Thoughts on the mutant fight

Who is X-Men for?

The malleability of the mutant metaphor has long been a strength of the Marvel property. As a product of the 60s, it was popularly perceived as the superhuman version of the civil rights struggle. In the 2000s, fans have embraced it as a queer story, identifying with the coming out of mutant characters and the thematic thread of found family that was present from the series' earliest days. In between and beyond, mutants have been easy for any outgroup or minority in society to identify with, a perpetual underdog and a victim of humanity's terrible impulse to other its own.

Lacking a consistent real-life analogue for its mutants, X-Men stories often find specificity in their antagonists. The best are philosophical: Other mutants who believe in mutant supremacy over coexistence (Magneto, sometimes) or in the ruthless mathematics of Darwinian struggle (Apocalypse, always). People who see mutants as a biological goldmine to be stripped for parts (Mr. Sinister) or weaponized (William Stryker). Or other outgroups who find within themselves another possible future for humanity, one where mutants are not even in the picture (Children in the Vault).