Genetics in the X-Men film franchise: mutants as allegories of

Genetics in the X-Men ﬁlm

franchise: mutants as allegories of

difference

Sonora R. Grimsted

, Katerina G. Krizner

, Cynthia D. Porter

and

Jay Clayton

Divinity School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States,

Department of English, Vanderbilt

University, Nashville, TN, United States,

Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, The Ohio

State University, Columbus, OH, United States

This article analyzes the complete corpus of live-action X-Men movies for their

depictions of genetics and otherness. The researchers watched and qualitatively

coded all thirteen movies produced by 20th Century Fox that take place in the

same shared cinematic universe, beginning with X-Men (2000) and ending with

The New Mutants (2020). The X-Men movies are unusual summer blockbusters

since they explore genetic topics through their central characters, mutants, who

are genetically different from their non-mutant peers. Mutants in the ﬁlms evoke a

plurality of analogies, such as mutant-as-Black and mutant-as-queer. These

intersecting metaphors build upon a core of genetic difference to create a

versatile but limited picture of prejudice, solidarity, and otherness.

KEYWORDS

X-Men, comic book movies, Marvel Cinematic Universe, othering, genetic difference,

mutants, chosen families

Introduction

I think the American people deserve the right to decide whether they want their children

to be in school with [those people], to be taught by [them]. Ladies and gentlemen, the

truth is that mutants are very real, and they are among us.

We have people that live among us today on planet Earth that are happy to display

themselves as if they were mutants from another planet.

The ﬁrst quote is from a ﬁctional U.S. senator in the movie X-Men (2000), speaking about

a potential mutant registration bill that would require all mutants to register themselves with

the federal government. The second quote is from a real-life Republican state congressman in

Florida in 2023 speaking about a potential “ bathroom bill” that would limit the right of trans

people to use the bathroom of their choice (Atterbury, 2023). These quotes, one ﬁctional, the

other real, are separated by more than two decades, but they could easily be part of the same

speech.

Both lawmakers demonstrate an aversion to “those people,” people unlike themselves.

They worry that the Other is lurking “among us,” the presumed normal majority. For

OPEN ACCESS

EDITED BY

Dov Greenbaum,

Yale University, United States

REVIEWED BY

Rogena Sterling,

University of Waikato, New Zealand

Joseph L. Graves Jr,

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical

State University, United States

*CORRESPONDENCE

Jay Clayton,

[email protected]

RECEIVED 01 November 2023

ACCEPTED 04 December 2023

PUBLISHED 03 January 2024

CITATION

Grimsted SR, Krizner KG, Porter CD and

Clayton J (2024), Genetics in the X-Men

ﬁlm franchise: mutants as allegories

of difference.

Front. Genet. 14:1331905.

doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

Clayton. This is an open-access article

distributed under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License

(CC BY). The use, distribution or

reproduction in other forums is

permitted, provided the original author(s)

and the copyright owner(s) are credited

and that the original publication in this

journal is cited, in accordance with

accepted academic practice. No use,

distribution or reproduction is permitted

which does not comply with these terms.

1 X-Men, 2000.

2 Representative Webster Barnaby, Florida State House, 10 April 2023.

Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org01

TYPE Original Research

PUBLISHED 03 January 2024

DOI 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

Representative Barnaby the worrisome Other is trans people, but

similar comments have been made about Jews, African Americans,

and countless other minoritized groups at different moments in

history. Mutants of the X-Men movies do not map directly onto any

of these real-world populations, but they do present a compelling

picture of an othered group in popular cinema.

The X-Men ﬁlms, based on the X-Men comic books, are big-

budget, widely viewed, mainstream movies that are full of glib talk

about genetics and powerful depictions of bias against othered

populations. There are thirteen ﬁlms that take place in the

X-Men universe, all produced by 20th Century Fox between

2000 and 2020: X-Men, X2 (2003): X-Men United, X-Men: Last

Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The

Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool (2016), X-Men:

Apocalypse, Logan, Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and The New

Mutants. The X-Men movies are joined by many more ﬁlms in the

well-known Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by

Marvel Studios (now a subsidiary of Disney), which has only

increased the visibility of Marvel franchises like X-Men at other

studios. Fox’s X-Men franchise is considered a commercial success

with a collective international box ofﬁce total of 3.6 billion dollars,

despite their uneven reputation among critics. Some have received

favorable critical responses, such as X-Men: Days of Future Past

(90% Rotten Tomatoes, 7.9 IMDb) and Logan (94% Rotten

Tomatoes, 8.1 IMDb), while others have been less well rated. In

2019, Disney acquired Fox and thus the rights to X-Men, ending an

era of Fox X-Men movies and opening the possibility of

incorporating X-Men into the MCU.

Unlike our world, the X-Men universe does not revolve around

congressmen and people in power. Instead, characters like Senator

Kelly are only foils or obstacles to the main characters who are

always mutants. Mutants, in these movies, are people with a mutated

X-gene that grants them special abilities. Their stories give us vivid, if

ﬁctional, portraits of how people live with an othered identity, and

the various ways they react to the challenges of oppression. On a

personal and social level, being genetically different puts a strain

both on one’s psyche and on one’s familial ties. As portrayed in the

world of X-Men, mutants often leave their biological families,

searching out other mutants with whom they can form fulﬁlling

relationships and perhaps create a new, “chosen family” (Scott and

Fawaz, 2018; Blum, 2022). But beyond family structures, mutants in

the X-Men ﬁlms vary greatly in their ideas of what mutant-kind’s

relation to society should be. Some, like Professor X, want to

assimilate and aid the wider society, while others wish to strike

ﬁrst out of a sense of self-preservation, like Magneto.

While a mutated X-gene is the (scientiﬁcally implausible)

foundation of mutant identity, there are frequently additional

genetic factors at play in the ﬁlms. Mutants’ amazing abilities

lead many mutants and non-mutants alike to wonder about their

humanity. Are mutants more than human? Or different enough to

be another species? These questions are often raised explicitly, and

the explanations given by the movies offer a glimpse into popular

misconceptions about speciation, mutation, and human evolution.

Additionally, since the basis of mutant identity is genetic difference,

many of the dangers mutants face are linked to genetic conditions or

biological traits. As they negotiate these issues, mutants run a

gauntlet of scientiﬁc, medical, and bioethical transgressions: they

are lied to by doctors, scientists, and government ofﬁ

cials; they are

turned into unwilling subjects in biomedical experiments; they are

subjected to “cures” that they do not want; and their genetic data is

stolen and then used in biowarfare against other mutants.

As a genetically different, othered population, mutants

constantly face incomprehension, fear, hatred, and oppression

from the wider society. In response, mutants form chosen

families and participate in mutual support activities. The mutant

stories shown in the movies are evocative of real-world oppression

experienced by othered groups, including queer people, people with

disabilities, racial minorities, and ethnic groups. But in their own

universe, mutants’ difference comes from a mutated gene, and

consequently, the ﬁlms draw attention to (even as they distort)

many scientiﬁc, medical, and bioethical concepts.

We argue that the X-Men movie franchise expands the mutant-

as-other metaphor through a plurality of tropes, allowing viewers

who identify with diverse racial, ethnic, class, ability, gender, and

sexual orientations to see themselves reﬂected on screen. At the same

time, the ﬁlms’ conception of diversity is thin and imprecise. The

ﬁlms’ market-driven appeal to diverse audiences cannot escape the

surrounding culture, shaped as it is by white supremacy. The result is

a limited vocabulary for thinking about difference.

In the approximately 60 years since Marvel Comics introduced

X-Men, the mutants have tended to be read through the lens of

speciﬁc othered populations. The ﬁrst series of X-Men comics

debuted in the 1960s when the civil rights movement was in full

swing. Hence it was no surprise that anti-mutant bigotry was often

associated with prejudice against African Americans. The revival of

X-Men in a new comic book series in the post-Stonewall era,

together with political mobilization in response to the AIDS

epidemic, led many readers in the 1980s and 1990s to associate

the X-Men with LGBTQ+ rights. Public awareness of systemic

problems such as racial injustice, transphobia, and homophobia

has only grown in the twenty-ﬁrst century, concurrent with the

release of the X-Men ﬁlms. Consequently, the versatility of the

mutant metaphor has enabled the X-Men movies to become vehicles

for social critique, an unusual position for summer blockbusters.

This critique, however, comes at the cost of hollowing out the

speciﬁcity of different minoritized populations in the service of a

ﬂuid metaphor of mutant-as-other. Genetics is what most

powerfully facilitates this hollowing out of difference. When any

kind of difference—physical, mental, social—can spring from a

single source, the mutated X-gene, then all kinds of difference

become versions of the same. The result is a panoply of wildly

different beings who are paradoxically almost interchangeable as

allegories for difference itself.

This paper examines the relationship between genetics and

othering across the entire series of X-Men ﬁlms. Section I

outlines the background of the ﬁlms in relation to the original

Marvel comic book series and discusses the development of the

theme of othering prior to the ﬁrst cinematic versions. Section II

reviews the extensive critical work on X-Men comics and ﬁlms, as

well as relevant aspects of the cultural discourse that surrounds these

texts. Section III provides information about our method of

3 Social critique may be unusual in summer blockbusters, but it is by no

means unique, as has been demonstrated by the astounding success of

Barbie (2023) in promulgating a feminist message.

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Grimsted et al. 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

collecting and analyzing the thirteen ﬁlms. Section IV details the

quantitative results of our investigation, while Section V turns to

qualitative analysis to reveal how the relationship between genetics

and otherness is depicted in representative scenes across the entire

canon of X-Men ﬁlms. This section is sub-divided into three

principal topics: genetic difference, family, and otherness. Section

VI is the conclusion.

Background

This paper focuses on the thirteen X-Men movies that have been

released over the last two decades, but these now-popular

superheroes have a longer, more checkered history in the comic

books where they originated. The group of mutants known as the

X-Men premiered in a comic book written by Stan Lee and

illustrated by Jack Kirby in 1963 (Hiatt, 2014). Marvel Comics

had achieved great success in the creation of superheroes such as

the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the Incredible Hulk, and was

looking to introduce a new series. Having exhausted radioactive

origin stories, Lee wanted to do something different with his newest

creations. “I ﬁgured, hey, the easiest thing in the world: They were

born that way. They were mutants!” (Hiatt, 2014). At that time the

X-Men consisted of Professor X, their leader, and his ﬁve white

American students, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, and Angel.

When the series ﬁrst premiered, it was considered less than a

success and was canceled in 1969 (Marvel Entertainment, 2019a). In

1975, however, in the context of the continued social advances of the

civil rights and gay rights movements, writer Len Wein and artist

Dave Cockrum were tasked with revamping the X-Men for a new

era, beginning with a special issue titled Giant-Size X-Men. With the

goal of making their new team as international and diverse as

possible, Wein and Cockrum introduced now-iconic characters

such as Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine who

hailed from Germany, Egypt,

Russia, and Canada respectively

(Miller, 2003; Marvel Entertainment, 2019b). These characters

have all appeared in the X-Men ﬁlms alongside the classic

X-Men members and laid the groundwork for continued

diversity in the X-Men universe. While the increased diversity of

the 1970s X-Men is notable in contrast to the initial team, it did not

go much farther than gesturing toward different national identities.

Chris Claremont, who also began work on Uncanny X-Men in

1975, is credited with creating the most recognizable versions of the

X-Men characters today and for honing the metaphor of what it

means to be a mutant, at odds with society. Depicted as social

outcasts throughout all their incarnations, the X-Men have always

served as symbols of what it means to be feared and othered by

society for traits over which they have no control (Diaz, 2019). This

more diverse era of X-Men was able to better emphasize mutants’

identity as social outcasts by depicting many intersectional

identities, such as mutant and Black, mutant and indigenous,

mutant and queer, and mutant and disabled. But these

intersections all lean heavily on the mutant part of identity,

sometimes stereotyping the other aspect of a mutant’s character.

Under Claremont, the X-Men became one of Marvel’s most popular

comics.

Those who grew up in the 1990s or early 2000s may be more

familiar with the X-Men characters from the popular animated TV

series, X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) and X-Men:

Evolution (2000–2003). There was also another short-lived series

that ran concurrently with the movies, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

(2009) and a later live-action show, The Gifted (2017) (IMDb, 2021).

The television shows and the movies have Xavier’s School for Gifted

Children as their centerpiece, where young mutants go to learn in a

space safe from the prejudices of the outside world. This sets X-Men

apart from other superhero franchises because it allows for the

inclusion of children and adolescents as both main and side

characters. The movies are concerned with the lives and thoughts

of young people, the target demographic of summer blockbusters,

who are likely to see themselves represented on screen because of the

diversity of characters.

While the X- Men TV sho ws and e ven early comic b ooks can

now be found online, they initially were aimed at U.S. audiences,

with international readers an d viewers always secondary.

Mutants hail from all over the w orld, and while Xavier’s

SchoolforGiftedChildreniscertainlyafactorinbringing

mutants to the United States, speciﬁcally New England, it does

not fully explain the U.S. centrism of the X-Men stories. The

AmericanfocusoftheX-Menmightbelessnotableifitwerenot

for t he increased diversity within the X-Men that began in the

Claremont era of the comic books and the high inter national box

ofﬁce revenues. With the premiere of the movies, increas ingly

diverse audiences were consuming X-Men c ontent that either

lacked in- depth portrayals of minoritized c haracters or provided

imprecise or problematic storylines riddled with problems a

white A merican audience might miss. All the same, the

mutants of the X-Men remain popular because of the ﬂexible

core metaphor of genetic otherness.

Review of criticism

The X-Men comics and ﬁlms have attracted substantial scholarly

and critical interest. Many academic critics have dedicated their

efforts to the original medium of the Marvel comics, with topics of

robust discussion including identity formation (Kellner, 1992;

Zingsheim, 2011a; Zingsheim, 2011b ; Lund, 2015), superheroes as

reﬂecting the “American dream” (Trushell, 2004), issues of ethics

(Gerde and Foster, 2008), the Holocaust and its trauma (Weinstein,

2006; Malcolm, 2010; Wenger, 2010; Royal, 2011; Smith, 2017),

LGBTQ+ sexuality (Alexander, 2018; Doran, 2020; Bikowski, 2021),

closetedness (Johnson, 2020), and issues of race and gender (Pierce,

2009; Nama, 2011; Darowski, 2014; Evans, 2019). In a special issue of

American Literature titled “Queer about Comics, ” editors Darieck

Scott and Ramzi Fawaz emphasize what they see as the fundamental

queerness of the medium of superhero comics (2018). The

Introduction to the issue investigates the varied depictions of

difference featured in X-Men comics, ranging from constructs of

race to the establishment of queer kinship, but it locates these themes

as a distinctive affordance of the comic book medium, not the ﬁlms.

In another contribution to the issue, Anthony Michael D’Agostino

4 In the comics, Storm is from Kenya. The ease with which X-Men:

Apocalypse relocates her childhood to Egypt is further testament to the

movies’ sense of the fungibility of difference.

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Grimsted et al. 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

explores the multilayered depiction of difference presented in the

character of Rogue. D’Agostino recognizes Rogue as invested with

qualities of queerness that go beyond bids for tolerance and attempts

at diversity by conceptualizing “the relationship between difference

and consciousness and generat[ing] new possibilities for afﬁliation,

solidarity, and recognition that have yet to reveal themselves in the

‘real world’” (D’Agostino, 2018). However, this complex psychic,

social, and sexual positioning of Rogue is a feature of Claremont and

Golden’s vision of the character in the comic books and does not

come across in the sentimental and heteronormative longings of

Rogue in the ﬁlms.

Inthepublicsphere,newspapers, magazines, and various

digital media outlets have used Marvel c omics to make

connections between fantasy an d reality, whether by singling-

out probl ematic politicians (Advocate, 2006), spotlighting

cultural and representative milestones of t he franchise

(Pe rpetua, 2012), recurring to the Civil Rights Movement

(Ciampaglia, 2023), noting the presen ce of assimilationism

(Blakemore, 2018), or highlighting issues of race and identity

(Lyubansky, 2011 ; Demby, 2014). Additional scholarly attention

has come from museum exhibitions in Dearborn, Philadelphia,

Chicago, Seattle, and Berlin. While some of these exhibitions

primarily provide basic introductions to the Marvel universe,

others have highlighte d LGBTQ+ representa tion for public

commentary and engagement.

Critics who have focused on the X-Men ﬁlm fran chise have

emphasized trans media storytelling (Wucher et al., 2014 ),

concepts of justice (Smathers, 2016), examples of Self-

Othering (Million, 2006), Jewish subtext (Baron, 2003;

Ebbrecht, 2010; Taylor, 2011), women and gender ﬂuidity

(Kent, 2021), the “trap of patriarchy” (Kaklamanidou, 2011 ),

and r eferences to G erman history and culture (Porter, 2021–22).

While this list i s b y no means exhaustive of the many focal points

scholars have singled out for cultural investigation, tropes of race

and LGBTQ+ representation are notably under-researched in the

scholarship o n the X-Men ﬁlms. This paper adds a focus on the

role of genetics in shaping the presentation of difference,

particularly in regards to race and LGBTQ+ issues.

Christopher B. Zeichmann, for instance, explores how the ﬁrst

two installments of the X-Me n ﬁlms—X-Men, X2: X-Men

United—utilize queer metaphors that he reads as

“problematic

to the extent that [they reinforce] historical and prevailing real-

world anti black respectability politics” (Zeichmann, 2020). He

argues how the ﬁrst two installments to the ﬁlm franchise “are

emphatically anti-intersectio nal, in that queer liberation and

Black liberation are placed in an antagonistic and ultimately

unreconcilable relationship, wherei n the fo rmer is lent legitimac y

by its refusal of violence and insistence upon gaining inclusion

within hegemonic social structures that perpetuate the

marginalizat ion of p eople of color” (Zeichmann, 2020, 392).

As the fran chise has progressed, it has evolved to address

more in tersectional topics pertaining to systemic oppression

and subjugation of minorit ized groups, especially as they

relate to issues of genetic privacy and the e xploitation of

biological materials by both commercial and governmental

entities.

Social media has served as an additional sector where subjects

of race, ethnicity, class, and LGBTQ+ representation are activel y

discussed, often in an intersect ional context. Platforms like

Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, and Fandom.com serve as

communal spaces where X-Men buffs meet to discuss,

chastise, scrutinize, and air out frustrations tied to decisions

Marvel has made in the presentation of its characters and the

unfolding of X-Men cinematic narratives. Take, for example, the

demise of the X-Men character Darwin in X-Men: First Class

(2011). The circumstances of his death reminded American

audiences of th e conventions that plague Black characters on

the big screen, regardless of their superpowers and resilience.

Darwin is a mutant with “the powe r of ‘reactive evolution.’” His

body automatically adapts to any situation or environment h e is

placed in, allowing him to survive almost anything; the exact

nature and limits of his powers have not yet been revealed”

(X-Men Wiki, 2023). The c ircumstances of Darwin’ s(Edi

Gathegi) demise in First Class are reminiscent of the sacriﬁce

Black characters are often called on to make in Hollywood ﬁlms.

In an effort t o protect his white peers an d his notably fair-skinned

and h egemonically beautiful Black female counterpart, Angel

Salvadore (Zoë Kravitz), Darwin is killed. While the Darwin of

the comic universe could withstand anything and everything

thrown his way, needing only to put his instantaneous adaptive

powers to work, t he cinematic rendition of Darwin fails to survive

the encounter, becoming an example of the cinematic trope

Coleman and Harris draw attention to in the title of their

monograph, The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema

from Fodder to Oscar ( Coleman and Harris , 2023). This

persistent failing of Hollywood cinema has not gone

unnoticed by the series’ fanbase, as witnessed by the angry

meme in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1

@punk.black, Instagram. 30 August 2023. X-Men: First Class,

(2011), Darwin succumbing to Shaw’s attack, despite his powers of

indestructability. [Accessed 24 October 2023].

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Grimsted et al. 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

Methods

To analyze motifs of genetics in relation to othering in the

X-Men ﬁlm franchise, we ﬁrst identiﬁed the relevant canon and then

acquired transcripts of each ﬁlm. The thirteen X-Men movies

released by Fox were cataloged according to year and linked to a

brief identiﬁer (X#). The transcript for each movie was collected

from a British fan site that makes available a wide range of movie

and television show scripts (Springﬁeld). These transcripts were

copied into a txt ﬁle, where each line of dialogue could be numbered

individually. Table 1 shows the ﬁlm order, titles, years released, and

directors.

Each movie was watched twice with the closed captions on to

correct the transcript to include only spoken dialogue that audiences

would hear. The ﬁrst viewing of the movie was used to correct words,

punctuation, and formatting. The second viewing served to double-

check the transcript, eliminate non-meaningful sounds (uh, bleep,

achoo), and languages other than English (with the exception of

clearly intelligible loan words such as “nein,”“sayonara,” etc.). In

this stage, we attended to formatting details of the transcript txt ﬁles,

such as inserting a new line every time there was a new speaker.

After collecting and cleaning the transcripts, we determined our

unit of analysis. Considering each movie in its entirety would not

yield the nuanced discriminations of attitudes toward genetics and

otherness that we were seeking. On the other hand, examining every

line of dialogue in thirteen ﬁlms would be unwieldy. Consequently,

we settled on using the scene as our unit of analysis. But what

constituted a scene? Different media have different ways of telling

stories, including their internal organization. A play in the theatre

may have relatively few scenes, which may be clearly demarcated by

set changes. Movies, particularly summer blockbusters that feature

frenetic action sequences like the X-Men ﬁlms, cut frequently from

character to character and place to place. Scene divisions are not

always clear and obvious.

After discussing the nature of a scene and camera cuts, we agreed

upon the following general rule: if the action occurred in a new place,

new time, or involved new characters, it constituted a new scene. But

even then, distinguishing tiny scene shifts within a larger dramatic

arc distracted from the focal themes, so we grouped smaller or

overlapping scenes together as one sequence. This methodological

choice was particularly useful in linking the quick cuts between

combatants in ﬁght scenes together as one, extended ﬁght sequence.

As with many other blockbuster action movies, the ﬁght scenes in

X-Men movies often display entertaining and creative choreography

but not a lot of meaningful dialogue, thus diminishing their

pertinence to the movie’s themes of genetics and othering.

Key details were documented for every scene, including the

timestamp of when the scene began, the numbered transcript lines

spoken, the setting, a brief description of the action, a list of the

characters present, and additional notes. Once all the movies had been

demarcated by scene, new txt ﬁles for each scene were created using a

python script. All the scenes were then uploaded to MAXQDA, a

qualitative coding software. The runtime, transcript word count, and

number of scenes for each movie are presented in Table 2.

We developed a codebook to document themes across the ﬁlms

(see Supplementary Material for the complete codebook). We began

by discussing our two thematic foci, genetics and othering. With

regard to genetics, we identiﬁed genetic topics that we knew arose in

the X-Men ﬁlms from previous viewings, such as human evolution,

the ﬁctious X-gene, the so-called “cure” for mutation, and more.

These codes were grouped under one of our code categories, genetic

themes. For othering, we identiﬁed motifs associated with racialized

populations and queer people. These led to the code categories of

Race and LGBTQ+. We also wanted to capture how mutants viewed

themselves (mutant attitudes and affects) and how society at large

viewed mutants (society’s view/treatment of mutants). We created a

code category for character demographics to note whether scenes

included only mutants or non-mutants. Finally, we coded for social

TABLE 1 Movie list.

X# Title Year Director

X1 X-Men 2000 Bryan Singer

X2 X2: X-Men United 2003 Bryan Singer

X3 X-Men: The Last Stand 2006 Brett Ratner

X4 X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2009 Gavin Hood

X5 X-Men: First Class 2011 Matthew Vaughn

X6 The Wolverine 2013 James Mangold

X7 X-Men: Days of Future Past 2014 Bryan Singer

X8 Deadpool 2016 Tim Miller

X9 X-Men: Apocalypse 2016 Bryan Singer

X10 Logan 2017 James Mangold

X11 Deadpool 2 2018 David Leitch

X12 X-Men: Dark Phoenix 2019 Simon Kinberg

X13 The New Mutants 2020 Josh Boone

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factors, which covered other relevant themes like family,

adolescence, gender, religion, and more.

To determine the codes within each category, we used an

inductive approach. Starting from an initial broad discussion of

themes, we continually added to our list of themes as we identiﬁed

them in our viewing of the movies. For example, in X-Men: First

Class (2011) there is a scene in which a character is “outed” as a

mutant, which led us to create the code “ outing.” After discussion,

we also added the code “closet” to refer to a closeted mutant, since

there could be scenes involving a closeted mutant who is not outed.

Our coding continued in this way until all relevant themes had been

captured in the codebook, a total of 99 codes.

Once we had our codebook, the authors watched the movies

again and coded them in MAXQDA. A code could be identiﬁed with

an entire scene, or with a speciﬁc section of dialogue. If a theme was

signaled visually but not verbally, the coder would mark the adjacent

dialogue with the code and write a memo in MAXQDA. Early in the

coding process, three of the authors coded the same movie

separately, then met to discuss and consolidate our codes to

elevate inter-coder reliability. The movies we knew from our ﬁrst

viewings to be the richest in themes were double or triple coded (X1,

X2, X3, X5, X7, X9, X10, X11, and X13), while the movies with less

thematic content were coded only once (X4, X6, X8, and X12).

Quantitative results

In total, across the thirteen movies, 3,459 coded segments were

identiﬁed by the research team. The seven code categories and their

aggregated code totals are listed in descending order in Table 3. The

bolded values are the total number of qualitative codes for that

category. For a complete list of codes, see Supplementary Material.

Social factors is the largest category, makingupathirdofallcodes.

This is not surprising as it has the most codes and covers everyday

social themes that appear frequently in the X-Men world. When the

subcodes are combined into their parent code totals, social factors

contain the top two most frequent codes, family (n = 251) and state

institutions (n = 142), which are both highly relevant to mutants’

othered experience. The subcodes for family are biological family (n =

121) and chosen family (n = 110). As we will explore in the analysis

section, mutants’ genetic difference potentially isolates them from their

biological family, and in their isolation, they often turn to other

mutants for connection and form chosen families. State institutions,

such as the legislative branch (n = 10), the military (n =78),whichis

part of the executive branch in the United States, and other state actors

(n = 54) make up the governmental systems that oppress mutants by

reinforcing their genetic difference. These institutions reinforce mutant

difference by enacting harmful policies against them, like the mutant

registration bill previewed in one of the epigraphs of this paper.

The next three most frequent codes all come from mutant

attitudes and affects and share similar totals, anger (n = 121),

mutants’ fear of themselves or others (n = 120), and emotional

stress (n = 118), which includes emotions such as anxiety, despair,

TABLE 2 Movie data.

X# Title Runtime (minutes) Word Count (transcript) Total Number of Scenes Scenes with Dialogue

X1 X-Men 104 4,835 52 46

X2 X2: X-Men United 134 6,958 53 49

X3 X-Men: The Last Stand 104 5,819 57 54

X4 X-Men Origins: Wolverine 107 5,537 50 46

X5 X-Men: First Class 131 9,359 61 60

X6 The Wolverine 126 5,000 43 41

X7 X-Men: Days of Future Past 132 8,052 40 37

X8 Deadpool 108 8,751 42 40

X9 X-Men: Apocalypse 144 7,838 57 55

X10 Logan 137 7,882 55 52

X11 Deadpool 2 119 10,913 44 41

X12 X-Men: Dark Phoenix 113 6,397 43 43

X13 The New Mutants 94 5,245 47 43

TABLE 3 Primary code categories.

Code category Number of subcodes Total

Social factors 25 1,142

Mutant attitudes and affects 13 728

Society’s view/treatment of mutants 14 539

Genetic themes 22 348

LGBTQ+ 10 296

Character demographics 4 262

Race 8 144

99 3,459

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grief, and pain. Besides the mutants-only demographic code, these

codes most commonly occur with each other, particularly emotional

stress which is the primary co-occurrent code for mutants’ fear

(29%) and anger (22%). This is indicative of the main focus of

X-Men movies, telling mutant stories. Mutants’ lives involve a great

deal of emotional turmoil as they face the challenges of living with an

othered identity.

Mutants’ otherness is demonstrated in two codes that frequently

co-occur, discrimination against mutants that is racially coded and

discrimination against mutants that is LGBTQ+ coded.

Discrimination against (LGBTQ+) is the second highest occurring

code in the LGBTQ+ section at n = 35 coded segments (Table 4).

Discrimination against (race) is the most frequent code in the larger

Race category, at n = 41 coded segments (Table 5). These codes

overlap in 17 segments, such as when Mr. Worthington says, “I only

wanted to help you people ” (X3, Scene 56). “You people” could be a

reference to mutants, African Americans, queer people, Jewish

people, or another othered group, depending on the context.

Society’s view and treatment of mutants is overwhelmingly

negative in the X-Men movies, as seen in Table 6. The most

frequent code in this category is fear of mutants (n = 92) and

the third most frequent code is a generalized hostility towards

mutants ( n = 74). The passages coded for fear or hostility rarely

have engaging dialogue or an explanation for why someone is afraid

or hostile towards mutants. Fear is not rational, though many

mutant antagonists justify their hostility by claiming that

mutants are inherently violent (n = 60) and dangerous (n = 50).

This rhetoric evokes the long-standing white myth that Black people

are exceptionally violent. One of the consequences of that myth in

our own world—high rates of African American incarceration—can

be seen in the X-Men universe as well, with imprisonment (n = 85) as

the second most frequent code for how society treats mutants. Not

all responses to mutants are negative, as can be seen with the two

positive codes in this category, allies (n = 31) and admiration (n =

17), but their totals are substantially lower than the unfavorable

codes.

Although genetic difference is the core of mutant identity, some

genetic motifs appear more frequently than others (Table 7). Out of

the 21 codes in the category of genetic themes, only 9 codes have a total

greater than 10. Motifs such as cloning, genealogy, genetic

engineering, and radiation appear in the ﬁlms but only

sporadically. The most prominent genetic themes documented are

experimentation (n = 64) and mutation (n =55).Mutationistobe

expected since these are movies about “mutants,” but the prominence

of experimentation is noteworthy. Experimentation, especially in

racial and eugenic contexts, are explored in the qualitative analysis.

The most prominent codes across the corpus of X-Men movies

reveal that despite their occasional niche genetic content, relatability

is at the core of these stories. Family is by far the largest code, with

109 more coded segments than the second highest code, state

institutions. Dealing with family is a timeless experience that all

TABLE 5 Race codes.

Total

Race 16

Discrimination 41

Excessive force 29

Revolution 15

Underground railroad 13

Separatism 12

Slavery 8

Harassment 8

White supremacy 2

144

TABLE 6 Society’s view/treatment of mutants codes.

Society’s view/treatment of mutants Total

Fear (non-mutants’)92

Imprisonment 85

Hostility 74

Violence 60

Dangerous 50

Warfare 44

Allies 31

Surveillance 28

Oppression 27

Admiration 17

Us (humans) against Them 14

Conspiracy 10

Mind control 4

Secrecy 3

539

TABLE 4 LGBTQ+ codes.

Total

LGBTQ+ 10

Passing 52

Discrimination 35

Isolation 34

Cure 34

Closet 32

Name 30

Outing 29

Difference 22

Queer relationships 13

Homophobia 5

296

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audiences can relate to; interacting with state institutions like the

government or military is also commonplace in our modern age.

Feelings like anger, fear, anxiety, despair, grief, and pain bond

viewers to the mutants on screen, as surely everyone can recall

feeling such emotions at some point in the past. While Race and

LGBTQ+ offer the two most obvious parallels for mutants, the

prominence of the discrimination code in both categories

demonstrates that the mutant metaphor is not limited to either

allegory. The expansiveness of mutants is perhaps best shown

through their opponents, who express general fear and hostility

towards mutants and act in ways that harm them. The ensemble

nature of these movies allows for a wide variety of character arcs and

identity intersections, while remaining relatable to a wide audience.

Qualitative analysis

Genetic difference

In the world of the X-Men, mutants are people who possess the

(ﬁctitious) X-gene. Their mutations grant them a variety of special

abilities, including ﬂight, teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, bodily

transformation, control over elements, and more. Anyone with

some genetic literacy would realize that it is impossible for

mutations in a single gene to produce such superhuman powers,

much less an entire array of superpowers, but ludicrous science is

not our concern in this paper. Instead, we focus on the allegorical

and thematic implications that arise from the notion of genetic

difference. Whether it is an unidentiﬁed mutation or the X-gene in

particular, mutants are perceived as different from the majority

because of their genetic code. Perhaps the most obvious indicator

that their otherness arises from their genetics is the word used to

describe them: mutants.

Because of their difference, both mutants and non-mutants alike

wonder where mutants ﬁt in on the human family tree. Many

characters explore mutant identity through ideas of evolution

and speciation. Professor X (Patrick Stewart) wonders out loud,

“are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain?” (X2, Scene 1),

while Magneto (portrayed in some movies by Michael Fassbender)

conﬁdently states, “We’re the next stage of human evolution” (X5,

Scene 57). Passages such as these, and there are many, reveal an

underlying assumption that evolution is linear, moving from one

“stage” or “chain” to the next. This popular misconception is

famously illustrated in the metaphor of the March of Progress,

which implies the false notion that a species cleanly evolves into

another species that is “better” than the ﬁrst.

Buying into the notion of a superior species, Magneto (also

portrayed in some movies by Ian McKellen) promotes mutant

superiority over non-mutant humans. Speaking to the

United States President and the public via a television broadcast,

Magneto proclaims, “You are right to fear us. We are the future. We

are the ones who will inherit this Earth” (X7, Scene 37). Magneto

believes that mutants are worthy of fear because of their powers, and

since they are the “better” species, they “will inherit this Earth.” His

response to being othered by the dominant group is to ﬂip the script

and declare mutants superior to humans. To counter the threat of a

pogrom against mutants, Magneto sets out to destroy humanity

instead and bring about a mutant-only future.

Professor Charles Xavier, or Professor X as he is most often

called, opposes Magneto’s destructive plans, but he shares some of

the same underlying views of evolution and speciation. Professor X

was once a professor of genetics and X-Men: First Class (2011)

depicts a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) as a PhD student at

Oxford. Sometimes when his foster sister, later to be known as Raven

(Jennifer Lawrence), was unable to fall asleep, Charles would read

her part of his thesis on Neanderthals, our human cousins who went

extinct around forty thousand years ago.

Charles: To Homo neanderthalensis, his mutant cousin, Homo

sapiens, was an aberration. Peaceful cohabitation, if ever it

existed, was short-lived... The arrival of the mutated human

species in any region was followed by the immediate extinction

of their less evolved kin.

(X5, Scene 6)

Charles emphasizes inter-species conﬂict, claiming that it is

inevitable, and necessarily leads to “the immediate extinction” of the

less-evolved species. His analysis of Neanderthal-Homo sapiens

relations is not supported by modern human evolutionary

scientists, who have shown that homo sapiens and homo

TABLE 7 Genetic themes codes.

Genetic themes Total

Experimentation 64

Mutation 55

Science talk 33

Longevity 30

Evolution 26

Extinction 25

Posthumanism 16

Speciation 16

Biological Warfare/Bioterrorism 14

Genetic condition 9

Radiation 9

X-gene 8

Genetic engineering 7

Genealogy 6

Bio-banks 4

Eugenics 4

Cloning 3

Nature v. nurture 3

Genetic screening 2

Forensics 1

Deep time 0

335

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neanderthalensis interbred and thus overlapped in time rather than

there being an immediate eradication of the “lesser” species (Wolf

and Akey, 2018; Villanea and Schraiber, 2019). Modern research has

also revealed a complex web of factors that led to Neanderthal

extinction, including conﬂict but also climate change

(Timmermann, 2020). Though Charles’ thesis is inaccurate

according to current scientiﬁc understanding, in the movies the

belief that Neanderthals were driven to extinction by a newer, more

evolved species (i.e., homo sapiens), serves to legitimate humanity’s

fear of being eradicated in turn by a new species of mutants.

The notions of a superior species and an inferior species directly

evoke the eugenics movement of the late-nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries in the United States and Nazi Germany. In

her article “Germans and Genes on Screen; Marvel’s X-Men Films,”

Cynthia D. Porter investigates the many references to German

history and culture found in the ﬁrst three installments of the

X-Men ﬁlm franchise (2021–22). Porter’s analysis includes the

interwoven histories of medical experimentation and national

socialistic eugenic ideology rooted in the perceived superiority of

Aryan genes. Porter writes, “Racial hygienists developed arguments

based on perceptions of genetic strength, stating that genetic

weakness was the determining factor in the identiﬁcation and

condemnation of targeted communities” (2021–22). She

continues by presenting the many examples of forced or coerced

experimentation on X-Men favorites—like Wolverine, Magneto,

and Professor X—as representing what she argues is an invitation

for the viewer to recall “the Nazi crimes against humanity,

particularly pertaining to the issues of genetic privacy and

bioethics” (Porter, 2021). Later installments of the X-Men ﬁlm

franchise continue the tradition of referencing the Holocaust, but

with varying focal points and embedded critiques. Take, for

example, villain Sebastian Shaw as he endeavors to reassure a

young Magneto of their common interests by emphasizing what

he identiﬁes as the true value located in mutant bloodlines: genetic

evolution.

Sebastian Shaw: These Nazis, I’m not like them. Genes are the

key, yes? But their goals? Blue eyes? Blonde Hair? Pathetic.

(X5, Scene 3)

In the X-Men ﬁlms, mutants are not known to the general public

until 1973, and their perceived “newness” as a species contributes to

a sense of the freakish Other. In X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Alex, a

member of the X-Men, says to CIA Agent Moira MacTaggart, “I

thought mutants did not evolve until this century,” and she replies,

“That’s the common theory, yes ” (X9, Scene 16). In the movie, the

common theory is proven false by the existence of an ancient

mutant, but that does not change the widespread misconception

that mutants suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The newness of

mutants echoes moral panics over an “increase” in queer people

which failed to recognize that same-gender relationships have

existed in the past (Boswell, 1981).

As mutants emerge from the closet in the movies, they ﬁnd a

society that is not ready to welcome them. Mutants in the X-Men ﬁlms

experience a wide range of hostility and backlash rooted in fear,

discomfort, and hatred. Perhaps one of their most notorious villains is

Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), the CEO of Trask Industries, who

creates giant killer robots called the Sentinels in X-Men: Days of

Future Past (2014). His aim is the total extinction of mutants and

anyone who supports them, a complete genocide. Trask uses the

rhetoric of speciation, conﬂict, and extinction when he says his goal is

one that “could unite us [homo sapiens] as a species” (X7, Scene 27).

To Trask and other characters like him, mutants’ genetic difference is

intolerable, and their very existence is a threat to humanity.

In this hostile world, mutants’ genetic difference puts them at

greater risk for abuse, including violations of their genetic privacy

and autonomy in medical and scientiﬁc settings. Unethical

experimentation on mutants is a threat that looms large in the

X-Men universe, from the mutation-inducing ray of the ﬁrst movie,

X-Men (2000), to the most recent movie, The New Mutants, (2020),

where ﬁve mutant teenagers are under constant bio-scanning

surveillance. The most visible victim of nefarious experimentation

is James Logan Howlett, known as Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who

appears in seven of the thirteen ﬁlms. Wolverine’s mutation has

given him bone claws that can protrude through his knuckles and an

endless, near-instantaneous healing ability. His mutant talents are

prized by Colonel Stryker, a military scientist with an anti-mutant

agenda, who authorizes horriﬁc experiments on Logan.

In a state of distress after Stryker ordered the murder of his

girlfriend, Logan agrees to Stryker’s experiment in which an

indestructible (and imaginary) metal alloy called adamantium is

bonded to his skeleton. The military scientists failed to inform him

beforehand of the intense pain he would experience in the procedure

or its awful aftereffects. As in the notorious US Public Health Service

Untreated Syphilis Study on African American males at Tuskegee,

the medical procedures performed on Wolverine were not done for

his beneﬁt. Instead, they were undertaken to transform Wolverine

into a super weapon for Stryker’s own purposes. In both cases, the

perpetrators of the experiment viewed their subjects as less than

human, not worthy of proper treatment and respect. While

Wolverine technically consented to the experiment, he did so

under duress, and like the men of the Tuskegee experiments, he

was never informed of the long-term sequelae.

Years later, in Logan (2017), Wolverine is close to death because

of the slow poisoning from the metal inside him, an echo of the men

in the Tuskegee experiment who later died of syphilis. Mercenaries

trying to capture a mysterious eleven-year-old girl intrude on

Logan’s life. Professor X informs him that the young girl “[is]

your daughter, Logan. Alkali has your genetic code” (X10, Scene

21). Unknown to Logan, a biomedical corporation known as Alkali

Transigen had kept his DNA and created a child without his

consent, utterly violating his privacy and autonomy. The

company later injected his “daughter” Laura with adamantium,

so she was being slowly poisoned in the same manner as her

father. This multi-generational misuse of medical research is

hardly unprecedented in the annals of American science,

particularly where Black people are concerned. For example,

Henrietta Lacks’s descendants were encouraged for years to come

in for further blood draws under the guise of cancer screening, when

in fact the aim was to collect biological material for research

unconnected to their healthcare (Skloot, 2010).

There are other racialized elements in the treatment of Logan

and his “daughter”, Laura. Colonel Stryker constantly calls

Wolverine “an animal,” which on the surface is a reference to his

name but is racially coded, since similar language has long used to

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describe people of color. Laura is also coded as “an animal.” She does

not speak until the last part of Logan (2017), communicating

through inarticulate noises and body language. Her captors treat

her as a dangerous beast, evoking the false notion that Black people

are more violent than whites. Stryker’s mercenary views Laura as

property, asserting that the nurse who freed her “took something of

mine when I was not looking.” (X10, Scene 5) The “something” in

question was not a valuable object but a human being, The

mercenary pursues Laura as she ﬂees toward Canada evoking

antebellum slavecatchers who pursued runaway slaves traveling

north on the underground railroad. While Laura’s story is

evocative of formerly enslaved African Americans, she is not

Black and is rather coded as Hispanic since she is Spanish-

speaking, resulting in a muddled metaphor of racialization.

Genetic difference is the core of mutant identity for people in the

X-Men cinematic universe. Characters on both sides of the conﬂict,

including Professor X, Magneto, and Dr. Trask, view mutants as a

different race or species. These characters — and many others in the

ﬁlms—create a dichotomy between mutants and non-mutants, and

assume that conﬂict between the two groups is inevitable. In

different scenarios, mutants are reminiscent of queer people in

the second half of the twentieth century, Black people who have

been systematically failed by institutions including healthcare and

medical research, and the European Jews who were killed in the

Holocaust because the Nazis viewed them as inferior. One cannot

identify a single real-world allegory for mutants because mutant

identity intersects with every part of a person, just as our own

gender, sexuality, race, ethnic background, neurodiversity, faith

tradition, and more weave together within us. In the world of

X-Men, “mutant status” is an exceptionally ﬂexible category.

“Mutant status” can be such a ﬂexible category in the X-Men

universe because the mutant metaphor is built on a plurality of

tropes about otherness. Since genetic difference is the basis of

mutant identity, a plethora of themes associated with genetics

emerge from this versatile metaphor, ranging from evolution,

speciation, and extinction to eugenics and unethical

experimentation on unwilling subjects.

Family

The Deadpool ﬁlms are among the few in the X-Men series that

are rated R, and rightfully so, as they are ﬁlled with profane humor and

violent, gory imagery. Hence it is a bit surprising when at the

beginning of Deadpool 2 (2018), Deadpool announces “believe it

or not, Deadpool 2 is a family ﬁlm” (X11, Scene 6). The term “family

ﬁlm” usually refers to a ﬁlm that an entire family can enjoy, including

young children, but what Deadpool means in this case is that the

intensely violent ﬁlm that follows ends up being a story about a family.

We never meet or learn about Wade Wilson’s parents or siblings, but

by the movie’s close, it is clear he has acquired a family, one forged out

of elective afﬁliation rather than biological kinship.

The phrases “chosen family” or “found family” refer to familial ties

that do not have a biological basis. Membership in a chosen family is

not based on sharing a recent common ancestor, but rather on choice;

everyone has chosen to commit to one another. Because it is disruptive

to the traditional heteronormative ideal of the nuclear family, found

families are inherently queer family structures (Weston, 1991; Blum,

2022). But the queerness associated with chosen family is also related

to the higher likelihood that queer people will be in a found family

because they have been rejected by their biological family.

Mutants can face rejection or alienation from their biological

family when their mutation reveals itself around puberty. As a doctor

says in The New Mutants (2020), “Mutation most often occurs in

puberty. You might spend the ﬁrst 13 years of your life relatively

normal. Then... you come of age and discover your true nature”

(X13, Scene 3). This scenario is utterly wrong scientiﬁcally, but it

chimes with the experience of some LGBTQ+ youths, whose

discovery of their sexuality can be disruptive to their sense of self,

and their familial and social ties. In X-Men (2000), after her mutation

manifests, Rogue leaves her family in Louisiana, journeying all the way

to Canada by herself. In The New Mutants (2020), ﬁve mutant

teenagers are trapped in a mysterious clinic, separated from their

homes and families. In X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), after the death

of her mother, Jean Grey is relinquished to Professor X by her father

who no longer wants to be responsible for her. And in Deadpool 2

(2018), Russell is a teenager being abused at a mutant orphanage, with

no supportive adults in his life. Teenagers facing hardships, often of

the familial variety, remain at the center of X-Men stories.

Professor X: I’ve come to bring you home.

Jean Grey: I have no home.

Professor X: Yes, you do. You have a home and a family [now].

(X3, Scene 32)

As with other genetic traits, the ﬁctional X-gene is not

necessarily expressed in every member of a family. It is

completely possible for one child to be a mutant and have non-

mutant parents and siblings. The emergence of mutation at puberty

combined with the recessive nature of the X-gene contributes to the

mutants-as-queer analogy, since queer sexuality often becomes

apparent at puberty and sexuality can vary among siblings. The

mutant family tropes seen throughout the X-Men movies are almost

direct retellings of common LGBTQ+ coming out stories, with

superpowers standing in place of gender or sexuality. The most

obvious example is in X-Men Apocalypse (2016), when Bobby

Drake returns home with his friends from mutant school and

must “come out” to his family. His parents’ and brother’s

reactions are not positive; his mom even asks, “Have you tried

not being a mutant?” (X2, Scene 38). But a snarky comment from

Bobby’s classmate is a reminder that even if his family chooses to

distance themselves from him, their genetic connection remains.

Bobby’s mom: This is all my fault.

Pyro: Actually, they discovered that males are the ones who

carry the mutant gene and pass it on, so it is his fault [gesturing

to Bobby’s father].

(X2, Scene 36)

The queer overtones of this coming out scene and Pyro’s

reference to “the mutant gene” and “his fault” evoke genetic

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essentialism and the concept of the gay gene, which is still debated as

scientists and lay people are unsure about the extent to which

queerness is genetic (Hammack-Aviran et al., 2022). Pyro’s bitter

rejoinder also plays on the notion that difference is someone’s

“fault,” but the scene makes it abundantly clear that we are not

meant to interpret this otherness as bad—quite the reverse. Rogue,

Bobby’s girlfriend, tries to articulate that point, insisting to his mom,

“Bobby is gifted.” Bobby’s parents remain hesitant and

uncomfortable in the presence of their mutant son and his

mutant friends. Bobby’s brother goes further in his animosity,

leaving the room to secretly call the police.

Bobby’s “coming out” scene is further complicated by his

brother’s phone call to the police, which swiftly shifts the tone of

the family visit from one connoting queerness to one connotating

Blackness. Mistreatment of Black adults, particularly men, by law

enforcement has been amply documented in recent years (Desilver

et al., 2020). When the police arrive, the scene plays out in a scenario

familiar from countless incidents of police violence toward Black

people. Logan is attempting to deescalate the scene by explaining

that the call was all a misunderstanding, but when Logan’s “knives”

inadvertently emerge, the police open ﬁre. Even though Logan has

raised his hands and is not threatening anyone, law enforcement

overreacts, endangering innocent bystanders with a hail of gunﬁre.

Making the scene even more troubling is that it endangers children.

The ofﬁcer’s patronizing attitude toward Pyro, calling him a “kid”

but treating him as an adult, evokes the dangerous and detrimental

American history of “adultriﬁcation” of Black children (Koch and

Kozhumam, 2022; CPE Staff, 2023). A 2014 American Psychological

Association study of police behavior towards young Black boys

found that “dehumanization and not police ofﬁcers’ prejudice

against Blacks—conscious or not—was linked to violent

encounters with Black children in custody” (APA, 2014; Goff

et al., 2014). In this scene, the police dehumanize mutants in the

same way, viewing them as an inhuman threat to contain rather than

acting out of conscious hatred. However, the analogy to Black

experiences of police violence is incomplete since all the mutants

in this scene are White.

Even if a mutant “coming out” goes relatively well and does not

end in a police confrontation, there can still be danger ahead for

mutants and their families, depending on the speciﬁc mutation a

person has. Mutants like Jean Grey and Professor X have telepathic

abilities, they can read minds, but their neurodiversity can also lead

to heightened stress and confusion. Jean and Professor X experience

sensory overload, like many people on the autism spectrum, and

their minds and thinking processes are often misunderstood by their

fellow mutants. Some mutants face the different problem of

longevity; they have an increased lifespan, usually due to a

limitless healing ability. Wolverine, Sabretooth, Apocalypse, and

Mystique all have longer than average lifespans and continue to look

relatively young throughout the decades. The longer someone is

alive, the fewer direct biological kin they have, unless a family

member has a similar mutation (for example, Wolverine and

Sabretooth are brothers). Mutants with longevity tend to create

chosen family connections since their biological family may be long

gone. Wolverine often takes a young mutant under his wing

becoming something of a father ﬁgure to characters like Rogue,

Yukio, and the unknown girl who turns out to be his actual daughter,

Laura. A chosen family is more ﬂexible than a nuclear family, and

relationships can be more ﬂuid and less deﬁned. Although

Wolverine may play a father-like role in her life, he is adamant

that he is not Rogue’s actual father.

Rogue: Should not you be telling me to stay? To go upstairs and

unpack?

Wolverine: I’m not your father. I’m your friend.

(X3, Scene 34)

Deep friendship combined with a shared genetic identity often

brings mutant characters together in fulﬁlling relationships.

Although they frequently are adversaries, Professor X and

Magneto refer to each other as “old friend” across multiple ﬁlms.

They grow apart over time, but they never forget that they were once

young men with a shared dream of making the world a better place

for mutants.

Mutants in the X-Men ﬁlms might experience conﬂict and

rejection from their biological families, but they are often able to

ﬁnd and forge new families with other mutants. A mutant teenager

may have to “come out” to their family, as queer teens often do, and

they run the risk of rejection and alienation. Within or connected to

the trope of queerness are behaviors and attitudes towards mutants

that can be interpreted as potentially addressing a range of

minoritized groups. Summarizing the application of the “mutant

metaphor” in the X-Men comics, Joseph J. Darowski states that the

“series does clearly and frequently use the concept of ‘mutants’ to

explore issues of prejudice” (2014, 155). Bobby’s coming out scene is

a locus from which the movie is able to explore both anti-queer and

anti-Black prejudice, the latter in a violent conﬂict with the police.

Fortunately, even in the face of prejudice, the mutants in X-Men

ﬁlms are able to make life-sustaining friendships that may evolve

into a familial bond, premised not on direct kinship but on a shared

otherness.

To be othered

Though the movies give a sense of the broader world the

X-Men live in, the ﬁlms are primarily focused on a d iverse

ensemble of mut ants. X-Men fans love to talk about t heir

favorite charac ters because there are so many to choose from,

each with a unique background, personalit y, and powerset. The

individuality and humanity that fans love contrasts with the

attitude of the mutants’ antagonists, who seem to only see a

uniﬁed group o f dangerous creatures , t he fear-inducing “Other.”

In fact, mutants are not a uniﬁed front in any sense; they vary in

their self-perceptions, self-expressions, and ideals for

mutantkind.

Mutants’ self-conception is often connected with the relative

visibility of their “difference.” Some mutants are indistinguishable

from non-mutants; their powers do not affect their appearance

(Professor X, Magneto, Storm, Jean Grey). For others, their

mutation is visually distinct, as in the cases of Mystique, Beast,

and Nightcrawler, who share the trait of having blue skin. Others

represent a composition of anonymity coupled with easily

identiﬁable difference, as in the case of Angel, who has giant

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wings that are only hidden with great difﬁculty. Additional examples

include Cyclops, who must wear special glasses to stop his laser eye

beams, Wolverine, whose adamantium claws are retractable but

terribly threatening when out, or Rogue, who appears “normal” but

is incapable of skin-to-skin contact with another person, lest she

drain their life-force. Even when members of the latter group are not

using their powers, they remain easily identiﬁable as mutants. They

cannot “pass” as human all of the time.

Kat Overland notes that the term passing “is most often applied to

discuss race, but can be used more broadly to cover sexual orientation,

ethnicity, or gender identity as well. Passing means that someone can

lose an assigned status as the Other, gaining privilege and social

acceptance by being perceived as someone they are not” (2009, 196).

Placing the historical context of passing in conversation with its

presentation in the X-Men ﬁlms, Overland writes

In the United States, racial categories historically have been

regulated in part to prevent passing—the “one-drop rule” meant

that someone could not ascend from the status of a slave simply

by looking “white enough” under the eyes of the law.

Transgender people have plenty of reason to consider

passing—violence against trans individuals is statistically

much higher than for others, and there is still social and

legal stigma against them (Giovanniello 2013).... The

conceptual connection between these examples and the

X-universe is notable. Throughout the series, mutants are

plagued by government entities looking to lock them into a

subordinate class—from the Mutant Registration Act of the ﬁrst

ﬁlm to the Sentinels program of Days of Future Past, the law is a

tool with which to contain mutants by codifying their social

identity as forever and Other (Overland, 197-98).

The subject of passing is at times presented in the X-verse as a

means of protection—but one that is perceived by the human

antagonists of the ﬁlms as inherently threatening. The groups of

mutants that can go undetected are understood by government

ofﬁcials as a domestic threat. The threat arises from the possibility

that a human could work with or be friends “with a mutant without

ever being the wiser. Passing creates the possibility that someone’s

humanity could be ‘performed,’ that it could be constructed or worn

as an identity rather than being an innate characteristic” (Overland,

2016, p. 200). A consistent theme in the X-Men ﬁlms, governmental

intervention with the goal of preventing true integration of

minoritized groups has historically been focused on maintaining

the hierarchical status quo. Overland continues by explaining that

“[p]assing disrupts what was once an intransgressable line, so the

status conferred to white[ness] becomes less exclusive.... Mutants stir

similar anxieties... If mutants were to acquire social and political

privilege, then humans in the ﬁlms (antagonists who are all white men

with economic and social power) could lose their place in the social

hierarchy”

(200). By showing how some of the most inﬂuential

components of social hierarchies are performed, mutants present

audiences with recurring opportunities to reﬂect on the fragility of

questions of societal inclusion and exclusion of minoritized groups,

regardless of whether they are identiﬁed by race, sexual orientation, or

gender performance.

On an interpersonal level, passing affects mutant relationships,

especially when there is a discrepancy in the ability to pass between the

parties. Mystique references this discrepancy when she notes to her

adoptive brother that “pretty mutations, or invisible ones like yours

[are worthy of pride]... But if you’re a freak, you better hide” (X5,

Scene 5). Raven, whose preferred name is later Mystique, is frequently

annoyed with her brother Charles Xavier (Professor X), who does not

seem to appreciate or acknowledge the level of harassment and

prejudice she faces as a preternaturally blue, scaly ﬁgu re. She is “a

freak” in a way that he is not. After Beast tells her “You have no

idea what I’d give to feel normal,” she replies, “Normal. Charles

has never understood. He’s different, but he’s never had to hide”

(X5, Scene 18). Mystique and Beast have felt the constant pressure

to hide, which negatively affected their mental health. While both

characters have non-normative appearances in the comics as well,

they are particularly striking on screen, surrounded by regular

humans that viewers can easily relate to.

After being shot in Paris, Mystique goes to the hospital for

medical treatment in a normative human form. The nurse sees

Mystique on the TV from earlier in the day and remarks (translated

from French):

Nurse: Terrible thing... being born like that.... Can you

imagine looking in the mirror and seeing that staring back

at you?

(X7, Scene 24)

The nurse does not know she is describing the patient right beside

her, hiding in plain sight. Mystique could be feeling many different

emotions in that moment, from isolation to shame to anger, or

maybe just a dulled pain from years of disparaging comments. These

types of feelings can be found across all the movies in different

characters as they live their lives as mutants. As noted in the

quantitative results section, the most frequent mutant emotions

across all thirteen ﬁlms are anger, anxiety, despair, grief, pain, and

fear. While everyone experiences the whole range of emotion in their

lifetime, oppression increases stress which has negative health

outcomes, and poor health outcomes can be further compounded

by intersections of oppression (LeBlanc et al., 2015; Brown and

Homan, 2023). This problem is applicable to mutants who continue

to cope with the world they live in but inevitably lead less happy lives

than their non-mutant counterparts.

One generally negative emotional experience is noteworthy for

how it leads to strong positive bonds in mutant community: a feeling

of isolation. Perhaps the most isolating experience is to believe that

no one has ever felt what you are feeling. Erik (Magneto) gives voice

to the pain of isolation in X-Men: First Class (2011).

Erik: I thought I was alone.

Charles (Professor X): You’re not alone. Erik, you’re not alone.

(X5, Scene 15)

Erik, who was conﬁned as a boy in Auschwitz during the

Holocaust, never realized there were other mutants until he met

Charles Xavier. This part of his identity was completely isolated. He

never saw other people like him, so he believed that there were none

who could relate to his experience. This feeling is comparable to

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Grimsted et al. 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

queer people who grow up without access to a queer community,

especially in the pre-internet age, who may have thought no one had

ever felt same-gender attraction before or have felt like they were a

different gender. In this scene of the movie, the relief is clear on

Erik’s face. It is a powerful moment that surely resonated with

audiences, either queer audience members who recognize a moment

from their past or heterosexual cisgender audience members who

may have never connected to this emotional experience before. Erik

now knows that he is not alone, and even though he will disagree

with Charles greatly in the future, in that moment he found comfort

in empathy and solidarity.

Isolation is one of the many harmful internal feelings mutants

have about themselves; another is self-hatred, which can arise from

internalizing the hatred of society towards mutants. As previously

mentioned, Raven (Mystique) and Hank (Beast) are the best examples

of internalized self-hatred, though Mystique is able to form a positive

self-identity more quickly than Hank in the movies. By the end of X-

Men: First Class (2011), Mystique has already decided not to accept

Hank’s drug that will “normalize” her appearance, but Hank is still

determined to take this “cure” for his mutation.

Hank: It behooves me to tell you that even if we save the world

tomorrow, and mutants are accepted into society, my feet and

your natural blue form will never be deemed beautiful....We

need this cure.

(X5, Scene 56)

Hank justiﬁes his self-hatred by being a realist. He recognizes that

he and Mystique are in a different category from Charles and Erik

as mutants who cannot “pass.” For Charles, acceptance in society

is the ultimate goal, but Hank sees the sho rtcomings of that

objective clearly. They may be accepted, but they “will never be

deemed beautiful.” Their entire selves, in all their mutant beauty,

will never be appreciated, only tolerated by wider society. Hank

choosestohidehismutationfromhisemployer(theCIA),saying

“You did not ask, so I did not tell” (X5, Scene 16). T he line is a

clear reference to the now defunct but long-standing “do not ask,

do not tell” policy in the United States military that said LGBTQ

military members should keep t heir queerness a secret, at least

from the institution.

Mystique has the best mutant skillset to allow her to pass but to

her, societal acceptance ultimately does not matter.

Mystique: You’re beautiful, Hank. Everything you are, you are

perfect... We are different. But we should not be trying to ﬁt

into society. Society should aspire to be more like us. Mutant and

proud.

(X5, Scene 56)

The phrase “mutant and proud” evokes similar rhetoric around

pride parades and the Black power movement. “Gay pride,”“Black is

beautiful,”“mutant and proud”—these phrases are all an expression

of radical self-love in the face of a hostile society.

Another manifestation of self-acceptance in the X-Men world is

the practice of self-naming. Because of the precedent of superhero

codenames, mutants have the socially acceptable option of choosing a

name for themselves. In Deadpool 2, Deadpool befriends a teen, Russell,

who goes by “Fireﬁst.

”“Ooh, that’s a great name,” says Deadpool,

smirking at his sexual innuendo (X11, Scene 18). A name can be a

manifestation of one’strueself,aswhenMagnetoasksanX-student,

“What’syourreal name?” and the boy replies, “Pyro” instead of his

birthname, John. This parallels trans and nonbinary people who

frequently choose different names from their birthnames to afﬁrm

their identity and sense of self. Another parallel can be seen to Black

leaders like Malcolm X who changed their names to register their

political convictions. But codenames are not always afﬁrmational;

many characters express an indifference to their alternative names,

like when Wolverine/Logan and Rogue/Marie ﬁrst meet.

Wolverine: So what kind of a name is Rogue?

Rogue: I do not know. What kind of a name is Wolverine?

Wolverine: My name’s Logan.

Rogue: Marie.

(X1, Scene 11)

Both characters are sheepish about their names, as if they are not

certain why they have a second name. Part of that reluctance and

confusion may stem from their origins in comic books, where almost

all superhero characters have a birth name and a code name. In a

scene shortly after, Wolverine makes fun of the names of several of

the X-Men when he ﬁrst meets them. However, his bemusement at

their names quickly falls by the wayside as Wolverine learns about

the school that houses and educates young mutants. Professor X

began the school with an inclusive vision in mind.

Professor X: I have plans for this place. I mean to turn it into a

real campus. A university. Not just for mutants either, for

humans too. Living and working, growing together.

(X9, Scene 29)

Professor X’s ideal vision of the world is one of mutant-human

intermingling, “living and working, growing together.” He

participates in respectability politics as he aims to present

mutants as upstanding citizens who can contribute to society.

Professor X does not think mutants’ genetic difference deﬁnes

them in relation to non-mutants; he believes that that difference

can be bridged. His sister, Mystique (Raven) is much more hesitant

towards Charles’ human-mutant utopia.

Mystique: Charles, I used to think it was going to be you and me

against the world. But no matter how bad the world gets, you do

not want to be against it, do you? You want to be a part of it.

(X5, Scene 60)

Mystique may be unsure of her place in “the world,” a reference to

normative human society, but she recognizes Charles’ desire to

assimilate. In subsequent ﬁlms, Mystique forges her own path

forward that is not as ideologically focused as her brother but is

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Grimsted et al. 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

nevertheless concerned with saving and protecting mutants. In

X-Men Apocalypse (2016) she is disillusioned with the idea of

being a “hero,” but she still works to save mutants like Kurt

Wagner (Nightcrawler) from a forced mutant ﬁght ring by paying

for a passport and extraction from Soviet East Germany. Kurt’s

extraction from Soviet Germany and Laura’s journey to Canada in

Logan (2017) parallel the underground railroad that enslaved people

traveled to escape bondage in the American south. The underground

railroad is just one allegory for these stories, however; another could

be Jews escaping Europe during the rise of the Third Reich. Once

again, the mutant metaphor proves highly versatile.

Mystique is primarily interested in direct action to promote

mutant wellbeing, but her frequent partner in crime, Magneto, is in

many ways more similar to her brother, Professor X, since they are

both interested in “the world” of non-mutants. Professor X and

Magneto care about society, but the former wants to be a part of it

while the latter wants a mutant revolution.

Magneto: This society will not accept us. We form our own.

(X5, Scene 64)

Magneto is a mutant separatist, in contrast to Professor X’s

assimilationist tendencies. Both of their reactions are in response to

a hostile world that fears mutants’ genetic differences, and both of their

plans require a high degree of effort on the part of their fellow mutants.

To join the X-Men is to present the most respectable mutant face

possible while going on difﬁcult missions and doing promotional

public acts like saving astronauts and meeting the president

(X-Men: Dark Phoenix). To join Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants

is to ﬁght, plan terrorist attacks, and face constant pushback. Both paths

are daunting and require ideological buy-in. It would be difﬁcult for a

mutant to join the X-Men if they did not have hopes for a mutant-

human society, and it would be equally difﬁcult to separate from non-

mutant relationships without buying into a vision for mutant greatness.

Mutants are tied together by their shared genetic identity, but like

any group of people they vary in their presentation and views. As we

have seen, some mutants are able to “pass,” which is deeply worrying

for their human antagonists who feel their position in the social

hierarchy threatened, like white supremacists, antisemites, and racists.

Passing mutants engage with society in part because they are able to,

unlike mutants such as Mystique and Beast, who know that

acceptance and assimilation into the hierarchy is not a possibility

for them. But mutants vary again in their response to not passing.

Beast goes to extremes to try to pass despite his appearance, while

Mystique possesses a surprising self-conﬁdence. Unfortunately,

Mystique’sdeﬁantly positive self-expression is the exception not

the rule for mutants, as many struggle with isolation, self-hatred,

and uncertainty about their place in society. Thus, Professor X and

Magneto offer opposing visions of society, with Professor X looking to

eliminate discrimination and prejudice by changing hearts and minds

so mutants may safely live among non-mutants, whereas Magneto

wants to form a separate mutant society. The internal group politics of

mutants are readily transposable to real-world minoritized groups,

such as a Black Lives Matter activist circle, a queer co-op, or an ethnic

minority family, where disagreements are always plentiful because of

individual variations in opinion, approach, and world outlook. But

what makes X-Men ﬁlms unusual for summer blockbusters is their

exploration of these themes through the symbol of genetics. On a

movie screen, viewers from diverse othered populations ﬁrst see an

assortment of mutants with visually dazzling powers, and then

ultimately, perhaps unexpectedly, ﬁnd themselves reﬂected on screen.

Conclusion

The X-Men ﬁlms demonstrate the power of blockbuster cinema

to translate genetic privacy concerns and intersecting social issues of

prejudice and bias to the big screen. While the movies promote

diversity to appeal to the global movie marketplace, their conception

of diversity can be thin and U.S. centric. Mutants in the X-Men

properties always represent the Other. Their otherness stems from

their mutated “X-gene” which can separate them from their

“human” social group and/or create a sense of mutant solidarity.

The non-mutant majority in X-Men movies frequently retaliates

against mutants out of fear and hatred through discriminatory

legislation, military and police violence, imprisonment, and

unethical experimentation. In the face of such prejudice, mutants

suffer the emotional consequences of being othered, while still

ﬁnding ways to create joy and hope.

Genetic difference is the core of mutant identity, but what makes

the X-Men ﬁlms so compelling is their weaving of genetics in with

many tropes of oppression. The mutant metaphor is extremely versatile,

andanygroupthathasfacedoppressionwillﬁnd something relatable in

the mutant experience. The two primary reference groups in the ﬁlms

are African Americans (ra cially coded visuals, excessive force used

against mutants, abuse by medical institutions, allusions to the Black

Power movement, a mutant underground railroad), and LGBTQ+

people (“passing”, coming out, genetic determinism, chosen family,

allusion to Gay Pride parades). While we identiﬁed these categories

separately, the ﬁlms make no such distinctions, rather blending together

different metaphors and blurring the speciﬁcity of minoritized subjects

under the category of a genetic other.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in

the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed

to the corresponding author.

Author contributions

SG: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal Analysis,

Investigation, Methodology, Writing–original draft. KK: Data

curation, Investigation, Writing–original draft. CP: Conceptualization,

Writing–original draft, Resources. JC: Conceptualization, Data curation,

Formal Analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology,

Project administration, Supervision, Writing–review and editing.

5 The authors would like to thank their colleagues in Vanderbilt's Center for

Genetic Privacy and Identity in Community Settings, especially Ellen

Wright Clayton, Claire Sisco King, and Morgan Johnson, for their

comments on a draft of this article.

Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org14

Grimsted et al. 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905

Funding

The author(s) declare ﬁnancial support was received for the

research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This paper

was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health for

Vanderbilt’s Center for Genetic Privacy and Identity in Community

Settings (GetPreCiSe), 5RM1HG009034.

Conﬂict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the

absence of any commercial or ﬁnancial relationships that could be

construed as a potential conﬂict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors

and do not necessarily represent those of their afﬁliated organizations,

or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product

that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its

manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online

at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1331905/

full#supplementary-material

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