“I’m Looking for Hope.”
It is the late 1990s. I am a wee little lad. I am watching X-Men: The Animated Series–my introduction to what will become one of my favorite comic books and, well, favorite things ever. The story is about how there are people born with special powers, called mutants. Because of these differences, these mutants become hated and feared by the majority population of powerless, “ordinary” folk. The titular X-Men are a group of mutants who fight to protect mutants and those who hate and fear them for the benefit of all people.
Very relevant to current times.
It is the early 2000s. I have a small collection of X-Men comic books I avidly read. My soccer team loses our Saturday game and my Tía takes me and my siblings to see the long-awaited X-Men movie sequel, X2, which becomes one of my favorite theater experiences ever. The film is about the same conflict as the cartoon and the comics, updated for the post 9/11, homophobic, Islamophobic, and anti-immigrant era.
A film very relevant to current times.
It is 2017. The X-Men film series comes to a sublime end for me with the film Logan, which I see in a packed Saturday house at my local movie theater. By now, as a university student, I have grown up with the X-Men and their world through various cartoons, video games, movies, and comic books. I am a veteran fan. This piece is the darkest X-Men film yet, unflinchingly discussing its topics of prejudice and racism, the authoritarian and banally evil powers that perpetuate these social and lawful norms, and the little people who fight back—who must fight back.
The film is tailor-made for the era we live in now; “‘nuff said,” as Stan “The Man” Lee would say.
It is now 2026. You know the current state of the world. I decide to finally revisit the X-Men film series, one film a month, after nine years. The experience has been very rewarding, but it becomes even more obvious that this sci-fi epic of a tale is a story made for our time, right now, to the point the parallels become less metaphorical or allegorical and more direct representations of our world.
Except the X-Men films were not made in or for 2026. The films were made in the 2000s and 2010s. The first cartoon show in the 1990s. My father grew up with the comics in the 1970s. They first premiered in 1963, a whopping 63 years ago. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s creation was directly discussing the times when people were being hosed down in the streets by authorities for being different on national television.
If the point of the X-Men stories is to change readers, audiences, and gamers’ hearts and minds to reject racism, hate, and prejudice and instead embrace empathy, love, and acceptance, then why the bloody hell are they STILL relevant all the time? Are we, like the X-Men, fighting a losing battle? A never-ending war? Will these stories ever become dated?
Are we ever going to have a world where mutants and humans live together in peace?
“Nothing Ends, Adrian. Nothing Ever Ends.”
Sixty-three frigging years is a damn long time to still be talking about these topics with little change. Sure, maybe the brutalities and injustices of the Civil Rights era are not as abundant, but I do not need to tell you that the past decade has felt like the whole world is slipping backwards regarding social justice. Words inconceivable when I was a boy are now happily, carelessly trending on Twitter. The brighter future we dreamed about as youths, what seemed so close to coming true, looks to be slipping from our grasp.
The X-Men should not be relevant, but they continuously are. While that description makes for a great Marvel Comics marketing headline, it depresses me. Their gallantry feels hollow when real people are suffering and dying because of the very forces they oppose. In rewatching these entertaining films, I no longer feel awed by their application to our times, but troubled.
They should be dated by now.
Between the X-Men’s fighting across the arcade machine at my local Shakeys as a boy until reading Gail Simone’s current comic book run of Uncanny X-Men as a 31-year-old, surely the world has finally listened and changed because such art exists; such ideas persist; such people keep fighting.
Why has nothing changed?
I am reminded of a masterful scene from Logan, in which the titular mutant finds an in-world X-Men comic, deliberately over-the-top and loosely based on real events. Logan angrily remarks,
“This is ice cream for bed wetters!”
In other words, these sci-fi stories are not deep, meaningful things but just more crap to add to the noise of our world. Their notions of changing the world for the better are, likewise, crap. Meaningless. Futile.
Sadly, I think the X-Men are forever doomed to be relevant. If the world is not changing, what is the point of these stories—like X-Men, or Andor, or Jane Eyre—that if people just fricking listened to them could make the world a better place?
“I Don’t Think Laura Needs Reminding of Life’s Impermeance.”
While re-watching the X-Men films, I realized that I myself, and fellow fans like me, am the answer.
Yes, prejudice, racism, hatred, and all the things the X-Men are fighting against still exist. They are not going away any time soon. In this sense, the X-Men have failed. Sure, they have changed me and countless others, but what is the point of revisiting them when more and more governments are slipping further and further into fascist ideologies, corporations still exist controlling our lives, and the world’s future looks darker every day?
“Racism is bad.”
“Hate will never win.”
“Keep fighting the good fight.”
These all feel like hollow words compared to a glance at the news.
Except they are not.
We revisit stories that have taught us so much for many, many reasons, and one is to be reminded of what we already know. Metaphorically speaking, the choir is large and still attends church because they still have much to learn. We are humans, and so we are forgetful.
We watch The Shawshank Redemption then forget hope never dies. We read Dune and forget to always distrust authority. We play Kingdom Hearts and forget the power of friendship. We read, play, and watch the X-Men, and forget why we cannot ever give up the good fight.
The X-Men stories, whether Chris Claremont’s legendary comic book run, the movies that grew up with me, or your nearest cosplayer dressing up as any one of the franchise’s awesome characters (Kitty Pryde-for-life!) continue to tell us in the darkest days that love, acceptance, and empathy are the only ways we are going to survive this life—and these qualities will help us live better, richer lives, too. We are reminded that when we are different, we are not alone, and being different does not mean you are worthless; sometimes, being different is just what another needs to keep going in life.
They tell us to never give up fighting, and why.
Whenever someone, anyone, tells you a certain group of people need to be abused in any way because they are different, you fight that evil. People—including yourself—are counting on you to keep fighting even when you are exhausted. Hearing news stories like the Mutant Registration Act, the damned Sentinels, or Stryker’s mega-church sermons preaching hatred of mutants because they, children of God, are supposedly unacceptable creatures, we are reminded that what we are witnessing is wrong. Unnatural. Unjust. We must not accept the way the world is and keep working to make it better, regardless of whether or not we are fighting a losing war.
And we find the inspiration, the encouragement, and the hope we need to do just that through stories like the X-Men.
If these words or our mission at One Brilliant Arc resonates with you, please consider buying our team a coffee so we can continue helping creatives tell stories that can save the world!
Because I, like you, am a forgetful being, I needed to revisit the X-Men films to be reminded of what the world really is from time to time. To be reminded that we are not powerless but powerful because we love and have hope that keeps us fighting for those who need help.
The X-Men may not have saved the world yet, but they are there to save us, time and time again, so we can save this Earth.
When you write, always remember that you are not adding more noise to the world but more reminders of what the right thing to do is when life gets to be too much.
We always need reminding of our better selves. Always.
I close with one of my favorite quotes from my favorite X-Men story, Whedon and Cassady’s Astonishing X-Men. In the scene, Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast, is tempted to take a medicine that will remove his mutation, robbing his powers and turning the big, lion man back into a human. He pleads with Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, that he deserves to be human again because he is, truly, a man. Logan, knowing Hank will ultimately hate himself for giving up being a superhero when there are students who need him, simply says,
“Wrong. You are an X-Man.”
‘Nuff said.
Hey, the OBA Story Team along with Jessica Ann are putting on a✨FREE✨ storytelling workshop to help you create more powerful characters on July 18th! We would love to see you there.
💬 Comment below:
Did the X-Men films offer encouragement to you over the years, or just entertainment?
What legacy of goodness do you hope your story leaves in the world?