Will Near Extinction Always Be The X-Men's Status Quo?

[Chris0013]

I never thought about the fact that for the Mutants there is a literal sword of Damocles over their heads and if removed it is THE END for them.

I do wonder why Marvel doesn't have the spine to end the hate for Mutants by the populace and relegate it to the fringes of humanity, because then there can be interesting stories of humans and homo superior trying to live together while the fringe try to agitate conflict between them.

This is what I have been talking about for a while. Let the anti-mutant stuff swing back to being the fringe. People who have the fear of them simply because they fear being replaced. Or because they survived a mutant terror attack or they had family members who were killed by them. But that the majority of humanity is indifferent or leaning towards individual responsibility when it comes to mutants in society.

[Sutekh]

This is what I have been talking about for a while. Let the anti-mutant stuff swing back to being the fringe. People who have the fear of them simply because they fear being replaced. Or because they survived a mutant terror attack or they had family members who were killed by them. But that the majority of humanity is indifferent or leaning towards individual responsibility when it comes to mutants in society.

And that's another side to it. There are actual legit reasons why someone might be angry at or fear mutants. Cousin Dmitri worked as a crewman on that Russian sub that Magneto sank, he probably had no idea down there in the engine room what killed him. And now some of his family are pissed. This guys daughter got a job at some fancy schmancy club in New York, thought it was going to lead to her big break, all sorts of bigwigs went there and it was pretty high class, but they were awful to her and the other girls, she's still in therapy trying to rebuild her self-worth and will to live, and now we find out it was run by mutants, some sort of pervert's pleasure palace? If he doesn't know much more than this, and that she recognized the worst of them (Emma and Shaw) as part of the *government* of Krakoa, dad might be all ready to wave some 'mutants go home' placards without thinking too deeply about how Earth *is* their home.

But we don't get the people who might have actual grievances, who might be going about it the most terribly wrong way, but still not be entirely crazy or hateful or wrong-headed. We get the howler monkeys that just make the mutants look like every bad thing any mutant has ever done was somehow deserved, because humans are trash.

It dumbs down the story, IMO.

Just like in Civil War, where editorial kind of conceived a 'both sides have valid points' position, and then the writers produced a lopsided story where one side had Captain ****ing America and the other side had psychos who launch high explosive missiles into apartment buildings full of people to 'arrest' a super teen who flew by.

Not a lot of nuance in a story where one side is making a good point, and the other side are psychotic ranting foam-flecked nutjobs (who are proven objectively wrongbad people time and time again).

[charliehustle415]

And that's another side to it. There are actual legit reasons why someone might be angry at or fear mutants. Cousin Dmitri worked as a crewman on that Russian sub that Magneto sank, he probably had no idea down there in the engine room what killed him. And now some of his family are pissed. This guys daughter got a job at some fancy schmancy club in New York, thought it was going to lead to her big break, all sorts of bigwigs went there and it was pretty high class, but they were awful to her and the other girls, she's still in therapy trying to rebuild her self-worth and will to live, and now we find out it was run by mutants, some sort of pervert's pleasure palace? If he doesn't know much more than this, and that she recognized the worst of them (Emma and Shaw) as part of the *government* of Krakoa, dad might be all ready to wave some 'mutants go home' placards without thinking too deeply about how Earth *is* their home.

But we don't get the people who might have actual grievances, who might be going about it the most terribly wrong way, but still not be entirely crazy or hateful or wrong-headed. We get the howler monkeys that just make the mutants look like every bad thing any mutant has ever done was somehow deserved, because humans are trash.

It dumbs down the story, IMO.

Just like in Civil War, where editorial kind of conceived a 'both sides have valid points' position, and then the writers produced a lopsided story where one side had Captain ****ing America and the other side had psychos who launch high explosive missiles into apartment buildings full of people to 'arrest' a super teen who flew by.

Not a lot of nuance in a story where one side is making a good point, and the other side are psychotic ranting foam-flecked nutjobs (who are proven objectively wrongbad people time and time again).

I like this a lot!

Like some kid got a job working at Davos thinking he's gonna pitch to Warren Buffet and gets his head squashed by Apocolypse in a suit.

Come to find out his uncle was Doom's right hand man and now Doom has figure out how to avenge this kid diplomatically.

There's so much potential.

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

I mean, their main deal is that people want to genocide them, so sometimes the enemy has to look actually capable of doing so.

Things need balance. Krakoa can't be completely impervious or the heroes have won and series over. The creators did a good job of showing us what winning looks like. Now they have to re-sensitize us to winning so that we don't get bored of winning. How do people appreciate wins? By losing for a bit.

Long as losing doesn't become the main years-long thing, like in the Scott/Utopia/Decimation era, it'll be fine.

[Chris0013]

I mean, their main deal is that people want to genocide them, so sometimes the enemy has to look actually capable of doing so.

Things need balance. Krakoa can't be completely impervious or the heroes have won and series over. The creators did a good job of showing us what winning looks like. Now they have to re-sensitize us to winning so that we don't get bored of winning. How do people appreciate wins? By losing for a bit.

Long as losing doesn't become the main years-long thing, like in the Scott/Utopia/Decimation era, it'll be fine.

We are at the point where mutants would be sitting around listlessly and in a dull, sarcastic monotone say '"hey...there gonna try to genocide us again...should we run or just sit here?"

[Alan2099]

We are at the point where mutants would be sitting around listlessly and in a dull, sarcastic monotone say '"hey...there gonna try to genocide us again...should we run or just sit here?"

"Ehh... let's genocide us this time. I really don't feel like fighting this week. The anti-genocide crew will have us all back to life by next Tuesday anyway."

[Saithor]

I like this a lot!

Like some kid got a job working at Davos thinking he's gonna pitch to Warren Buffet and gets his head squashed by Apocolypse in a suit.

Come to find out his uncle was Doom's right hand man and now Doom has figure out how to avenge this kid diplomatically.

There's so much potential.

Part of the problem with this is where the mutant metaphor rams into the superhero side of things.

[marhawkman]

Part of the problem with this is where the mutant metaphor rams into the superhero side of things.

Yeah, similar logic to "Mutants bad"... also applies to most other superheroes too.

[Zelena]

When I read X-men stories, this status-quo wasn’t the status-quo. The X-men had heroic adventures, that’s all. The mutants who had an unusual appearance wore a disguise and the interactions with the “humans” were minimal. Being different was a thing but not the only thing. Other groups were also very different from the humans and the X-men could empathise with them. The number of the mutants was low.

I suppose now it would be hard to go back.

[Chris0013]

"Ehh... let's genocide us this time. I really don't feel like fighting this week. The anti-genocide crew will have us all back to life by next Tuesday anyway."

"No sense in being sober for this...I'll be at the bar. If I'm gonna be genocided...again...I'm going out with one hell of a buzz."

[Sutekh]

Yeah, similar logic to "Mutants bad"... also applies to most other superheroes too.

Much more so alien heroes (yes, I'm racist to Mexicans, but bicurious about Karolina Dean and Noh-Varr?), or magical heroes (goodness, imagine the 'Harry Potter teaches witchcraft to the chilluns!' crowd's reaction to Thor or Hercules, claiming to be *actual pagan gods?*).

For every person who feels mildly uncertain about this whole mutant thing, there's like *millions* that would be ready to 'exorcise' Daimon Hellstrom or Brother Voodoo or Scarlet Witch by drowning them in a bathtub full of holy water.

[marhawkman]

"No sense in being sober for this...I'll be at the bar. If I'm gonna be genocided...again...I'm going out with one hell of a buzz."

Heck, in the case of Gin Genie her Mutant powers actually increased in power the more drunk she was. being on the verge of being blackout drunk.... was actually far beyond her normal power level. She was actually powerless if fully sober. but being full drunk might mean she accidentally leveled buildings. So getting drunk would probably be her regular approach to dealing with Sentinels.

[Huntsman Spider]

Yeah, similar logic to "Mutants bad"... also applies to most other superheroes too.

Much more so alien heroes (yes, I'm racist to Mexicans, but bicurious about Karolina Dean and Noh-Varr?), or magical heroes (goodness, imagine the 'Harry Potter teaches witchcraft to the chilluns!' crowd's reaction to Thor or Hercules, claiming to be *actual pagan gods?*).

For every person who feels mildly uncertain about this whole mutant thing, there's like *millions* that would be ready to 'exorcise' Daimon Hellstrom or Brother Voodoo or Scarlet Witch by drowning them in a bathtub full of holy water.

Speaking of those other superheroes whose superpowers didn't come from the X-gene, the Hulk is a living, raging engine of mass destruction in (an admittedly exaggeratedly muscular) human form who's done about as much damage to lives and livelihoods as any mutant rampage or attack. Red Hulk was part of an attempted coup on the United States government by the Intelligencia and yet was endorsed as an Avenger by none other than Captain America himself. Spider-Man has been called out as a threat and/or menace for most of his history, often demonized in (and by) the press, distrusted by the general public, and recurringly targeted by law enforcement or other lawful authorities. Yet, they're seen as mostly incidental compared to mutants as the "real threat" to humanity, even as alternate universes have occasionally shown that, with enough motivation or if sufficiently broken down from the sheer misery heaped constantly upon him, Spider-Man can be an apocalyptic threat himself.

Despite all that, though, it has been recurrently emphasized by (some of) the more organized anti-mutant forces that as soon as mutants are gone for good, they'll turn on nonmutant superhumans next, which has even been borne out by the original Days of Future Past backstory that saw nonmutant superheroes eliminated along with mutants, as well as the original Civil War event that saw its version of the Registration Act target all superhumans instead of just mutants, and especially now with Orchis secretly plotting the elimination of nonmutant superheroes as well. Personally, I see it as somewhat akin to what happens all too often in real life, where bigoted demagoguery targeting one particularly marginalized group of people ultimately is used as a kind of Trojan horse to normalize bigotry against other marginalized peoples and justify violence against them as well. The mutants will go first, as they always do, but generally, everybody and anybody with powers can look forward to all kinds of future nastiness targeted at them once mutants are no longer around to act as a buffer for humanity's fear and hate.

[Sutekh]

Speaking of those other superheroes whose superpowers didn't come from the X-gene, the Hulk is a living, raging engine of mass destruction in (an admittedly exaggeratedly muscular) human form who's done about as much damage to lives and livelihoods as any mutant rampage or attack. Red Hulk was part of an attempted coup on the United States government by the Intelligencia and yet was endorsed as an Avenger by none other than Captain America himself. Spider-Man has been called out as a threat and/or menace for most of his history, often demonized in (and by) the press, distrusted by the general public, and recurringly targeted by law enforcement or other lawful authorities. Yet, they're seen as mostly incidental compared to mutants as the "real threat" to humanity, even as alternate universes have occasionally shown that, with enough motivation or if sufficiently broken down from the sheer misery heaped constantly upon him, Spider-Man can be an apocalyptic threat himself.

Despite all that, though, it has been recurrently emphasized by (some of) the more organized anti-mutant forces that as soon as mutants are gone for good, they'll turn on nonmutant superhumans next, which has even been borne out by the original Days of Future Past backstory that saw nonmutant superheroes eliminated along with mutants, as well as the original Civil War event that saw its version of the Registration Act target all superhumans instead of just mutants, and especially now with Orchis secretly plotting the elimination of nonmutant superheroes as well. Personally, I see it as somewhat akin to what happens all too often in real life, where bigoted demagoguery targeting one particularly marginalized group of people ultimately is used as a kind of Trojan horse to normalize bigotry against other marginalized peoples and justify violence against them as well. The mutants will go first, as they always do, but generally, everybody and anybody with powers can look forward to all kinds of future nastiness targeted at them once mutants are no longer around to act as a buffer for humanity's fear and hate.

Yeah, 'first they came for the mutants.'

And if humanity can be so easily turned against the mutants, who are almost always *family members* of humans, their own children, siblings, etc. what chance are aliens or extra-dimensional sorts or other races living on Earth (Magma men, Atlanteans, Inhumans), or 'gods' or magical folk going to have?

Magicians would seem to have it worse than most, since many of them are just normal folk who *chose* this life of blasphemy and witchcraft and consorting with demons (like Dr. Strange or Dr. Voodoo), not people who were 'born this way' and never chose to be aliens or whatever. If one person in fifty are outside of the Xavier Academy hooting and hollering and telling them 'mutants go home' the other 49 would be outside Strange Academy with pitchforks and burning effigies...

And the only reason they're not? Editorial doesn't think Dr. Strange fans want misery porn, and *does* think that X-fans want 'hate and fear' and to nurse a never-ending persecution compleX.

[marhawkman]

Speaking of those other superheroes whose superpowers didn't come from the X-gene, the Hulk is a living, raging engine of mass destruction in (an admittedly exaggeratedly muscular) human form who's done about as much damage to lives and livelihoods as any mutant rampage or attack. Red Hulk was part of an attempted coup on the United States government by the Intelligencia and yet was endorsed as an Avenger by none other than Captain America himself. Spider-Man has been called out as a threat and/or menace for most of his history, often demonized in (and by) the press, distrusted by the general public, and recurringly targeted by law enforcement or other lawful authorities. Yet, they're seen as mostly incidental compared to mutants as the "real threat" to humanity, even as alternate universes have occasionally shown that, with enough motivation or if sufficiently broken down from the sheer misery heaped constantly upon him, Spider-Man can be an apocalyptic threat himself.

Despite all that, though, it has been recurrently emphasized by (some of) the more organized anti-mutant forces that as soon as mutants are gone for good, they'll turn on nonmutant superhumans next, which has even been borne out by the original Days of Future Past backstory that saw nonmutant superheroes eliminated along with mutants, as well as the original Civil War event that saw its version of the Registration Act target all superhumans instead of just mutants, and especially now with Orchis secretly plotting the elimination of nonmutant superheroes as well. Personally, I see it as somewhat akin to what happens all too often in real life, where bigoted demagoguery targeting one particularly marginalized group of people ultimately is used as a kind of Trojan horse to normalize bigotry against other marginalized peoples and justify violence against them as well. The mutants will go first, as they always do, but generally, everybody and anybody with powers can look forward to all kinds of future nastiness targeted at them once mutants are no longer around to act as a buffer for humanity's fear and hate.

Oh and in some futures there is the threat of gamma mutants overwhelming the normies due to being a hereditary trait. Yeah, hundreds of mini-Hulks... sounds fun.