Originally Posted by
Huntsman Spider
The way I see it, if mutants had had more of a presence outside the X-related books, then other superheroes would have had to seriously address the ongoing issue of anti-mutant sentiment and policies among the people they protected and the government/authorities with which they cooperated, instead of shoving it into a corner and acting like they couldn't see what was being inflicted on mutants --- including mutants they knew, trusted, and respected as allies and fellow heroes --- by many of those same people and institutions. To me, that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four didn't raise a voice to speak or a finger to act about things like the Mutant Registration Act, but were ready to tear into each other over a Registration Act that expanded its reach to anyone and everyone with powers, mutant or not, says --- or at least implies --- a lot of unpleasant things about how they really look at and think about mutants. In fact, the last X-Men run before Jonathan Hickman's had mutants being threatened with state-sponsored medical genocide in the form of a vaccine that would negate the X-gene from ever expressing itself, which went into wide public distribution almost as soon as the X-Men were presumed dead and gone, and that was when they weren't just being outright hunted down and killed or experimented upon, and did anyone else stand up against that? Sadly, no, so as unsettling as Krakoa can be, it wouldn't have come to be seen as necessary if not for the rest of the world essentially abandoning mutants to genocidal extermination.
If mutants were treated by Marvel at large as a full part of the Marvel Universe, we could have seen nonmutant superheroes forced to seriously reckon with anti-mutant sentiments and policies among the ordinary people they protected, or the law enforcement or other government agencies they assisted, and whether or not they were willing to stand up for their fellow heroes that were also mutants. Could have made for some very good storytelling, especially with the increased awareness now of things like unconscious or implicit bias and how that might've colored some of those superheroes' reactions or attitudes concerning the mutant plight. Furthermore, with growing awareness of systematic and institutionalized bigotry and how it deliberately distorts perspectives in order to make some people's suffering seem justified, deserved, or even necessary, if not simply inconsequential or irrelevant compared to others, that could also play a role in nonmutant superheroes reevaluating their relationships with agencies and institutions that have proven complicit in mutants' suffering and whether or not it would be worth it to continue those relationships. That would also be rife with potential for great storytelling, as well as good topical commentary on the possibility (or lack thereof, for the more cynical or radical) of those institutions that have historically repressed and abused those with less power in society being reformed into something that doesn't abuse or repress vulnerable people.