Mutant vs. Metahuman in the Marvel Universe

[Rikun]

So it's pretty clear that the X-Men in the Marvel Universe is supposed to be an allegory for racism and oppression and all of that. It's fairly clear that a lot of normal citizens are afraid of mutants because they possess destructive powers that they can't control. Fair enough.

But if the base fear of mutants is because they are superpowered humans who are potentially dangerous, why are they ok with NON-mutant superheroes? And how can you tell in the first place?

The base definition for a Mutant in the Marvel Universe is someone who's born with extraordinary powers vs. a metahuman who got their powers from an outside source (gamma rays, super soldier serum, powered armor, radioactive spider, cosmic rays, etc). And that doesn't even include the aliens that show up every now and again (Asgardians, Kree, Skrull, etc.) or the magicians (Dr. Strange).

While you can go on and on about the technical differences between each metahuman, it's something I doubt your average civilian in the Marvel Universe is going to know or care. The big issue overall is that uncontrolled superpowers = BAD. But for a group of people and politicians to consider mutants a menace while at the same time being ok with the Avengers (ESPECIALLY since there's been a lot of crossover between teams) just baffles the hell out of me. "OMG, that Wolverine is a mutant freak! But Spidey's cool because he's not a filthy mutant!"

Can you Marvel fans help me out here? Does an anti-mutant organization in the Marvel Universe somehow know the difference between a mutant and a "regular" superhero? Can they really discriminate between Sunspot and the Human Torch, nevermind that they both have fire based powers? Do these anti-mutant groups just hate all people with superpowers in general?

Marvel fans, I hope there's some sort of canon explanation for this kind of discrepancy.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

As far as I know, there is no canon reason for why the hatred of the one, but the acceptance of the other based on the distinction between a mutant and a meta-human.

However, I would posit that the real distinction lies between the PR a particular hero (or band thereof) receives as to how the public treats them. For example, Spiderman is a pretty good example of a "person with strange powers" that is generally well-liked by the public, because he is seen as "Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman". A person who looks out for the general public and has had good interactions with them. However, a certain newspaper editor still shows that some folks are going to hate the mutant/masked/powered-up freaks regardless.

All in all, it seems to be a matter of whatever the plot and story demand from the public's reactions. X-Men is about racism and a public lack of acceptance - - so the public hates and fears mutants. The Avengers are supposed to be the larger-than-life heroes defending the Earth from evil - - so the public supports and loves them for the most part.

 

[Zontar]

Well the problem is: metahumans aren't just accepted by all everyday citizens. They just aren't openly feared as much, mainly because a lot of them are much more public about their heroism while Mutants tend to be secretive, staying in their little communities away from society and out of the public eye.

It also doesn't help that one of the two prominent Mutant groups is trying to exterminate humanity, and that a LOT of people call mutants "the next level of human evolution", coupled with calling themselves homo-superior.

When choosing between a group of larger-than-life heroes who openly protect the Earth vs a bunch of people who could level my town by accident or if they are mildly pissed, I think it's easy to understand which I feel easier sleeping at night knowing is around.

 

[Little Woodsman]

There is actually a way in canon to easily distinguish between mutants and other types of metahumans. Mutants have a particular brain-wave pattern that is unique to them Those devices like the one in the movie somehow do a remote EEG scan looking for that particular brain wave pattern.

Mutants all have this particular brain wave pattern because their mutations are not actually random, they were programmed in to humanity's ancestors by a benevolent race of super aliens called the Celestials.

Most regular people do not/can not distinguish between mutants and most other metahumans (other than obvious ones like Iron Man) and this has been a problem to some extent or other for more than one marvel hero in the past. I recall some people once accusing Spider-Man of being a mutant, and Tigra (who is an Avenger with a magical origin-basically a were-tiger)once stated that she had some trouble keeping her temper when a civilian called her a "mutie" when she was out in public.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

So it's pretty clear that the X-Men in the Marvel Universe is supposed to be an allegory for racism and oppression and all of that. It's fairly clear that a lot of normal citizens are afraid of mutants because they possess destructive powers that they can't control. Fair enough.

But if the base fear of mutants is because they are superpowered humans who are potentially dangerous, why are they ok with NON-mutant superheroes? And how can you tell in the first place?

The base definition for a Mutant in the Marvel Universe is someone who's born with extraordinary powers vs. a metahuman who got their powers from an outside source (gamma rays, super soldier serum, powered armor, radioactive spider, cosmic rays, etc). And that doesn't even include the aliens that show up every now and again (Asgardians, Kree, Skrull, etc.) or the magicians (Dr. Strange).

While you can go on and on about the technical differences between each metahuman, it's something I doubt your average civilian in the Marvel Universe is going to know or care. The big issue overall is that uncontrolled superpowers = BAD. But for a group of people and politicians to consider mutants a menace while at the same time being ok with the Avengers (ESPECIALLY since there's been a lot of crossover between teams) just baffles the hell out of me. "OMG, that Wolverine is a mutant freak! But Spidey's cool because he's not a filthy mutant!"

Can you Marvel fans help me out here? Does an anti-mutant organization in the Marvel Universe somehow know the difference between a mutant and a "regular" superhero? Can they really discriminate between Sunspot and the Human Torch, nevermind that they both have fire based powers? Do these anti-mutant groups just hate all people with superpowers in general?

Marvel fans, I hope there's some sort of canon explanation for this kind of discrepancy.

This problem has been addressed in the comics several times throughout the comics.

For example, the Avenger's formed the sub-group "the Uncanny Avengers" to help with Mutant-human relations, and had to let go there mutant members due to public pressure at one point.

During the Civil War story-line, the X-men declared the entire thing not their problem, because of how meta-humans hadn't done much to help Mutants.

My best guess why meta-humans are accepted is because they were normal humans that gained powers. It is an idea of "you can become me," vs. "we were born this way." Of the original members of the Avengers, only the the Hulk and the Wasp were actually Meta-humans, Ant-Man and Iron-Man got their "powers" from technology. The Fantastic Four didn't try to hide their identities or powers. Also, most of the Mutant teams only deal with other Mutants, while the Fantastic Four and the Avengers are clearly saving the world constantly form other kinds of threats.

 

[HardkorSB]

Mutants all have this particular brain wave pattern because their mutations are not actually random, they were programmed in to humanity's ancestors by a benevolent race of super aliens called the Celestials.

How many years after the X-Men have been created was this plot thread introduced?
Also, I prefer the whole "next step in human evolution" approach. This seems silly and probably makes the whole MU even more of a clusterfuck than it already is.

I'm guessing (I'm not that familiar with the bigger picture of the MU) that originally, X-Men were their own thing, without connections to other Marvel characters so the racism/homophobia metaphor worked better.
Nowadays, humanity's hatred for mutants is just part of the X=Men mythos that is ingrained into pop culture so hardly anyone questions it.

That's my take on it.

 

[Legomaniac91_v1legacy]

The problem might stem from first impressions. Metahumans usually make their debut to the public after they've had some time to practice with their new powers. The first appearance for a lot of mutants is usually some freak, uncontrolled, and destructive outburst of their powers.

 

[ChristopherT]

I'm guessing (I'm not that familiar with the bigger picture of the MU) that originally, X-Men were their own thing, without connections to other Marvel characters so the racism/homophobia metaphor worked better.
Nowadays, humanity's hatred for mutants is just part of the X=Men mythos that is ingrained into pop culture so hardly anyone questions it.

That's my take on it.

Not so much.

Spoiler: X-Men Issue 6

Spoiler: X-Men Issue 9

A few more issues later Spider-Man pops up.

OT - Mutants are mutants, is that what humans are supposed to become? Are they the next step, are they going to wipe 'humans' out? Why are they so different? They weren't bitten by radioactive spiders, they aren't just using powerful robot suits, super soldier experiments did not give them their powers, they're not even from another planet. 'they're us, but they're freaks' - 'least that's how I've seen it. I think the reason they are seen differently (other than reasons for plot) is because as has already been said in this topic, they are born this way, but look like 'normal humans' until their change.

 

[Scarim Coral]

From my understanding between the two is that with some mutants, their powers tend to "awaken" when they hit puberty which mean teenager also mean high school so yeah that is a time bomb waiting to happened. Ok granted this doesn't happened to all mutants but will you willing to take a risk?
At least with meta human, they gain their powers from different means which is usually accidental.
Also I think it is also cos they are alot more mutants than meta human when it come to kids and teenager which the public would view them to be untrained with their powers compared to a meta human which most of them get their powers in their older teen or adulthood.

Still I do agreed why the public view super individuals as two groupd when the only one thing they got in common is having superpowers.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but I'm going to try and rationalize a difference between superpowered/extraordianry powers/feats and mutant powers (basing solely on what has been presented so far in all the X-men and Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.

So first off, superpowers or abilities. Most of the heroes in the MCU obtained their superpowers or abilities through exterior forces and resources (Tony Stark created the suit, Bruce Banner was involved in an accident, Thor is an alien from another realm, Steve Rogers volunteered to be Capn' America, and both Natalia & Clint work for SHIELD). So they weren't born with these powers, abilities, resources, etc. and later made a conscious decision to use them for good. Also, since these heroes are considered to be super human (in some cases alien) or extraordinary individuals, people tend to see them as completely different than simply human and cannot simply identify with them.

Now on to mutant powers; by definition, mutants are essentially a different subspecies of homo sapiens. So fundamentally, they are different from normal humans. Also, because most mutants are born with their powers, they are labeled as different and pose a threat to non-mutants (which they kind of do if you payed attention to the X-men films). In a sense, this creates a inborn struggle for survival as mutants poise to replace non-powered humans, as homo sapiens have done so with the species before them. Magneto and the Brotherhood champions around this cause to eliminate the "inferior species" (going through what comes naturally in nature) while Prof. X and the X-men crusade against natural selection in hopes of living in peace with their not-so-different cousins.

So even though mutants and metahumans don't seem all that different, at their core, there are more than a few distinctions that points to the contrary.

 

[Vivi22]

Well the problem is: metahumans aren't just accepted by all everyday citizens. They just aren't openly feared as much, mainly because a lot of them are much more public about their heroism while Mutants tend to be secretive, staying in their little communities away from society and out of the public eye.

It also doesn't help that one of the two prominent Mutant groups is trying to exterminate humanity, and that a LOT of people call mutants "the next level of human evolution", coupled with calling themselves homo-superior.

When choosing between a group of larger-than-life heroes who openly protect the Earth vs a bunch of people who could level my town by accident or if they are mildly pissed, I think it's easy to understand which I feel easier sleeping at night knowing is around.

And I'd add to this by saying that the relative rarity of metahuman super heroes makes them less feared. That and they're seen as at least being human before and not being quite so different. Plus, the majority still look normal.

But with mutants you're faced with the possibility of anyone, anywhere, developing powers if they carry the right gene. And what sort of powers they develop is completely random. So you might have some bullied kid in middle school suddenly explode and kill everyone around him. And you've got to face the fact that a lot of mutants don't look human, and they basically represent the eventual extinction of ordinary humans, never mind the mutants who actively push that idea as far as killing humans. I'd say it's probably easier to develop an us versus them mentality when they aren't just a few humans who were the victims of lab accidents, experiments and the like.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Spoiler: X-Men Issue 9

Is that Professor X in a tank wheelchair using a gun?

GNARLY!

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

There is a difference and it comes down the nature of the difference between mutants and humans. Traditional racism through the 20th century was because one race considered themselves superior to another. The hatred towards mutants is different tho, it comes from a fear of being replaced or superceded by a new strain of humanity. In the same way Homo Sapiens replaced Homo Neanderthals, humans are afraid of being replaced by Homo Superior.

Meta-humans (not including aliens) who are born human are still born human. They might get powers later on but it's usually through science or an accident. Their birth is normal and thus not a threat. The threat stems from mutants being born different/superior and normal humans feeling inferior and afraid of becoming redundant, doomed to go extinct.

So to sum up, it's not directly the super-powers that are the real issue but the new "strain" of humanity is a perceived threat to the normal humans simply by being born "superior". Not dissimilar to Hugh Darrow's reasoning in DX:HR for doing what he did and many of the reasons for the "anti-aug" hatred.