MCU’s X-Men vs Humans Problem
With X-Men ’97 taking storytelling to new heights, how would the MCU set up animosity between humans and the mutants in their live-action X-Men movie?
I rewatched X-Men: The Animated Series to understand the characters and their dynamics with each other as a preparation for X-Men ‘97. Now that we are halfway through the new series from Marvel, I would like to give my two cents on something that I think Marvel will find hard while incorporating the X-Men or mutants in general into the Marvel Cinematic Universe — the hate of people towards the mutants. Let me explain.
Until now our superheroes such as Iron Man and Captain America have been unanimously loved by people off-screen as well as on-screen. Not only they are heroes in our world but also their world. They have saved the MCU countless times and the humans of the MCU love these super-humans with special abilities.
This makes me think, why would the same humans hate mutants — another set of superheroes with special abilities? How would they differentiate between a mutant and any other superhero?
The main conflict in the X-Men universe has always been the strained relationship between the mutants and humans. Be it Sentinels, or Friends of Humanity, hatred of humans towards the mutants has always been at the backdrop of the X-Men stories. In the present MCU, there has been enormous adulation for the superheroes, except for a bit of a rough patch after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Before Marvel brings in the X-Men, there has to be a good setup for a conflict between the humans and those with special abilities.
Moreover, there have been enough discussions on how Marvel will handle the origin story of Magneto. Magneto’s origin is sourced from the atrocities of World War 2. To have the same setup, they will have to either have a Magneto who is over 100 years old (highly unlikely and impractical) or add slow aging as one of his superpowers. At this point, we do not know how Marvel is planning to introduce the X-Men, but when they do, it will be interesting to find out how they set the stage for them. Will it change how the current MCU heroes are perceived by the general public, or will they bring X-Men as anti-heroes to the Avengers vs X-Men scenario?
X-Men ‘97 has raised the bar for the live-action X-Men movie, and after a few disappointing years of Marvel movies and TV shows, X-Men ‘97 has proved what good writing can do to Marvel content.
What are your expectations from the MCU’s X-Men movie? What/Who would you like to see in the MCU’s version of X-Men? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.
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