That series was disgusting. The numbers of rapes and sexual assaults was off the charts. Nothing lastingly good happened to anyone, ever. it was like there was a contest among the participating authors to see who could torture their characters the most.
Yeah, all the Marvel characters co-exist with all the other Marvel characters. It’s the same on the DC side.
Spider-Man should be regarded as a mutant by the public, because it fits into his sad-sack, can’t-catch-a-break characterization. But he’s not a mutant himself - he wasn’t born with major genetic differences from other humans (the real-world definition of a mutant) and he doesn’t carry the X-gene (Marvel comic’s definition of a mutant).
Yeah, that’s sort of the point – it’s like emptying out your toybox when you were a kid, and playing with GI Joes and He-Man and Transformers and maybe there’s a My Little Pony there, all at the same time.
Keep in mind, it wasn’t that long ago in the U.S. that “Black” blood was segregated, and some people would explicitly refuse life-saving transfusions if they were “White” and the blood on offer was “Black”. Even today, it’s tragically not unknown for people in the U.S. to refuse treatment from Muslims, or other “Others.” Just because a mutant could save their lives, doesn’t mean a “realistic” treatment of the subject would see people welcoming a mutant with healing powers with open arms.
In the Marvel Universe, mutants are widely seen as freakish horrors. The religious often view them as ungodly abominations (see the classic “God Loves, Man Kills” graphic novel). The secular see them as an existential evolutionary threat, that Homo Sapiens Superior will inevitably overwhelm and replace mere Homo Sapiens (the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in various incarnations explicitly avowed this view). See the current immigration debate for how “unrealistic” it to depict this sort of fear of the Other existing.
Also, just like LeBron and Beyonce, there are celebrity mutants who are treated better, at least sometimes. The Beast, in his blue furry form (the first one, before he de-mutated, then re-mutated…), became an Avenger, and was treated as a celebrity by most of the public, while the X-Men, even the pretty ones, were still widely viewed with suspicion, or outright hatred and fear.
After the last ten years of health care debates in this country, that seems like an entirely plausible scenario.
“He’s a socialist! Get him!”
“I want to give affordable health care to everyone!”
“GET A ROPE!”
More seriously: anti-mutant bigots believe that mutants are inherently opposed to humanity, and are actively plotting to replace them as a species. I can absolutely see anti-mutant bigots refusing to let someone like Elixir work on them, because “Who knows what other changes he’s making in there?” And in the Marvel universe, that’s not a crack-pot fear. Villains infecting people with mind-altering nanobots, or chemicals, or magic happens kind of a lot, and it often happens under the guise of a benevolent organization.
Yes. 17 characters have been members of both the X-Men and the Avengers. Their first cross-over was in 1964. Here is a list of 15 of them. (Here are some other cross-over events, which doesn’t even count “minor” issue or two crossovers.) The MCU is really, really, really limited compared to the several decades of comic history.
A mutant is someone born with “the X gene.”
The majority of all comic titles produced by Marvel are in the same universe. There was an arc a few years back involving Dracula (yes, Dracula is in the Marvel Universe) his son, and Blade where an X-Man member is turned into a vampire by being splashed with blood from a vampire suicide bomber (who exposed himself to the sun in a crowd, exploded, splashing blood on everyone.) That member then bit Wolverine, turning him into a vampire. But it turned out that it was all a trick to get Wolverine inside the vampire clan–he had had his healing ability “switched off”–when it was switched back on, it de-vampired him. The other X-man remained a vampire, though. (Demons also exist in the Marvel Universe.)
Other groups in the Marvel Universe that cross over with the X-Men include aliens, including the Kree, Skrull, Shi’ar, Brood, and Dire Wraith. The X-Men have crossed over with the majority (if not all) of the current and upcoming Marvel movies and TV series, including the recent Runaways and the current Cloak and Dagger (and Runaways also crossed over with The Avengers, Cloak and Dagger, Spiderman, The Punisher, and Power Pack.) Both Deadpool and Legion were originally introduced in New Mutants, a “junior team” spinoff of X-Men, currently in production for a movie.
Also, remember that Elixir isn’t actually healing everyone. He might heal everyone he encounters… but even with a really good support structure, that’s going to be restricted to mostly people in one particular city. There are going to be a heck of a lot more people who never get the chance to be healed by him than those who do, and that’s going to foster resentment.
Yes, it is interesting. The same people that want to registering guns, are horrified by the idea of registering mutants, some of which have the power to *destroy the world. *
Let’s be honest. His powers wouldn’t be used for good. He’d be snatched up and turned into a weapon. Or ground up into a fine paste to find out how to make battalions of Elixir soldiers.
Yeah, it got too damn dark too damn fast. When they put the alien protagonist into a female body so as he/she could be repeatedly raped, that was way over the top.
But guns are inanimate objects - if an innocent one gets “imprisoned” or “killed” (confiscated or destroyed), it’s no big deal. If that happens to an innocent person, it is a big deal.
Doesn’t help that when I read mutant registration storyline, there was no intent to only register potentially dangerous mutants. X gene - registered you are, even if all you do is glow.
Also, “mutant registration” was the governments Plan B. Plan A was building giant purple robots to indiscriminately kill anyone with the x gene. That’s going to cause some trust issues down the road.
Feet and hands, as well as how he was out of proportion to normal humans. I’m not saying I understand why a family would shun a child for those reasons, but I have read of enough atrocities visited on RL children to make the leap.
In the first (real) Fantastic Four movie, the FF were instantly recognized as heroes and applauded for stopping fights and crises which they caused. If they hadn’t shown up, there would have been no danger, violence or destruction, but somehow, they’re the good guys.
One of my favorite Texts from Superheroes…
Professor X: Spiderman, be on the lookout. There’s a sentinel in your area and it’s hunting mutants.
Spiderman: I’m not a mutant, I got bit by a radioactive spider.
Professor X: Good luck explaining that to the giant robot.
Although Spidey is pretty well-equipped, as super-folk go, to deal with a giant robot. “Did you ever see this really old movie called The Empire Strikes Back?”
I know that Peter Parker is generally portrayed as sympathetic to mutants. Are there any prominent non-mutant supers who are generally in favor of registration? Well, probably Stark, because he’s a dick, but aside from him?
In the old 1980s Marvel Super Heroes Roleplaying Game, they made the distinction between mutants (born with a genetic mutation / the X gene, though the mutation itself often didn’t manifest until puberty), and “altered humans” (normal humans who received powers due to later exposure to some outside energy or radiation, such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Daredevil, etc.)
