If there’s one particular sentence that sums up the reactionary response to every new Marvel show, especially She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, it’s that the MCU got “political”, and now fans are wondering how some may react to the X-Men.
She-Hulk has seen a small minority of hyper online internet men get very up in arms over the perceived “vitriol towards men“, as well as the show’s clear feminist themes. It’s hardly new ground for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Captain Marvel perhaps the most overt with feminist symbolism and lines.
But if some are getting mad at She-Hulk, how will they react to perhaps the greatest civil rights metaphors in the Marvel canon that come with the X-Men?
The X-Men are by far Marvel’s most diverse cast of characters, as the original post says. Filled with LGBTQ+ characters and strong women, it seems like the reactionary hivemind hasn’t seen anything yet. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen truthfully, very few queer characters to date. America Chavez, Valkyrie, and Korg make up the most notable LGBTQ+ characters so far in the Marvel film canon.
Stan Lee was always very open about the X-Men’s place in the universe as stand-ins for real-world issues, and very overtly decades on with the God Loves, Man Kills story arc which saw a reverent attempt to kill the mutants as they were “abominations” in the eyes of God.
In fact, if any Marvel series should be called “woke”, it needs to be an X-Men one. Let’s not even delve into the layers of madness that have come to be associated with the term woke. In eyes of reactionaries, it does seem like any strong female character is inherently bad. Look no further than Layla in Moon Knight.
The X-Men saw a slight debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as Professor X returned, but X-Men ’97 will be the likely first peak into the new age for the mutant roster.