5) There Are No Mutants In The MCU Because Of Hydra
Many fans were overjoyed when Sony finally buckled and allowed Marvel Studios to use Spider-Man in their movies, bringing the MCU one step closer to the way its’ portrayed in the comics, but Fox’s success with the X-Men franchise means that it unlikely that we’ll see the likes of Wolverine and Deadpool team up with the Avengers any time soon.
Even the word ‘mutants’ is banned from the MCU, as Fox own the rights to its usage, forcing Marvel to forge ahead without an integral part of the source material in their movies. One redditor, named BaronOlio, has attempted to explain this glaring omission from the MCU in a way that works logically within the reality of the movies, tying the absence of mutants with the rise of the evil organization Hydra.
The theory starts all the way back in WWII, explaining that because Hydra conquered Germany and stopped Hitler before he could start the Holocaust, Magneto was never imprisoned and didn’t discover his powers. Because of this, the Master of Magnetism never met Xavier, preventing the events that led to the formation of the X-Men. Mutants still exist within the MCU, but they remain hidden from the general public.
Conversely, Hydra never rose to power in the Fox Universe, which meant that S.H.I.E.L.D. and subsequently the Avengers were never formed. Any attempts to create a super soldier would have revolved around mutant experimentation, as their existence came to light far earlier in the timeline (i.e. Weapon X). Furthermore, the Tesseract was never discovered, so Thanos is still unaware that it lies hidden on earth.
Although the theory has a few holes that other Redditors have been keen to debate, it’s nice to have an actual explanation for the differences between the two diverging universes.