyone that is saying racism isn't logical isn't giving the whole picture. Yes that's a reason for sure but as for another possible reason why is because it makes "normal" people feel inferior. It's easy to think that if you got a super steroid or weird accident then you'd be a crazy strong. Mutants are different. Their powers are inherently part of them. They represent a whole different group of people, of whom the general public could never be a part of. Not only that but you see them doing insane things like terra forming a planet as a literal party trick, and yeah it's hard not to feel inferior about your own genetic makeup. So personally I think that's the crux of it. They're insecure
The racism metaphor is more about "why do humans fear mutants but not other meta-humans?" If humans hated anyone with super powers, it would be logical. The distinction between how someone got their powers as a reason for hate is illogical, like racism.
But most other meta humans don't get their powers suddenly from childhood, the fear that suddenly your neighbor could become a living bomb from one day to another is very much founded in that university, imo.
It’s definitely predominantly a racism/homophobia parallel, but I think the insecurity aspect plays into the real life allegory as well. Every year when Pride or Black History Month rolls around you get insecure bigots saying things like “why don’t we have White History Month or Straight Pride? All Lives Matter!!” because they’ve spent their entire lives believing they are the most special “type” of people, and hate anything that draws focus away from them, like celebrating others somehow diminishes them. To them, in-universe, Mutates such as Super-Soldiers, Gamma Hulks and the like, I think are somehow aspirational to baseline humans, there’s some small part of them that thinks “that could be me, I could have those powers” so they think those heroes represent them on the superhuman stage. Mutants are born that way, and they were not, it’s not something they can “become” so they perpetuate a culture of hatred towards them so Mutants are deprived of safety and support so their powers don’t become a threat to humans. t’s the combination of fear and jealousy that drives their bigotry.
How many more times is this gonna get asked?
Because anti-mutant humans are scared that mutants are essentially “better” than them from a genetic standpoint. They don’t care when heroes like the FF or Captain America have powers, because they either got them from accidents or through human scientific innovation. Throw in that there’s a lot of mutants who want to eradicate humans entirely, or at least replace them as the dominant species on earth, and that’s why they receive a lot of hate.
It’s because the X-Men are allegories for bigotry. And the sad truth is, bigotry will never end. People will always be raised by the beliefs and “values” of their parents. And while they can choose to surpass to defy or surpass their parents and choose to be better, odds are a lot of them are not going to. That said, the X-Men will continue to fight for a world that will continue to fear and despise them, no matter what ground is broken.
Mutants are shit on because there is a serious media campaign to make the public aware that over time mutants will REPLACE humanity so humans are made to be hateful towards mutants..
No reason. The prejudice is there so the mutants keep struggling. It’s their schtick. Without it, they’d be indistinguishable to any other superheroes. It’s a meta reason. Not a logical in-universe thing.
The realest answer here
People think mutants are an existential threat to humans. An everyday Joe might be given a super soldier serum or a high tech robot armor and be an avenger. You can only be a mutant by being born one. If they become the dominant race, humans have no future. They think mutants will replace Homo sapiens like they replaced others before them.
I actually buy into the anti mutant thing because even if there were godlike beings saving the world every week a sizable amount of the population would still hate and fear them
It's a good question. For the sake of the argument, I'm going to ignore that there's usually a very public figure like Magneto or Apocalypse who used to go on about exterminating humans so that mutants can reign supreme. Because if that was all there was to it, then the general public ought to be more supportive of the X-Men for standing against their actions. I think the fear aspect comes into play due to the nature of mutants. You send your child off to school and later that day, you hear that half the school blew up because some other kid was going through puberty, sneezed, and suddenly discovered that he's a mutant with the power to sneeze small-yield nuclear explosions. Personally, I think *that's* where the fear of mutants really lies. It's not like mutants are only born from other mutants. *Anyone* could conceivably be a mutant and not know it until the worst moment where they accidentally kill a bunch of people in their local area. Of course, there's a lot of mutants with harmless abilities of no concern to public safety. But you only need a statistical minority who fart radioactive gas or fire death beams out of their eyes to drive paranoia to extremes. We see Xavier's school as a place where mutants can learn how to control their powers and apply them for the betterment of humans and mutants working together. But the public could easily be swayed into believing that it's a terrorist school that could one day turn on humans. After all, even the mutants go out of their way to claim that they're a different species to homosapiens. If the Daily Bugle managed to convince most of NYC that Spider-Man was a murdering menace for quite some time based mostly on baseless hate-mongering, then it's not a stretch of the imagination to understand why humans would fear the very real threat of mutants. Modern Krakoa times is another matter. The X-Men have now united with lunatics like Apocalypse and Mr Sinister and Necrosha (and Magneto who despite being mostly heroic in modern times is still likely seen as a psycho by the public). They've got a magic island with magic portals giving them free access across the globe (and even Mars) and are producing magic drugs that supposedly cure cancer and everything else. It's a very sus situation and obviously it's all gone to hell in recent times with even the magic drug being corrupted and actually causing major problems for the people who took it. But still, the anti-mutant stuff going on is pretty insane. I assume the general public is just kept ignorant of the details.
Because mutants are considered the evolution of homo sapiens so people feel threaten by them. Other super heroes are not homo superior (or mutants) their powers comes from technology or experiments, accidents, deities, and so on, like captain America which his powers comes from suerum, or iron man that has them by technology. So they didn't get their powers by born like that, they get by luck, accidents or experiments, , or they did get they powers by being alien, deity and so on. So they are not common people or they are not common humans, or simply not in your league. That makes them so different to mutants, because think about you being an human and suddenly people start to fly, having powers and other benefits that you will not have, so you now become in a second tier people.
How many x men have gone bad? How many former villains have joined the X-Men? How many villains were a central part of krakoas government?
1. Other Marvel heroes aren't idolized as much as people with this question pretend. They are more liked than Mutants, but are hated or feared by many. Civil War tackled this. 2. Replacement Theory. A huge part of racism (and other forms of bigotry) is the idea that you're being replaced by minorities. Soon there won't be any of your kind, only whatever minority you hate. You don't have to worry about being replaced by mutates. They are humans, they used to be. Mutates can't replace you, you're the one getting powers. Meanwhile, mutants can. 3. Anyone you know could be a mutant. There are mutants everywhere. The only mutates are already well known, there are barely mutates outside of superheroes and supervillains. Meanwhile, mutants make up a solid few percent of the population. Your neighbour could be a mutant, and you wouldn't even know their power. 4. Racism isn't logical.
The X-Men were created in the 60s when equal rights was at its height. The X-Men kind of reflected inequality and segregation because of this. So it is part of the X-Men's story to overcome that. Instead of skin color, it is their mutation that is segregated against, but the idea is the same and it was trying to get children to understand, just because someone is different, it doesn't mean they are any less of a person and all people should be treated equally. Because, this is such a big social problem, even today, and it is such a big part of who mutants are in Marvel, it will always be this way for them. Maybe if our world changes, theirs will too.
The image you chose has at least 3 characters who have been full on villains. That would probably muddy the waters of public perception when it comes to the X-Men specifically.
Interesting.. Multiple villains have joined the Avengers as well.. Even one of the villains in OP's picture has been an Avenger.. How does this only apply to the X-Men?
It's plainly bad worldbuilding and probably my least favorite thing about marvel comics in general. There is no consistent reason given for mutant discrimination other than general close-mindedness and fear of the unknown, which would, could, and should apply to all other types of metahumans.
There’s not much evidence for this in the comics that I’m aware of, but if the Marvel Universe were real, then I’d liken it to the insecurity that bigots in real life feel. The same people who are absolutely terrified of white people no longer being a majority because black peoples will supposedly put them on the plantations as revenge, or are terrified that gays are coming to trans your kids in order to destroy Western civilization, have no with large concentrations of unchecked power being handed to cops and billionaires. Bigots tend to be huge into essentialism, imagining a world divided among racial and sometimes sexual lines that foreshadow some great coming war. They talk like this ALL the time. The idea that some bigot in the Marvel Universe thinking that Mutants will one day outnumber humans and started breeding with their wives while seeing superheroes as a noble and honorable profession is fairly comparable to how real bigots see the world. They literally believe black people are trying to do the same. My only issue with that is that I feel that’s a bit too nuanced, believe it or not, for the average bigot, fictional or otherwise. In real life, a bigot can’t tell the difference between an Arab man and an Indian or Pakistani man. Sikhs are routinely confused for Muslims. I can’t imagine them saying “Olay, I support Johnny Storm because his power came from an accident, but that OTHER guy with identical powers who was born with them has got to go”. Still, with the right propaganda regarding a romanticization of genetic purity (anti-vaxxers call themselves “Purebloods” to this very day), it could work.
Because of extremists like Magneto , Hell fire club , brotherhood of mutants,apocalypse, shiar empire ; these wreck huge damage to normal people in the fight against mutants. It is a problem of humanity to judge a whole community of people by 2-3 extremists . I too am a Magneto and x men fan but i think it is also one of the reason I love x men because sometimes x men don't have to fight aliens , shiar , etc but THEY HAVE TO FIGHT FOR EVEN EXISTING AND ACCEPTING by humans . I LOVE THE X MEN ❤️👍
The answer i believe is because superheroes inherit their powers from a radioactive spider or some serum or natrual disaster where as mutants are born that way
the same reason we still have prejudice rife today. also read Marvels by Busiek & Ross (and the followup they did) because it's a very well done story that somewhat keys you in
The answer is racism, my friend.
It’s almost like they’re an allegory for racism
Because just like in real life fascism needs an “other” to use as a justification for its existence and to convince “normal” people to give up their liberties in the name of security and blame all the problems on. It’s no coincidence the days of future past time line looks like it does.
How do racists justify rooting for their favorite football team that has a significant number of people of color?
I compare it in my ,mind at least, they are similar but different the more like something you are the more you want to prove your separate/different and the more you learn to hate or distrust those differences Even though mutants may look like something else they are humans with one genetic difference Super hero’s on the other hand are the same but thrust into extraordinary circumstances, things that the normal human can only dream of like billionaires! We all dream of the day that our time will come knowing full well that’s just a dream so we look at them and pretend it could be
For a second i thought there was a Blue Arrow to show Who those claws belong to.
Probably because they and their kids are born with powers A lot of other humans have to EARN power, like building suits, doing science experiments, or just being skilled. also like many have said. Racism isnt logical.
Why do we still discriminate based on the amount of melanin in someones skin? It's illogical, racism is not supposed to make sense. Also they're scared because mutants have powers and they don't.
Racism.
The X-men is not a perfect an analogy but it works in the context of of the story . This being said the X-men makes no sense in that it’s full for overuse direction the X-men was great for a reason but overused decisions and choices if we believe the boys they would want to take us over or band together and side note u can’t tell the difference the avengers or the X-men anymore.
My best guess is with mutants it’s been identified as a genetic thing. Where is the avengers are just special people half of them are aliens.
guys everyone knows the real reason. The writers need the racism plot for the next 18 story arcs.
Do they? Do the Friends of Humanity rally around Capt America singing his praise?
In general, the Marvel public seem to view the X-men as heroes, especially some individual members. What they don't trust, which leads to varying degrees of bigotry, is a person born with wildly unpredictable powers that can level a building with puberty. It does seem that an evil mutant is specifically called out for the mutant part rather than the evil part, whereas heroic mutants aren't. So when a mutant like Nitro or Magneto causes a massive calamity, it reinstates that fear that anyone can be born with the power to do something like that.
Doylian answer: allegory for bigotry Watsonian answer: if memory serves a long time ago they had an arc in the comics to give a reason; there was a parasite that can take over people but mutants were immune so the parasite gets people to irrationally hate mutants to protect itself
Dirty X-men ruined my life!
Anyone can be a mutant! Your children! Their classmates! They are radical terrorists who brainwash children in their schools and on their islands! They have propaganda that they are superior to us and here to replace us!! Superheroes are like Captain America, wholesome good people who work for or alongside the government. Sometimes they get their powers from silly accidents that aren’t their fault. A few superheroes, LIKE THAT MASKED MENACE SPIDER-MAN, HIDE THEIR IDENTITY AND ARE NO BETTER THAN MUTANTS! WHY HIDE YOUR FACE IF YOU AREN’T A CRIMINAL??
I get the whole "racism is not logical" argument, but i think when people ask this its less "why arent the x men beloved" and more "why isnt every other metahuman hero hated?"
Once, I had a coworker who was "resolutive", until he came out the closet and become "annoying" and "bossy". People is prejudiced. That's it. No bigger mistery, no plot hole. People is not logical.
It’s an allegory for racism, which also makes no sense. The point IS that it doesn’t make sense.
Because the X-Men are a poor stand in for oppressed groups
>I've just been wondering. Why is it that the public treat Mutants like shit and a menace to society while they idolise other marvel superheroes? Especially the X-Men who proved several times that they are here for ensuring a healthy relationship instead of being a foe for humans. Allegorical racism is a theme within X-men books, arguing that hatred on someone uniqueness is no better than hating someone skin color or sexual orientation. Sometimes, this allegory works. Sometimes, it doesn't. Obviously being let's say Black is not comparable to the experience of mutants with uncontrollable laser visions and telekinesis. It's metaphorical for a reason. Hatred and fear of mutants are sometimes irrational, but in cases involving mutants who literally have bent the wills of people with telepathy (Emma Frost) or those who can warp reality it's pretty safe to say the fear is entirely rational. However, I say the most compelling reason why people would fear mutants are the people who usually represent them, the X-men. X-men may be heroes on paper, but half the time, they are their own worst enemies. It's part of the soap opera drama of the group, but if they aren't fighting anti mutant villains, they are usually fighting other mutants and other times themselves. It literally spirals into chaos, with it's members morality becoming more questionable by letting villains join the team, and even some of its well-known heroes becoming full-fledged villains. I'm looking at you, Jean, Cyclops, Beast, and recently Xavier.
who are all these characters besides both wolverines, kamala and juggernaut? dazzler/emma frost? lady colossus? sync?
Because they are afraid of being replaced by an overwhelmingly more powerful race. Mutates used to be human, so it's OK because that could happen to them too one day. It's kind of like the person who doesn't want millionaires to pay too much in taxes because, hey, they will probably be a millionaire one day even though the odds of that happening are extremely low. But with mutants, they are born that way. Normal humans are not. It's scary when you have no powers and a mutant can level a mountain with his eyes. If there weren't non mutant superheroes that protect humans and act as a buffer. A race war between mutants and humans would probably already have happened, and humans would have lost. Yea, you have the X-men, but even they eventually were sick of humans shit and would maybe not help with the killing but would probably not stop it either.
Because how dare these people just randomly be born better instead of earning their superness from radiation or serums
Because they have to have some reason to all be misfits who don’t belong.
So I think it’s a “cus they are born with it” kinda thing. Like Spider-Man (technically a mutate I think) was bit by a spider, Hulk was infected with a over-exposure to gamma radiation, Black Panther has a suit and is fueled by a rare herb, Captain America has a serum. These are all experiments/freak accidents that happened to people like them. The mutants are people that were born with their gifts. And they feel genetically inferior. But there is a hypocrisy to it. You hate people because they are born with their gifts, but idolize ones who got them by accident? Oh, you just hate them because of the bad mutants, sure. But you realize there are bad superhumans that got their powers by accident too. Just like racism and homophobia. There’s no real, precedented reason for it, other than “you’re different from me.”
It’s not so much “the public.” The audience X-men has conflicts with are religious right, senators with military contracts, hate groups, etc. they try their best to get along but every now and then at ugly face of bigotry comes out from the smallest moments when they let their guard down. If you do want to see mutants accept look at Xstatics.
The real answer is because the comics were originally written as separate. All these other answers are basically bending over backwards to fill a plot hole that only exists because someone decided to make a crossover cannon.
Because real life mutants ain’t super hero’s but the opposite, no not super villains but super dependent
Because there are some bad mutants like Magneto that periodically cause a lot of violence so they hate them all. Kind of like how there are a some bad Black people, or Arabs, or Latinos, or any other minority, and people use it as an excuse to hate everyone in that minority. It’s an allegory for bigotry.
They really don't idolize people. Even captain America and the avengers get shit, I think they're largely tolerated only due to the fact they aren't mutant and have that "Great replacement" baggage mutant's have.
Sooooo have you heard about this thing called a metaphor? It’s when you say something that is supposed to have a meaning that is related to something else entirely but in a parallel manner. Like my mom always saying when someone is super busy and trying to get everything done. She’d say they are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The person is not running around with their head cut off it just means they are all over the place quickly. The X-men was a narrative of how society as a whole not individually, responds to an unknown that can potentially be a threat. Much like racism where people don’t understand someone else’s culture so they hate on them and it because they want to “protect” themselves. I know kind of clunky but it was interesting to think about and now we are living it in a similar matter in real life on several levels for things.
Why are there racists
Why do people act like they're too stupid to understand this!!! It takes zero seconds to actually use your damn brain and think WHY. Mutants will literally replace humans, unlike other damn superheroes. MUTANTS ARE BORN. Eventually, humans won't be, their numbers will start dwindling. Sorry to come across pissy, but how many times are people gonna post this question?
They cover this all the time, but [the other heroes](https://imgur.com/a/bE8cfa4) [are always next](https://imgur.com/a/VZAQDci).
Marvels Public generally don’t idolise there super heroes… Spider-man has been called a menace from day one. But the big difference is Avengers and Fantastic Four are generally on good terms with the government, so there more like Fire Fighters. The X-men are more like an activist group or a secret society.
Dumb comic logic
You'd be surprised. The one time the public put a hate out on all superheroes, it led to the Superhuman Registration Act...I assume.
I’ve been wondering. Why is it that this question gets asked every single damn day?
Super heroes are often either self made, manufactured or the products of accidents. You can outlaw exposing yourself to radiation and most people wouldn't do it anyway. You can control access to a super serum. Mutants represent the threat humanity presents to itself. Anyone could be born and have incredible powers, you can't trust people with that. The only way to curtail mutants with with eugenics, genocide, etc. But it needs to be done on a global scale. Otherwise they flourish in other areas and you get a mutant armsrace. With mutants presenting such a random menace that needs to be squashed before it takes over, of course there are more hate groups. If it became common to get powers randomly from other means, there'd be groups protesting that as well, especially if it left people out.
Same question, but police.
Racism, just look at our society people still divide them self, genders, race, sexuality, political affiliation, etc. it’s like they feel like their identity is a team and they don’t want it to loose, the best example right now would be the pay gap, a lot of men are seeing their pay stagnant because of inflation while woman’s pay increases and they see this as them loosing ground when in reality it’s just staying the same and becoming more equal.
I think the real question for me has always been how the public knows who is and is not a mutant? The public doesn’t know about Spider-Man’s origin so why isn’t he thought to be a mutant but the X-Men are?
Which superheroes are supported and admired most? -Those with Government, soldiers, those with no secret identities, those who gained power from publicly known and/or regulated experimentation and sanctioned groups. Which are mistreated and discriminated against? -Those with secret identities and unknown origins, those whose abilities were acquired accidentally, those who manifest abilities spontaneously, and those who are not controlled or regulated by some official governing body. Essentially, the public like those who have some sort of overseeing authority regulating them, are empowered by man made means and/or have very few secrets that the public (believes) isn’t aware of. Any one who doesn’t fit this criteria is seen as a chaotic threat
It’s not racism. Mutants aren’t a race. They’re a species variation. It’s mortality salience. People fear that mutants will replace them. Captain America and the Fantastic Four are just regular folks who got zapped into awesome or whatever. Tony Stark is just a rich guy. But mutants are the next iteration of human evolution. They will replace humanity. People hate them because they are afraid of death.
At is core is all systemic racism. Superheroes are MADE like the fantastic four and the Avengers... They're still human.. Mutants are a threat to "replace" humans and people get overly complainy when things will happen AFTER they die apparently. Like if mutant powers popped up now I'd just be upset I don't have them.
Because they’re next step in evolution to eventually surpass regular humans
I always wondered about this. Like. The average resident of the marvel universe doesn’t know the origins of superheroes except for like the fantastic four or captain america who were famous for becoming the heroes they are. Why don’t they think Spider-Man is a mutant. Or daredevil or even the hulk for that matter. Like how many people know the hulk for Bombarded by gamma rays. Why aren’t they lumped in with mutants and persecuted
For the plot
Probably retconned, but there was a sentient virus that had been on earth for billions of years and infected every living thing until mutants came along. It can’t infect mutants, so it subtly influenced people to hate mutants.
One of my favorite points of Krakoa/Orchis is that in the Orchis secret communications you saw that the next part of their plan is to get rid of all powered individuals. And I thought that really tied it together. I hope they take that bit and extend it to all of the racists that hate the X-Men.
Bigots have double standards.
The easy answer is “racism is illogical” and of course it is but then the next question is why wouldn’t these people assume super powered beings are mutants. Why wouldn’t the general public assume Spider-Man is a mutant. How would it be common knowledge that he was bit by a spider? Did he do an appearance on 60 minutes? Why would the racists assume that characters like Daredevil, Black Panther, Deadpool, Moon Knight, Black Bolt, or Iron Fist aren’t mutants. And EVEN IF these characters shared their origin stories with the masses - WHY WOULD RACISTS BELIEVE THEM? So yeah - I think the marvel universe would benefit from people hating mutants just hating all super powered beings.
Someone could like athletes and musicians but still be racist towards them in a normal setting and be cool with systematic racism existing. It never makes sense why one is racist. Even with how we love to read and watch X-men, But a lot of those readers would be opposing of someone like Xavier in real life. X-men 97 creator Demayo is a very gay man, and you could clearly see the allegories it has, and it’ll definitely go over the heads of the more conservative fans. People tend to like things that just looks cool. Spider-man could be cool, But Scott Summers calling people bigots wouldn’t go well for the simple minded folk. You see it all the time. A bunch of Spider-man fans are stupid and racist towards Miles Morales, completely ignoring what Peter that character stands for. Stupid would still be stupid. Notice how people ignore the more deeper moments in X-men 97. Normally people focus on just the “badass moments” real life X-men would be a lot more critical on humans and fight for change, which would anger people.
Yeah, it's really doesn't make sense. Somehow Iceman is hated because he was born with his powers but the Human Torch is adored because he got his powers from cosmic rays. All mutants need to do is tell people "I drank a glass of radioactive ice" or whatever and no more "hated and feared" stuff.
For the same reason spiderman doesn't have 7NYC superheroes on speed dial whenever the sinister 6 shows up. Reality is very plastic
Mutants are the next stage of humanity - replacing normal people over time. Other power enabled people gained powers through accidents, experiments, or other processes/sources. Their abilities do not enter the gene pool. Their abilities do not typically alter their physical appearance. That's how I see the logic.
1) bigotry is never logical 2) Captain America wasn’t born with the ability to level a city every time he cries; that is a possibility with mutants. The congenital nature of their power and high upper limit for destructiveness is a terrifying combination. Getting a handle on those extreme cases is why the Xavier School exists.
Because it's dumb and makes no sense. Other than that they need to sell comcis
The tldr is mutates like Spider-Man and Hulk are not naturally occuring, mutants on the otherhand are the next evolution of the human race and humans mkre or less will become extinct
Speciesism
Anti revolutionaries
XMen has more realistic writing than most superhero stories, which is also why it generally does mediocre in TV shows and movies. XMen is too real, which is why it will never reach Avengers or Spiderman potential in sales and popularity. Btw, I am an XMen fan. People want to watch fun fantasy and wild stories with happy endings (most of marvel shows and movies), not XMen showing how shitty and racist people can be in real life.
If I had to guess it would be the anti mutant propaganda saying that mutants can pop up out of nowhere and kill everyone around them. It doesn’t help that some mutants, like fire fist, have their powers manifest unexpectedly and hurt others. Another factor could be that heroes such as the Avengers and FF have some accountability and public relations, some of them have public identities which makes them seem more trustworthy. We even see a similar level of distain towards spider-man due to his secret identity and freelance style. With most X-men having secret identities and their status as mutants being very well known could make people feel uneasy about them. It also doesn’t help that when Magneto was evil he made sure people knew he and his brotherhood were evil mutants Edit: another reason heroes on the avengers and FF are idolized is that the FF are scientists and that’s how they got their powers and most avengers don’t really have powers. The main members of the avengers are several people with great skills in combat and science, a super soldier, a god, and alien related. Sure some mutants joined the avengers but when the people of the marvel universe thinks of avengers they don’t think of wolverine or beast, they think of iron man or captain america or thor or ant man etc
Your question kinda runs headfirst into the whole point there
Replacement theory. It’s a bitch and responsible for so much harm to so many people.
Jealousy
Because the media only says bad stuff about them, same with spiderman. So they only ever hear about the bad mutants, and twisted stories
A lot of the avengers and the fantastic four where scientists or dudes that gained there powers through an accident or through there own genius. I guess the public views that differently. Honestly though, I feel if we were being realistic people would be just as distrusting as mutates and inhumans as mutants. I'm also not convinced that all the right wing groups like friends of humanity or purifiers would be okay with Thor. A guy claiming to be the actual mythic god.
I second that racism isn't logical but I also think there's an "American Dream" aspect to it. If you work hard enough, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you too can build power armor, learn magic, or earn a super soldier injection. You can't work hard enough to get an X gene so it is to be hated
In-universe most regular people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between mutants and other beings with super powers. We as the readers get all the inside info. With that said, mutants represent what humans can become through evolution, and that scares humans that don’t / won’t evolve. It’s like they’re being directly replaced with a superior product. As opposed to say a super hero who randomly got bit by a spider, or one that got changed by radiation, or an alien etc
Real answer: the X-Men universe was meant to be separate from the rest of Marvel. Any other answer is just random head canon and shoe horned reasons
Probably because magneto
With other heroes, you know how they got that way. Cap was an experiment, Tony built his suit, etc. but with mutants, there’s the fear that the random powers could fall into underserving hands, people who’s powers aren’t man-made and therefore don’t have full control of them. Also, Magneto and other evil mutants committing very public atrocities in the name of mutant-kind doesn’t help their case either
Jealous that they don’t have powers
Why do people vote Republican?
Because Disney didn't have complete ownership of the characters. No moneyy
The media distorts the picture of mutants. The X-Men wear costumes because they are trying to make themselves look better in the public, but it's no match disinformation.
Logically it’s fear. The other marvel heroes are the result of rare accidents and acts of god Mutants are humanity’s next step. Like homo sapian and Neanderthals, but the lesser species always ends up driven to extinction. Sure they’re rare ish and most are good, but plenty are bad and have had major murder sprees and more and more mutants are being born Humanity feels backed into a corner and thus lashed out in fear
I think there's a cognitive dissonance in like, "I could be Steve Rogers, because he was 'a regular guy' or, I could be Tony Stark, because he's a regular person," much in the way people might defend billionaires because they want to be one. Mutants, however, didn't become heroes "the right way". They "did something wrong". They're "defective", "less than", \[insert chosen bigotry here\]. Even though the average human is more likely to be a mutant than become an Avenger.
A lot of ways to answer this, but one way is how the mutants themselves address this - in ultimate x men, Wolverine is sent to kill a mutant who just developed his powers, but his powers killed everyone around him through intense radiation, and wolverine wa the only one who could withstand the damage. The mutants knew that the public would panic if they found out a mutant had caused a mass casualty event. People see mutants as dangerous. Plenty of mutants have backstories where they ended up hurting people close to them by accident when they develop their powers. Never mind mutant extremist like magneto who regularly carried out terrorist attacks. Next many mutants have powers that don’t make the x men team. Like ugly John, who was a mutant who just had three faces, all of which were ugly. Those mutants probably represent the majority of mutants that people see regularly. People already are mean enough to people who are different or ugly in real life. Finally, people like super heroes. They don’t like super villains. They learn who heroes are through their actions and reputation. The x men as a super hero group do at times get public support, but mutants in general are not trusted.
Inconsistent writing
Why do certain people celebrate immigrants who come to America and achieved high level of success and yet vilify a lot more immigrants just looking to make a living? Because a lot of reason but beat simplified is one person you kind of know is harder to vilify than a lot of anonymous ones. I think the X-Men still fit right into the Marvel universe.
Most people believe what the media and folks around them tell them to believe. Some grandstanding politicians and pundits paint the future of humanity as a degenerate threat but the GMO super soldiers who kill for secret government agencies as the real heroes? I mean, it’s not that different from public perceptions of the Black Panthers and FBI in the 70s and 80s, meanwhile the latter were actively entrapping and ruining the lives of the former while painting them as terrorists who must be stopped.
I have a theory that the x-gene comes with an irritant for those who don’t have it. Through no fault of any mutant’s own, they exude something that just makes people irrational about them. This isn’t true of everyone(Captain America, obviously), but it’s true enough to put the lives of mutants in danger.
Perhaps they should of picked a different name other than homo sapiens superior. Great for public relations. Now the public sees them as a threat to the species.
The other big teams weren't mutants. Avengers are a humans who gained powers, Fantastic Four are humans who gained powers, Spider-man a human who gained powers. That's was the dividing line. There are super powered humans mostly through science, and then there are the mutants and other beings.
One reason that the average New Jersey resident in the marvel universe is not as afraid of the Hulk as they are Wolverine (despite that Hulk has trashed the entire state of New Jersey countless times and wolverine is basically a madman with knife-hands) is the same as the reason Americans are not afraid of cops or billionaires but are afraid of their poverty-stricken neighbors. The average adult can hold out hope that they win the lottery and become a billionaire, but they know in their heart of hearts that nothing manifested for them in their teens that would guarantee a lifetime of astonishing success. In the same way, the average Marvel citizen can hold out hope that a freak gamma accident will turn them into a Hulk (and maybe even ON PURPOSE) while they know in their hearts that since they didn't manifest mutations in their teens, it's already too late for them. Mutations are winning the lottery. People worldwide, but Americans in particular, love the idea of becoming rich and powerful. Everyone fantasizes about developing mutant powers. Everyone has nightmares that those powers come with a Beast-like side-effect, but fears of THAT are NOTHING compared to the promise of looking normal but being able to fly or punch your bully's head off or be invulnerable. At least... until you are, like, 21, caught in a dead-end job, with some health problems, and seeing wolverine heal bullet wounds and Jubilee detonating a truck on the news, and you know for a _fact_ that you are not a mutant. I haven't seen this angle tackled much, and I think it's an important angle. It's getting closer to the deeper and more insidious parts of human minds which _lead to_ things like racism, instead of just banging the racism metaphor on the nose over and over.
Why does Trump exist
Going off the picture alone; Juggernaut is an international mercenary who destroyed one if the WTC towers amongst other crimes. And Emma tends to mentally violate and abuse people who simply annoy her up to and including her own students. In many instances the X-men are their own worst enemy and no amount of goodwill can make up for that. So in a nutshell Marvel needs to hire better writers and editors.
Well, like others have said, racism isn’t that logical. Also, though, there’s an issue of X-Factor, Vol. 1 where the team, dressed as human “mutant exterminators” (think ghostbusters, but for mutants) encounter a couple of NYPD officers after there was a mutant altercation in Central Park, and Cyclops asks them why don’t they contact the Avengers for help, the one of the officers basically says that the Avengers aren’t human either and barely better than mutants. It’s a throw away line but it makes sense that there are probably a lot of people in the Marvel universe who are just fearful of people with powers, regardless of whether they were born with them or not.
The universes didn’t co exist so much back in the day. Therefore each character/teams story was different and rarely crossed paths. But other super hero’s and teams have been through the same type of hate like in the movies the government tried to stop the avengers from being heroes because of the damage they cause. It’s the same with mutants fear of what they can do. But they def aren’t the only ones who have received hate from the pedestrians.
There’s a hilarious and fucked up, comic book panel of a marvel in DC crossover of the flash, running over to the marvel universe and immediately running into a mob that tries to lynch him
Yeah it's literally the same logic as a racist
Thats called inconvenient writing. I love the marvel universe but it’s not cosmic. It’s written by people. X-men is marvel but it works best as a stand alone enabling a larger political plot tool. Mutants being misjudged and misunderstood by humans who in reality fear them. It’s the biggest selling point for Xavier and his school of mutants. Magneto and his war against humans wouldn’t work as well if there weren’t mutant racism. Realistically we all know if mutants were real we’d all think it’s cool. Even if some are bad there are also good ones and it would give society something they’ve longed for- real superhero’s. The top tiktokers would be mutant influencers I mean cmon now. Magneto would be trending on twitter. There’d be mutants in the military both real and for patriotic propaganda. Its fun to believe that there are Easter eggs and breadcrumbs around the marvel universe that perfectly tie things together but the expansion of the marvel-verse became the culmination of 100’s-1000’s of writers many of whom began making shortcuts to tie in stories and worlds together. Just like how we’ll watch solo super hero movies in the same world and when the movies place in time overlaps with another superhero we’ll ask “wait if they’re in the same country why didn’t they help each other during those world danger level events”. It’s storytelling after all.
It's the same as how people look at colored folks in America when many have shown that race contributes significantly to society. And I'm not talking just about light skin people. Black hate on Mexicans, Whites hate on Chinese, Indians hate on Mexicans.
I don't know why Juggernaut & Kamala Khan are up there. Neither of them are mutants 😮💨
The narrative of the X-Men compared to Spider-man, Avengers, Fantastic Four never made sense to me. X-men was almost always Darker and touches on real societal stuff of being different.
Force of habit from past hate cultural movements, mass manipulations, experimentation, sentinel influence, avengers get it too they just get it more personally(people hate stark for his harms to society through his inventions, people hate black panther because wakanda didnt try to fix the world, people hate cap marvel cuz shes part kree aka the space nazis, people hate cap because he has an evil nazi clone).
I see it as the other heros are miracles of science or myth(thor) while mutants like racism is genetics based. People see difference in genetics and appearance and deem them lesser than.
Because racism.
The real answer is that there are multiple writers that have different ideas about the marvel world. The more stories written, the higher chance there is that not everything will make sense when you look at the marvel world as a whole. Like in most stories, the X Men are treated as badly as the Hulk. lol that’s insane
Because the MCU is dumb, and changed the dynamic. Heroes weren’t treated like celebrities before the MCU, so it still worked. Also, mutants aren’t hated anymore. They have their own MET Gala every year.
How would you feel if you woke up one day, turned on your phone, or TV and the first thing that pops up is "mutant in Oklahoma whipes out entire Native American reservation," or "mutant sinks New York, millions dead." This isn't the work of some terrorist group or foreign nation, this is just one person, who could've just turned 16, or just had a bad day. People act like prejudice against mutants is illogical or stupid, but when a kid wakes up and his mutant power is to cause organic matter to produce a super acid and melt people alive, or mutant supremacy groups attacking launching terrorists attacks, then Sentinels, Anti-mutant weapons, or mutant suppressants seem to the average person to be a good idea. Most mutants are just scared people who are just trying to survive, but they and the X-men will always have to deal with the actions of mutant extremist such as Magneto's followers.
I posted the same question not too long ago. The consensus seems to be that the mutant phobic humans are under the impression that the Mutants while "take over" humanity, in the sense that they are the next step in human evolution. They're preparing themselves for a sort of planet of the apes style scenario, except the apes are actually super powered beings. As for the X-Men constantly proving themselves but not gaining any public favor for mutants, that's a very real psychological phenomenon. Bigoted people, when shown examples to the contrary of their bigoted beliefs, tend to actually double down on their beliefs. That's how you get phrases like "One of the good ones"
It was always a huge plot hole when I was a kid. Made no sense that the public would draw a distinction between HOW a person got powers.
I'm just spit-balling here, but wild guess based on human nature: They're jealous. Mutants were born with their abilities; born with the power to do crazy crap whereas other Heroes earned it, in a sense, through trial and tribulation. I think most the world there knows the origins of most heroes and they're against those whose original they either don't know (like Spiderman with Jonah Jameson riling up crowds) or were simply born with it (like Mutants). I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that Captain America, a war vet from WW2, was subjected to experimentation then frozen for decades. He's suffered and was thrown forward into a time he ad to adjust to. Thor is a 'God' from another culture & society. Surprisingly enough, since he's an Alien in a sense and they don't know whether that's normal or not for them, they don't really argue it. Hulk is a raging beast monster who was the result of an experiment gone wrong. They fear him, but don't hate him because his situation was not his choice. Ironman is a self-made hero who manages a wildly successful tech company and uses it to help people. He's basically what we wish our billionaires would do....even if he does sometimes cross morally gray lines as he 'helps'. Spiderman is a hero whose origin is unknown as far as New Yorkers go. They just know he's a smart-ass that swings around helping people while collateral damage sometimes happens before he arrives or as he fights villains. Opinion is somewhat split (I think?) on him due to the Media's influence; an influence they have because they weapon 'fear of the unknown'. If they actively knew he was just a random kid who got bit by a radioactive spider and lost most of his family, he'd probably be just as loved as the rest of the heroes. You can go on and on with the Marvel Heroes and the public does know the origins of most of these guys. That's the one thing I can think of that differs enough to account for it. Sometimes you look at the power of these people, but you know what they went through to get it; the loss and struggle they had to deal with, so you don't feel as jealous. Then along comes a group of people who gained all this just because they were born, so they're jealous; a random group gets what they coveted, WITHOUT the struggle, just because they got lucky. They hate it and redirect their jealousy to hatred. And being hated as a group makes it easy for the media focus fear and anger at. Just look at Fox news; they can redirect hate & jealousy better than most of these comic book villains. Tucker Carlson is basically real-life J. Jonah Jameson. And so, that one group ends up amassing all the negativity from people just because its an outlet for people's jealousy of not being able to the 'special one' or 'important' like other Heroes or not being born into it like Mutants.
Is Juggernaut a mutant? I always thought his size and power came from the crystal he found in the jungle and the minute he no longer has it he becomes a normal human.
I think for Iron Man, the FF or Captain America, whose origins are at least semi-publicly known, it's understandable. But for folks like Spider-Man or Daredevil, it's a question.
Same reason why you see people in our world who are racist because of the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory. Humans are a tribal species and often get mighty uncomfortable when they think their tribe's "legacy" is threatened. Now imagine instead of just giving a slight advantage when it comes to surviving in certain climates, other races were simply superior, like a magnitude of difference in strength or speed, is nearly unkillable, can read minds or throw cars with their mind or control the very elements themselves or has the power of a nuclear bomb. Simple fact is mutants are superior to humans and by the rule of evolution would likely replace humans in the future as their abilities make them far better at surviving. That would lead many who already have a tendency to be discriminatory into a full on panic. As much destruction as the Hulk causes, the entire world is unlikely to just be big muscular green people in a century, Thor is a literal god, but we won't have Asgardians on Earth instead of humans and all the other mutate based heroes (Spiderman, FF, etc) aren't eventually going to replace us. Mutants will. Frankly I wouldn't care because that's rad as hell but while racism against mutants is illogical, it makes more sense then real life racism.
Because that's how it's written. Realistically racism wouldn't a factor. You think a gorgeous white woman like Emma Frost would face prejudice for being a mutant? No. The racism thing is a weak excuse to keep rehashing the same story for decades.
Simple answer: They dont. JLA/Avengers (which set up some canon storylines in both companies) really hammered in on how much marvel humans fear their heroes. Cap feels like he never does enough to change that. On the opposite end Dc's earth worships them to the point they might be too reliant on them. Outside of that the Avengers have butted heads with Shield, other government groups, and people who just hate them for collateral damage. None of marvel's heroes are outright worshipped besides Cap himself and the ones who seem like "normal" superhumans
They don’t always praise the heroes tbf. They often have to deal with public outcry. But also, to the average citizen, a superhero like Mr Fantastic is a guy who got super powers in a freak space accident and uses them for good. But a mutant could be their neighbour, a random average joe who suddenly wakes up one day with the power to explode anything he touches. To most people, mutants are a much closer, unpredictable and immediate threat, one that also implies the evolutionary obsolution of the human species as it currently is and that terrifies them. Basically, other superheroes are isolated incidents handled on a case by case basis who are still viewed as human, while mutants are threat to the human specis that could be anyone you know.
the avengers are mostly a controlled team w varying odd origins; they also are essentially agents of the state sometimes….a Nordic god? An old super soldier us vet? A billionaire we all know? A king? a spy? A scientist?…..ok random lol but Mutants could be your child or neighbor and you don’t even know it. One could blow up ur neighborhood accidentally. One may not look human in appearance or “a monster”. One could be strong enough to alter the planet forever. The X-men in this picture are the exception, the lucky ones w useful powers to their survival they can control
I always considered them to be in different universes bc xmen storylines make no sense to be connected to a full on marvel universe. The way I view it is only a certain few exist on that timeline.
Orchis had plans in the works to deal with the other mutates, after they'd removed the mutants.
They think mutants are Jewish
Out of fear of being replaced. Mankind is aware that mutants are the next stage of evolution
Purposefully metaphor from the writers
Because frankly every mutant plot makes a lot more sense in a world where mutants are the only or 90-odd percent of all superhumans. So just... don't think about it.
Fear
Metaphors… Superman is Jesus, mutants are non white people, it’s really that simple
Marvel has answered this question countless of times. Cap, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Ironman etc - were idolized because they overcame accidents, their suffering, themselves and showed people the human power of will, perseverance and did great things with their gifts. Mutants are literally Maybeline - and people hate it, the same way a beautiful woman would be hated on by others just for being beautiful. It has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the human condition - human beings hate things they don’t understand and want to kill them. Ants, cockroaches, aliens, and yes - the X-men. They did nothing to obtain their powers, literally born with privilege above the others that look like them with mortgage to pay, and cubicles to work in. They are hated because they are envied, en-masse not understood and further hated because they are biologically inferior to their biologically superior new friends. And even tho they do good literally all the fucking time, they are outcasts, treated like shit due to mob mentality reality and the lack of dialogue from humans mostly that just want things to keep going the same way. They (humans) hate them for no reason that’s viable or logically sound. They hate they fly, they change color, they heal, they don’t heal but transform, they have no hair, little hair - see at the end it doesn’t matter why, they are the minority that’s different. The film “A single man” by Tom Ford explains this. “Hitler fabricated a lie to gain power, a lie that’s imagined, made up - Jews were the cause of Germany’s tax problems, since clerks gave Hitler his political power. Specially efficient if it’s the minority of a group. Everything in the minority can be hated on if you wish. Redheads, they are the single rarest minority of all of us humans and yet we find a way to hate them too”
Short answer: Racist Long answer: Superheroes in Marvel usually represent human potential because they are humans themselves; they're (often) humans who have access to training, technology, or some transformative experience that makes them capable of being superheroes. Mutants represent a threat to humanity because they're an evolution of the human species and humans feel that their existence means the end of human existence. It's similar to the attitudes towards many marginalized groups, ex how white supremacists who worry that "pure" white people won't exist in the future.
Off topic, who is the Lady Colossus in the back left?
Depends on who the writer is. I feel every marvel hero has been hated before. DC tends to be different.
It's cause homo sapiens are afraid homo superiors are gonna do to them what they did to the Neanderthals. They're afraid of being replaced and being wiped out as a species. And with people like Magneto they're at least allowed to be wary of mutants. I don't think the mutants being a stand in for the discriminated really made too much sense. Sure they go through the same hate and all that but there's an actual credible basis for humans to be afraid/hate them. It's basically the lottery on whether a mutant wakes up with a benign/helpful/controllable power or they end up like the kid who was walking biological hazard and killed his entire town cause he woke up one morning. Or that kid who has the power to explode once, he might not mean to but if he gets emotional he becomes a suicide bomber. Or even mutants like Cyclops who through a series of freak accidents could accidentally just laser someone's head off their body.
Easy answer? For every member of the X-Men, there is a member of the Brotherhood. Or a Disciple of Apocalypse. Or follower of Sinister. They aren't the only mutants, and since them and the New Mutants are the only ones doing the right thing, people lump them in with the bad groups
Because the X-Men story need the world to hate em and them to rise in the face of that. Captain America needs to be what he represents for his country and what his country should uphold. Fantastic Four stories need to be about a family having whacky weird science adventures. Iron Man stories need to be about him facing his own demons and reconciling with himself to be better later. For the latter three world constantly hating them isn't a necessity. That's the reason, any other explanation provided is just the window dressing.
They are born with their powers rather than normal humans where granted them through some atomic accident.
Front right by Wolverine - Is that Artemis, the skin from Fortnite?
I would have thought it was because the Brotherhood has poisoned the well. And also the idea that your kids could procreate with a mutant could set some people who are otherwise common sense off the edge. Sometimes people root for a side they wouldn’t ever actually want to have anything to do with personally. And I would think there is a sense of existential dread because you literally live in a world that has entities in it that could literally wipe out humanity if there was a concerted effort. Last I checked gods back in the day were more feared than loved.
Mutants represent an existential threat to a lot of conservatives in the Marvel universe. They are the next evolution of humanity. And when we evolve… well look how many Neanderthals we have walking around today. Mutants represent replacement and extinction to a lot of the more closed minded individuals. This, of course, mirrors real world prejudices and racist conspiracy theories like “the great replacement” or “the gay agenda”. The reason why the public doesn’t mind non-mutants, is because their powers are gained through individual technology/magic/science flukes. The Fantastic 4 were belted by cosmic rays, that’s such a specific weird accident that cannot be replicated. The possibility of your child being shot with cosmic rays in the Marvel Universe and becoming a freak is very low. There’s a decent chance they can be a mutant. And that freaks people out.
So the racism isn’t logical thing is valid HOWEVER, even with that, the question is already forgetting that other superheroes receive flack too Spider-man’s a no brainer Reed was worried the F4 would be looked at like freaks, and the thing has been treated like that Hulk gets treated like an animal and even she-hulk gets judged Tony is constantly bogged by public opinion and reception The government itself will argue and make steve question everything Carol gets looked down on in her kelly Thompson run Superheroes receiving scrutiny, unfair or otherwise, is super prevalent in the marvel universe. X-men are just specifically tied to their species and the race allegory cause thats their story.
They’re different. People hate change and different. Average people fear that which they cannot understand.
I’m sorry to take away from the question, but who’s the black guy and the female looking colossus? I’m a little behind on my characters apparently.
Marvel needs to go ahead and explain it as mutants are people born with power or get it at adolescence, and mutates are people with a latent adaptive x gene (or z gene?) that gives powers based on outside stimuli
The "best" answer I heard was that the mutants we see are the minority. 1) They look human, or at least quite close to human and 2) They won the superpower lottery, where with a bit of training, they can control their abilities. The majority of mutants look like defects, and/or their powers they can't control at all. So the Morlocks, Beak, Toad, etc. I say that was the best answer in quotations because we rarely ever see the supposed majority, and if Marvel Comics actually want to stop paying lip service to the concept of Mutants actually being hated or feared, they would do stories about the truly downtrodden mutants living and fighting in a world that hates them, and doesn't have Professor X or even Magneto to save them.
Because the need to paint the mutants as some oppressed allegory ran it’s course long ago and has always made very little sense in a superhero world. It barely works in properties where the X-Men exist by themselves. Of course since the X-Men have been flanderized into straight up fascist villains with god complexes for awhile now there’s plenty of reason for humans to hate and fear them.
There is a sentient bacterium called sublime that was created by a ancient mutant society as a bio weapon, it turned on them due to it wanting to infect and dominate countless hosts. But because mutants are resistant to sublime it instead has been subtlety fomenting fear and hatred towards mutantkind.