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One of the core aspects of any X-Men story is how they’re feared and hated by the society around them. Their abilities and the fact that they’re another step in evolution have always terrified the everyday humans around them, making the characters constantly fight for sheer acceptance. Mutants have finally found their way into the MCU, and it was always intriguing to see how this would play out. For years, the MCU has seen all sorts of superheroes, yet for the most part, the Avengers haven’t been feared or hated the way that the X-Men typically are in the comic books. It wouldn’t really make sense for one group to be disliked compared to the other without any major explanation. Although Ms. Marvel gave the MCU its first confirmed mutant, it was Spider-Man: Brand New Day that gave the public its first real look at mutants run amok, and it does it brilliantly.
Marketing for Spider-Man: Brand New Day kept things under wraps when it comes to Sadie Sink’s character, but plenty of people correctly deduced that she was playing Jean Grey. This gives the MCU its first member of the X-Men, since Wolverine from Deadpool & Wolverine was from another universe. The way Jean Grey is utilized explains why the civilians of the MCU are likely to be scared of mutants.
The First Mutant Power Seen In The MCU Is Terrifying
Civilians in the MCU have had it pretty rough. From the Battle of New York to the Blip to the Void, pretty much everyone has had a bad experience with something relating to The Avengers and its members. They’re already on the defensive, but the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day bring a new terror with the arrival of Jean Grey. She uses mind control to possess the bodies of citizens, which is something that hadn’t been seen to this point. She easily does this and causes people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t, including acts of terrorism.
When Jean’s powers evolve near the end of the story, she takes over an entire section of Manhattan, leaving people frozen in place. The movie makes sure to show MJ crying as this happens, suggesting that, unlike earlier in the film, people feel and remember the experience of Jean controlling them. When it was threats to the Avengers, people dealt with invaders or conquerors, but this is different. Losing complete agency while being possessed is truly terrifying. Jean even goes as far as to rob MJ of her agency by having her kiss Spider-Man against her will.
The threat of someone taking over your body and making you do things you don’t want to is something that’ll likely leave the citizens in the MCU unsettled and always on the defensive. If the first mutant in the MCU were someone like Nightcrawler, Cyclops, or even Magneto, people would react as if it were another Avengers-style threat. By having a psychic be people’s introduction to mutants, it gives them something to fear because it’s disturbing in a totally new way.
The Avengers Were Controversial But Never To This Level
The Avengers are always portrayed a bit differently from the X-Men. While they’ve had their fair share of issues with the public in both the comic books and in the MCU, it was never the way it was for the X-Men. In the MCU, people loved the Avengers for saving New York, but the high death tolls from their battles, especially in Sokovia, caused the Sokovia Accords. However, that was more a case of the government stepping in, rather than the general public turning on the heroes.
Even if the public were openly furious or scared of the damage caused as the Avengers did their fighting, it’s different than what happened in Spider-Man: Brand New Day with Jean Grey. The Avengers were always trying to save the world, and civilians died in the process. Jean Grey is a mutant who was actively taking away people’s bodily autonomy and even caused the death of a few of them. It’s understandable that people are frightened of her abilities.
Using Jean Grey Plays Into Society’s Fear Of Teens
One aspect surrounding Jean Grey’s actions in Spider-Man: Brand New Day that hasn’t been discussed much is that the first mutant the world sees is a teenager. This is wise because it plays into the fear that Western society has often had with teens. There has always been a belief pushed that teens are dangerous, so it’s easy to buy into the idea that civilians will be even more scared of Jean because of that. The troubled teen who lashed out, if the people ever learn why she did what she did, is just the kind of thing that the general public would fear.
The rumored castings for many members of the X-Men in the MCU suggest they’ll be younger than their Fox counterparts from the 2000s. Kit Connor is confirmed as Cyclops and Cailee Spaeny is rumored for Rogue, and both are in their 20s, which could play into the idea of young mutant menaces being viewed as threats. The events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day set the stage for mutants to be hated, which could be the driving force of future phases in the MCU.