Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are engaged in an intense debate about the possible return of Wanda Maximoff, known as the Scarlet Witch. Since her last appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda has been isolated and dealing with serious mental health issues, leaving her future in the franchise up in the air. Although her return has not yet been confirmed, many believe it’s only a matter of time before she rejoins the universe. What are the reasons for her return? WandaVision Wanda was part of the original team […]
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are engaged in an intense debate about the possible return of Wanda Maximoff, known as the Scarlet Witch. Since her last appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda has been isolated and dealing with serious mental health issues, leaving her future in the franchise up in the air. Although her return has not yet been confirmed, many believe it’s only a matter of time before she rejoins the universe.
What are the reasons for its return? WandaVision
Wanda was part of the original Avengers team, but after the events of Endgame, her path has been more focused on her own personal development, especially after the events of WandaVision. Fans have divided opinions on whether she should return to the Avengers team or if she would find a place in a group related to the X-Men, such as the Brotherhood of Mutants. “I don’t think the point of WandaVision was for her to embark on a dark path and abandon the Avengers. Rather, it was about a complex transformation that, although it presents her with many challenges, still keeps her connected to her former family of heroes,” commented a user on Reddit.
Some suggest that it could be narratively effective if Wanda returns at a crucial moment, similar to Thor’s spectacular appearance during the battle of Wakanda. This presentation could allow her to redeem herself while maintaining an emotional distance due to her past actions. However, there are those who believe that Wanda deserves a break after everything she has endured throughout her stories, arguing that her best option would be to reintegrate into a group where she can find support and connection.
As fans continue to speculate, the next release in the MCU, Captain America: Brave New World, is scheduled for February 14, as part of Marvel’s Phase 5.
It is not the first time that humanity has pursued Charles Xavier, of course. He is, after all, the leader of the mutants, and there are many who still consider him the head of a terrorist group. His alliances with Magneto, that time they secluded themselves on an island, or the changes he has undergone in recent years have not exactly helped him to be seen as a benefactor of humanity. However, no one expected him to reach the limits he will soon reach in Marvel comics: pursued in a […]
It is not the first time that humanity has pursued Charles Xavier, of course. After all, he is the leader of the mutants, and there are many who still consider him the head of a terrorist group. His alliances with Magneto, that time they secluded themselves on an island, or the changes he has undergone in recent years have not exactly helped him to be seen as a benefactor of humanity. However, no one expected him to reach the limits he will soon reach in the Marvel comics: hunted in a manhunt.
The saga will be called Manhunt and will take place over eight comics in March 2025. More specifically, it will be a crossover between The Uncanny X-Men, NYX, Storm, X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, and Exceptional X-Men, with a final title, X-Manhunt Omega, that will wrap everything up. Considering that currently Charles Xavier lives in Graymalkin prison, a center for mutants built in his former school, it’s easy to get an idea of what will happen next: he will escape and create chaos among the mutants. How and why? That remains to be seen.
After all, he is imprisoned for crimes against humanity that occurred at the end of the Krakoa era, and his former students will hesitate whether to side with him or comply with international orders. Some want to forgive him, others are not ready, and meanwhile, Xavier will try to accomplish a very personal mission whose details have not been disclosed.
As always, from Marvel they promise that the world will change forever when Xavier makes his final decision, but, frankly, it’s not the first time he’s done something like this nor the first time he’s about to die (or, directly, dies) in the comics. With the alliance between X-Men and Avengers hanging by a thread, will this be a filler saga or will it really change something in the always fragile Marvel ecosystem?
Charles Xavier’s love life shouldn’t affect his students’ lives so much, but he’s been doing it since the early adventures of the X-Men, when he was shown to be in love with Jean Grey in a panel, so how could it not happen now? Especially when we have been warned as readers that the end of the mutants is coming in the form of a character called The Endling. And it seems that its origin is in the college years of a certain mutant professor…
In issue 2 of Uncanny X-Men, written by Gail Simone for Marvel, we will have a journey to the past where we will see the Professor’s first girlfriend, before Moira, a girl named Sarah whom he fell in love with at first sight, and apparently it was mutual. Why had we never heard of her before, if we know every detail of the mutant genealogy? Well, there is probably a reason for that, of course.
And it is that on the last page of issue one we could see the narration from The Endling’s point of view, who comments that Professor X lets the teams die and be replaced, that Rogue and Cyclops are the pillars of the team and, of course, that she loves him. And it doesn’t seem like Simone has decided to introduce Sarah just by chance and to show us how well Xavier was doing in love when he was young. The stakes are high, but… will the X-Men survive their professor’s heartbreaks?
El nuevo equipo, liderado por Emma Frost, se llamará ‘Excepcional X-Men’ y Pryde será la profesora de un pequeño grupo de nuevos mutantes con habilidades excepcionales.
My favorite comic strip in the history of mutants in Marvel is that page where Kitty Pryde points to the camera and says “Professor Xavier is an idiot!”. The mutant known as Shadowcat joined the team in January 1980 and over her 44 years with the X-Men, she has experienced everything: she has fallen in love with Colossus, spent days fused with a giant bullet flying through space, and even married Star-Lord. But lately, she hasn’t been feeling like herself.
Shortly after starting her life as a superheroine, she crossed paths with her future self from the distant year 2013 (ouch) where she called herself Kate Pryde. And that’s what she did with the arrival of the group of mutants to Krakoa: she changed her name from “Kitty” to “Kate”, proclaiming herself the pirate captain of the Marauders. Over the past five years, she has killed Orchis soldiers around the world, become an assassin ninja, and increasingly fallen into the Dark Side.
But the era of Krakoa has ended, to the horror of many fans, and Pryde has decided to go back to being called Kitty, as a way to end this stage of her life. The new team, led by Emma Frost, will be called ‘Exceptional X-Men‘ and Pryde will be the teacher of a small group of new mutants with exceptional abilities. You know how it goes. On September 4th, we will find out about this new stage in Kitty’s life. Or Kate. Or whatever she wants to be called.
X-Men ’97 is surprising both fans and outsiders for being an excellent adaptation of the X-Men, but it’s going to face a huge challenge.
Telling a story has many challenges. Resuming a story almost thirty years later is a challenge with its own particularities. People change, the medium does too, and even the way of narrating and the aesthetics can be diametrically opposed, in terms of trends. That’s why we see so few occasions when old series are rescued. Because it is a particularly complex job, even if it may seem otherwise.
X-Men ’97 is a series premiered on March 20th that continues the story of the X-Men where X-Men: The Animated Series left off. With similar animation and designs, although with a more contemporary aesthetic and direction that sometimes refers to anime, it picks up from the events of the end of the fifth season of the original series, which ended somewhat abruptly. And surprisingly, it has turned out really well, receiving great reviews.
A significant part of the appeal of X-Men ’97 is that it does not require prior knowledge of the X-Men. Even if you don’t understand why Professor Xavier doesn’t appear.If you haven’t read a single comic in your life and haven’t watched X-Men: The Animated Series, besides recommending that you do both, you won’t miss anything by watching the three episodes released so far of X-Men ’97. While it closely follows the events of the comics, with its own interpretation, and continues where the original series left off, it is designed so that it is not necessary to know anything in particular about its characters or its history.
However, it is undeniable that it is more enjoyable the more knowledge one has of them. Those who have seen X-Men: The Animated Series will be able to recognize the relationships of all the characters, and the conflicts they entail. Those who have read the comics will be able to enjoy their clever reinterpretations of some of the most beloved storylines by fans. Although, the key storyline they seem to be adapting is also one of the most dramatic in X-Men history.
Summarizing certain events that occur in episodes 2 and 3 of X-Men ’97, Storm receives a beam of energy that was intended for Magneto, which leaves her powerless. Deprived of her mutant abilities, she decides to leave the X-Men mansion, seeking her new place in the world. While traveling somewhere, she stops at a bar to rest, and a man introduces himself, claiming to recognize her as Forge.
If you are a fan of the X-Men, you haven’t seen the series yet, and you have read this far, you may have stifled a scream of excitement. We don’t blame you. It’s a normal reaction. If you don’t know why we say this, the explanation is simple: this is a reinterpretation of the premise of two of the most celebrated comics in X-Men history, Lifedeath and Lifedeath: From the Heart of Darkness.
To begin with, who is Forge? He is a mutant who first appeared in Uncanny X-Men in 1984 and has four peculiarities: his power is to create any kind of invention, he is a war veteran, he has a leg amputated, and he belongs to the Cheyenne nation. When we meet the character, he works for the US government and, due to an unresolved trauma where his entire platoon died and he lost his leg, he is isolated from the outside world. At least, until he meets Storm.
In issue #186 of Uncanny X-Men, written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, titled Lifedeath, Forge and Storm meet. Storm has already lost her powers, but in the comic she does it by protecting another character, Rogue. Forge takes Storm to his apartment and they both share a special connection, partly due to their respective traumas and the feeling of something missing from their own existence — Forge his leg, Storm her powers.
Despite the mutual attraction and shared feelings, things didn’t turn out as expected. Especially when Forja, after learning about what happened with Tormenta, is unable to keep a secret from her. He is the person who created the weapon that stripped her of her powers. This causes her to leave the apartment angrily, returning to wander the world.
We would have to wait until Uncanny X-Men #198, exactly one year later and also written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, to read the conclusion of this story in Lifedeath: From the Heart of Darkness. A story where Storm, alone and delirious, finds herself in the depths of Africa, where she finally accepts the loss of her powers, reconnects with her own roots, and thus, returns to the X-Men, even without regaining her ability to control the weather.
Of course, both comics have many more details. And it is expected that X-Men ’97 will cover or change them in one way or another. Because, in addition, we know that is going to happen: the fourth episode, on April 3rd, is called Motendo/Lifedeath – Part 1, and the sixth episode, on April 17th, is called Lifedeath – Part 2. So we will soon know how they adapt this story.
Why is this story so important within the X-Men? To begin with, because of its intimacy. It demonstrates how what makes a person a mutant is not their powers, but being a mutant; even after losing her powers, and even if it takes her a long time to accept it, Storm remains a mutant. And while she will eventually regain her powers, it will still take many years for her to do so. The other reason is that it is exquisitely illustrated by Windsor-Smith, which makes Claremont’s script even more spectacular.
How likely is it that in X-Men ’97 they will know how to handle this story with the delicacy and weight it deserves, by delving into trauma, guilt, and identity, both with Storm and Forge —since being Cheyenne is important to the character and to the events of Lifedeath—, is something that remains to be seen. But if they want to make a great X-Men series, Lifedeath is the kind of story they should aspire to be able to shape, as all fans of the most famous mutants in comics know.
With Endgame in our rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead at other possible Marvel projects to come.
SPOILERS BELOW!
Now that we got that out of the way…
The aftermath of “Avengers: Endgame” left many fans in tears, both of joy and of sadness. The film presented a satisfying and climactic end to a 22-movie saga that changed the landscape of blockbuster films forever. We don’t know where the MCU is going to go after Endgame, but we do have some theories:
For many fans, it’s difficult to imagine Marvel ever surpassing Endgame. While this may end up being true, there have been dozens of huge crossover events throughout Marvel’s decades of comic books. One major advantage the MCU has moving forward is Disney’s purchase of FOX. This gives the MCU access to lucrative Marvel characters like the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Deadpool. Here are five massive Marvel stories that could end up becoming major successes in the MCU:
5 Marvel stories the MCU should use after “Avengers: Endgame”
In the comics, the shapeshifting alien Skrulls have been a pain in the side of many superhero teams. This includes the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. The storyline “Secret Invasion” has several key figures in the Marvel Universe being kidnapped and secretly replaced with Skrulls. It leads up to a full-on invasion of Earth.
Earth’s heroes quickly find themselves unable to trust one another, worried that they may be talking to a Skrull. The Skrulls even took the form of several beloved dead Marvel heroes to sew confusion and emotional vulnerability among the Avengers. This is something that could be exploited in a movie adaptation to bring back some fan-favorite characters temporarily.
The invasion force has them combining the powers of several heroes into single beings called Super Skrulls. In this story, the Skrulls use their psychological and scientific prowess to bring the Avengers to their knees.
The Skrulls finally made their MCU appearance in “Captain Marvel,” being portrayed as sympathetic refugees hoping to escape the imperialistic, warlike Kree. While their portrayal in “Captain Marvel” worked in the movie and was a welcome surprise, there are several ways the MCU can turn the Skrulls into a vicious invasion force.
Since “Captain Marvel” took place in the ’90s, they could show a rebuilt Skrull Empire that has since shunned their peaceful ways. Alternatively, they could show a powerful Skrull terrorist force that goes rogue from the Skrulls we already saw. Either way, “Secret Invasion” would be a massive, body-snatching cinematic experience.
“Annihilation” was a comic storyline that had many of Marvel’s cosmic heroes like the Silver Surfer, (what would become) the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Nova defending the universe against the unstoppable Annihilation Wave. The Annihilation Wave was a force of millions of insect-like ships led by Annihlus. It was so powerful it managed to subdue both Thanos and Galactus. The storyline is often cited as one of Marvel’s best events ever.
Films like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” and “Captain Marvel” have expanded on the MCU’s cosmic side for years. They show a delightfully weird and colorful cast of characters and locations. After introducing some of FOX’s Marvel characters like the Silver Surfer, an MCU adaptation of “Annihilation” would be the grand climax the MCU cosmos deserves.
In many ways, FOX’s X-Men movie franchise can be seen as a precursor to the MCU. While it had its ups and downs, you can’t say that it wasn’t ambitious. Now that Disney owns FOX, the beloved cast of mutants can finally join the MCU. And what better way to introduce them to the Avengers than to have them fight?
The “Avengers vs X-Men” comic event is confusing, overstuffed, and underwhelming. However, this doesn’t mean that the basic concept wouldn’t translate well to the MCU. Pairing up Marvel’s most famous mutants like Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and Gambit against the Avengers would be many comic fans’ dream come true.
Since Marvel has had continued success in bringing together huge casts of characters, they should have no problem with this. It’s unfortunate we wouldn’t see iconic Avengers like Iron Man or Captain America suit up to fight the mutants. However, it would nonetheless be a treat for audiences to have two of Marvel’s greatest teams duke it out.
The Scarlet Witch of the comics is a very different beast than the one in the MCU. After experiences devastating losses, she uses her reality-warping powers to change the world. She creates one where everyone she cares about gets their heart’s desire.
In this new world, mutants dominate the world and humans are second class citizens. She rules alongside her adoptive father Magneto and her brother Quicksilver. They try to put an end to the constant human uprisings led by revolutionaries like Luke Cage. Some characters don’t want this world to end. Spider-Man, for example, is a beloved hero in this world who is happily married to the now alive Gwen Stacy.
In the MCU, Wanda has faced incredible loss after the events of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captian America: Civil War,” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” After Thanos brutally resurrects and then murders Vision after she was forced to kill him, Wanda was quickly snapped away by the mad titan.
When she comes back in the climactic battle of “Avengers: Endgame,” she shows a brand new ferocity in her fight against Thanos. She is nearly able to kill him singlehandedly by ripping him apart. This newly revived Wanda is clearly a broken person, which could easily lead her to do some questionable things. This may include rewriting reality. Scarlett Witch is set to appear in a new show for Disney+ called “WandaVision.” If the show follows “House of M,” we will not be disappointed.
Note: This will be about Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars event and not the 1984 original miniseries.
The 2015 crossover event “Secret Wars” changed Marvel Comics forever. It brought an end and new beginning to the shared comic universe that had been running since the early 1960s. As the culmination of Jonathan Hickman‘s amazing Fantastic Four and Avengers runs, “Secret Wars” is arguably the greatest event Marvel has ever produced.
The series has Doctor Doom stealing the power of the omnipotent Beyonders, allowing him to bend reality to his will. Doom uses his new power to create Battleworld, a patchwork of various Marvel universes and timelines, all under his control. Different heroes and villains from across the Marvel Multiverse must band together and fight a hopeless battle against a god.
The Secret Wars storyline brought a rare sense of finality to comic books. While the Marvel Universe continued after “Secret Wars,” it would be one hell of a way to close out the MCU for good.
In conclusion
It’s still hard to believe that the Thanos saga has been concluded. We are happy with the conclusion, we just also want more. What stories would you like to see the MCU adapt moving forward? Let us know in the comments below!
It should come as no surprise to anyone that superhero movies are the hottest thing in pop culture today. They routinely crush the box office and characters like Iron Man and Thanos have become modern icons. Many fans understandably have wanted to get into the comics that spawned these characters, but don’t exactly know where to start. This guide will show you what to do based on which comics you want to read and how you want to read them.
First, we’ll start with how you want to read them.
Where to start with print comics
If you prefer flipping through the pages of a comic to swiping on a screen, you have a few options. Your first option is to read trade paperbacks.
A trade paperback is a collection of comics that usually make up a single story arc. If you’re looking to read a specific story (e.g. “The Infinity Gauntlet” or “The Dark Knight Returns”), buying these trade paperbacks is often significantly easier and cheaper than hunting down individual issues of the story.
Trade paperbacks also often include issues of multiple series to fill out a story (for example, the “Civil War” trade includes issues of Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man, among others). For newer comic fans, buying trades is the easiest way to read famous stories without worrying about buying individual issues or reading them in a specific order. You can buy these either at book/comic stores or online, but in our experience, it’s usually cheaper to buy these at comic stores.
The other most common option is to subscribe to your favorite series at your local comic book store. Most stores offer some sort of discount if you subscribe to a monthly/weekly comic, and you can generally pick up new issues on Wednesdays. This is the best way to continuously keep up on a specific series, as you’ll get new issues right when they come out. Plus, it’s always important to support your local comic book store!
The upside to reading comics digitally is convenience. You can read them on your phone, tablet, or computer, making it easy to bring them on the go without hauling a stack of books.
If you’re looking to read mainstream superhero comics, both DC and Marvel have digital comics subscriptions that are well worth the money. For $10 a month, Marvel Unlimited gives you access to nearly every Marvel comic released since the 1960s.
The app is very well organized by different stories, writers, and characters, allowing you to browse the massive catalog with ease. Unfortunately, you can’t read newer issues of current series when they come out (though you can buy the issue separately), but all comics are uploaded to the service a few months after they release. The service is basically everything you could want as a Marvel comic fan.
If you’re looking more broadly, the ComiXology app offers basically any modern comic you could possibly want. The service has both Marvel and DC comics, in addition to thousands of non-superhero comics from other publishers, and you can buy new issues as soon as they come out. They also have a paid subscription service called ComiXology Unlimited that gives you access to thousands of comics from a wide variety of publishers. If you’re more focused on keeping up with current series as opposed to diving into the backlog, you should use ComiXology over Marvel Unlimited.
Decades of continuity can make diving into comic books a confusing and daunting task. Fortunately, with the popularity of their movies Marvel and DC have made efforts to streamline their titles and give new readers a clean starting point. Here are some titles to check out from each publisher.
Marvel
Last year, Marvel launched its Fresh Start line. Fresh Start renumbered a bunch of Marvel’s most popular comics at #1, giving new readers a clear jumping on point. If you’re a movie fan looking to start reading, WE recommend choosing from these comic lines. Some of the comics that were renumbered include:
Avengers
Black Panther
Captain America
Captain Marvel
Deadpool
Guardians of the Galaxy
Immortal Hulk
Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Thor
Tony Stark: Iron Man
Uncanny X-Men
Venom
Most of the confusing or convoluted storylines that were present in these comics have been reworked to bring in the casual crowd, so don’t worry about jumping into some massive story that’s partway through. With Marvel Unlimited, you should be able to read most of these comics up until their current issues.
DC
DC is known for its massive universal reboots every so often, and they had arguably their most successful one in 2016’s DC Rebirth. The relaunch combined the modern sensibilities of the controversial New 52 relaunch with DC’s storied legacy to get the best of both worlds. For new readers, we recommend choosing from your favorite character’s Rebirth comic. Popular characters that got a new series in Rebirth include:
Aquaman
Batman
Cyborg
Doom Patrol
Flash
Green Arrow
Green Lantern
Harley Quinn
Justice League
Shazam
Suicide Squad
Superman
Wonder Woman
DC has done a nice job of balancing keeping their heroes familiar and introducing fresh elements to their stories. Rebirth is a great place to start for both new and returning readers.
Did this guide answer your questions? What comics are you most interested in? Let us know!
Learn how Stan Lee’s layered characters changed pop culture forever.
“My name is Stan Lee. I’ve been writing stories for the young generation for the past 30 years. During this time, I think I’ve learned a lot about how young people think, and more importantly, what young people are.
Today, we’ve come to a time in history when there definitely is a generation gap. It seems to us that perhaps anything that could be done to bridge that gap, to help present the point of view of these young people without being patronizing, without hostility, with respect, with attention, would be a very beneficial thing. Oh sure, they talk a lot and they yell a lot, but nobody really listens to them!”
-Stan Lee on his talk show in 1968.
Beloved comic book writer and creator Stan Lee passed away at the age of 95. Stan Lee is one of the most influential comic creators of all time, creating heroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and Black Panther. He was always a man of the voiceless, giving young people and minorities stories and characters that made them feel wanted in a society that told them to stay quiet. Below, we’ll talk about how Stan Lee crafted these complex, iconic characters, and why they resonated with so many people.
How Stan Lee created Marvel’s complex characters
Stan’s characters had real problems
For all his heroics, Spider-Man is still an everyman who’s down on his luck
Before Stan started writing, comic books were primarily power fantasies that appealed to youth. Superman was an invincible man with an unbendable sense of justice, Batman was a billionaire playboy who doubled as the world’s greatest crimefighter, and so on. Knowing that comic books appealed primarily to teenagers, Stan wanted to give them something other than a power fantasy. He created characters that young readers could relate to rather than look up to.
The primary example of this is Spider-Man. In many ways, Peter Parker resembles the typical comic book reader. He’s a teenaged boy who’s dorky, bullied in school, unathletic, and has little-to-no luck with women. Before Spider-Man, teenagers were never portrayed as superheroes, only as perky sidekicks like Robin, Speedy, or Bucky Barnes. Casting a teenage hero, and a realistic and troubled one at that was an incredibly refreshing and innovative decision.
Even after gaining amazing spider powers, Peter still deals with all of these issues in school, often struggling to balance his personal life with his heroic life. Despite dealing with both typical teenage problems and superpowered antics, Peter still keeps his head on straight and tries to do the right thing.
He’s not a pillar of justice like Superman, and he sometimes acts selfishly or carelessly, but he learns from his mistakes and tries his best. Despite saving the day time and time again, Peter is filled with self-doubt as soon as something new goes wrong. Stan Lee’s Spider-Man demonstrated that having powers doesn’t automatically make you a superhero. Instead, superheroes are people who choose to make simple, everyday decisions to stand up for and help people who can’t do it themselves. The point of making heroes realistic was not only to make them relatable to readers, but to show them that they are perfectly capable of becoming heroes themselves.
Stan put it best himself in his appearance in Spider-Man 3:
Stan’s characters represented different ideas and feelings
The Silver Surfer gazes into empty space
Each of Stan Lee’s characters is meant to embody a simple, relatable feeling or idea. No matter how over-the-top the character is, readers can empathize with them on a basic level.
For example, Bruce Banner is a timid and anxious scientist who is shafted constantly, no matter what he does. When he finally reaches his breaking point, he explodes in anger, becoming the Incredible Hulk. When the Hulk was created in the 1960s, the Hulk became a counter-culture icon, representing the repressed rage felt by a generation who was told that they were entitled for wanting to be taken seriously, a problem that keeps the character relevant to this very day.
What we can expect in Avengers 4 (if it’s anything like the comics)
Characterized by Stan, the Silver Surfer is a powerful but lonely hero who travels through space serving a power that he hates but is forced to keep in his life. As the Surfer soars through the heavens, the spectacular sights and adventures he sees do little to excite him, as he is kept away from all of those that he cares about by a higher power that he can’t fight or escape. Like the Surfer, many people grow weary of the wondrous world around them, drifting aimlessly and alone, their enthusiasm and lust for life sapped by power structures and situations that they cannot hope to control. Readers empathize with the Surfer’s struggle to regain his humanity as they grow older in a world that seems increasingly indifferent to their presence.
Feelings like loneliness, disillusion, or anger are problems felt by ordinary people and superpowered adventurers alike. By creating larger-than-life heroes like this, Stan helped his anxious readers feel less alone in the world.
Stan’s heroes represented equality
Beyond being believable and relatable, Stan’s heroes often reflected the struggles felt by minority groups in America. His superhero team, the X-Men, is one of the most enduring symbols of tolerance and acceptance in pop culture even to this day.
Created in the 1960s, an era marked by minority groups like African-Americans and women making huge advancements in civil rights, the X-Men are mutants fighting to promote acceptance in a world that hates them. In the Marvel Universe, mutants are ordinary people who suddenly gain superpowers around puberty, causing them to be feared and hunted down by a panicked populace. Even though the X-Men are hated by the public, they fight using their mutant powers to fight evil and protect humans in hopes of showing that they aren’t monsters. In many ways, the X-Men and its leader, Professor X, resemble Martin Luther King Jr. and his peaceful fight for equality, rights, and respect.
The X-Men were created by Stan Lee as a metaphor for any kind of minority group the reader belonged to, whether that be their race, religion, or sexual orientation. The X-Men team itself is made up of an incredibly diverse group of people, displaying how different subsets of people can work together in the fight for an equal and fair world.
It should be noted that while the mutant X-Men are hated and feared by the population, non-mutant heroes like Captain America and the Fantastic Four are not. This is an intentional point, demonstrating that the X-Men are considered monstrous outsiders for no real reason at all, and that there is intrinsically nothing wrong with them, just as there is nothing wrong with belonging to a certain race, gender identity, religion, or sexual orientation.
Stan Lee and his creations influenced millions of people, and he will always be remembered for his warm and heroic spirit. Who’s your favorite Marvel hero? How have they impacted your life? Let us know!
