There are several reasons why people read and enjoy comics. For many it's the stories, characters and adventures. For some, it's the little desire to actually be a superhero. We've all played superhero growing up. Whether it was tying a blanket around your neck or running across your backyard pretending to do it in a couple seconds, kids gravitate to having superpowers. The reality is superpowers will always be restricted to the pages of comic books and Hollywood movies.

Comic book characters get their powers in different ways. Some are from distant planets. Others are the victims of a freak accident or science experiment. And then there's the mutants, those born with a genetic trait that enables them to perform extraordinary feats.

In the pages of X-Men, mutants have generally been feared and despised. For characters that gain their powers through technology, there is some choice. They can almost narrow down or control what causes them to gain their powers. Mutants don't have a choice. It's something they are born with. For those that wish they could have superpowers, would it be a good or a bad thing if the possibility of having mutant powers was real?

Essentially being a mutant is like playing the lottery. Living in a world where it's possible to have a genetic x-factor that can gift a person with powers could have amazing results. There are also some mutations that nobody would want.

Having a healing factor like Wolverine would be cool. You wouldn't have to worry about injuries and they would heal in mere moments. What about having Storm's weather controlling abilities. You could be sure the weather's always perfect if you wanted to spend a day at the beach. Also, you'd have the ability to fly around on the winds instead of driving to work. Who wouldn't want to have Madrox's ability to create duplicates of himself. People complain about not having enough time in the day and being able to be in multiple places or have multiple jobs would be excellent.

Not all mutant abilities are winners. The Blob may have the power of being immovable but does anyone really want to look like him? Nightcrawler has the convenient power of teleportation and also can hide in shadows but has the appearance of a blue furry demon.

What's always been strange is the fact that most people fear mutants. I never understood why this was. Sure people always fear the unknown. Mutants can be powerful individuals and not all of them have noble intentions. How come they fear and hate mutants but usually accept other heroes? The Fantastic Four have pretty much always been accepted. It can't be that they've been open with their identities because the X-Men went public during Grant Morrison's run. Sure Spider-Man has been branded a menace but that's just because J. Jonah Jameson has lead a smear campaign against him for years. How come Spider-Man isn't accused of being a mutant? The Avengers are seen as heroes and no one questions how each member got their powers. When Beast was a member, he was seen as part of the group of heroes. When he's with the X-Men, it's another story.

There isn't a reason to fear mutants. Just as other superpowered characters, some will use their powers for good and others will use them for evil. Whether they gained their powers due to an accident or because of their genetic make up is irrelevant. If we could move beyond the silly fears, would we want to live in a world where mutants were possible? The abilities some would have could drastically benefit the world. Besides the fact that the mutants in X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, etc use their powers to protect everyone from evil, imagine if a mutant like Forge used his powers to build technology that could save lives. Storm could help out in areas suffering from draughts. Having a healing factor could benefit firefighters or police officers.

The only downside would be if you were unlucky to get a power that resulted in a drastic change in your physical appearance. People shouldn't be superficial about looks but if you grew a second head or had giant wings sprouting from your back, there's no way people wouldn't look at you like you were a freak. A world where mutants existed could be really cool but there would be the risk you'd end up with a sucky power...forever.

Mutants are the future...

Man I would love to gain mutant powers as long as I stay good looking wise lol.

Just the luck of the draw I suppose when looking at genetics as to what power you would get.  Personally for me I think the appeal to have a world where mutants are shows just where humankind is moving to in its slow evolution toward bigger and better things.  Its the natural way of Darwin, to overcome, adapt and be greater than how you once were.  As for why mutants are feared and other superheroes (supers, metas, mutates)are revered, I think its frankly because of biology.  People can accept changes brought about by freak accidents or technology or other means, but if it is part of some code in our DNA that gets people worried for the future. Personally for me I see the future as being a place where humankind can embrace such changes that are encoded to come forth in our DNA over time, but then again I'm also of the opinion that like the First Born of Space Odyssey fame, we will also eventually evolve into beings of pure energy. So don't mind what I say, lol..bring on the mutants. For the future could be a lot worse without change.  And this is coming from a man ideologically opposed to change (mostly).

Ah the great double standard of the Marvel universe. The heroes are almost worshiped and the mutants are hated. This has always struck me as incredibly  stupid. I mean what difference does it make if Cyclops blasts a hole in a building or if Thor puts his hammer through it, none. It's just a stupid plot device left over from 30-40 years ago when people would accept easy answers for why thing happen in comics and now we are stuck with it.

I thought this would change with Civil War when all super powered beings were painted with the same brush but no that didn't last long.  The Heroic Age came and went and now with Schism all the sentinels world wide come out of the woodwork's. Also still not happy that a long term Mutant story line the Mutant Registration Act was co opted to become the Civil War event.

there's an even less chance of being one of the super sucky ones though than just being a mutant with powers!  
 
c'mon, having electric powers i think would be bad-ass!
 
one thing that hasn't made sense to me in x-books is that, ok, everyone knows mutants exist right? and there have been a few that have tried destroying the earth. many times it gets noticed by the public. but they never think about "hey, remember that bad thing that was supposed to happen? well, it didn't!" so mankind should be thinking either A) there's someone clearly out there from preventing the apocalypse (see what i did there?) from happening or b) these mutants may have powers but have crap follow-through and have a planning process on par to the underpants gnomes.

i would spend years of my life trying to get some type of awesome powers and when/if i failed i would dedicate my life to the destruction of the mutant gene out of jealousy and create a gene cleanse for mutancy then not much later start to mass produce sentinels and then on my death bed as an old man all mutants would have been long since exterminated, the mutant gene would have been eradicated from the human biology, and the uprising of mutants would have been just a minor foot note in the history of man.

People fear mutants because of their unpredictability.  Something like a Captain America or Spider-Man can be created through tested means.  For mutants, one second, a 14 year old could be playing football with his friends, and literally the next second, his mutant gene manifests and his steps create seismic shockwaves that demolish an entire city and kill tens of thousands.  
 
I don't think them having powers is the issue, but rather that anyone with a mutant gene could randomly manifest devastating powers.

I would actually bring up that mutants already exist. Though, not to the degree of super-powers. Mutations in the human genome are not uncommon. Sometimes these are advancements that we inherit and sometimes they are deficiencies. Gifts like photographic memory could be considered a mutation that is an advancement. The word mutation just often has a negative reputation. That's not always the case.

As long as I got something great, I would be cool. And I don't think I would mind having Nightcrawler's looks and powers. If not, I'd just be Iron Man

Good, growth and change is inevitable. Mutants are a lot like vampires. Nobody fears being a vampire, they fear being human in a world of vampires. People would gladly be vamps and feed on humans. Likewise almost everyone would desire to have the abilities of mutants, to be homo superior and move beyond the homo sapien.  
 
@FoxxFireArt said:

I would actually bring up that mutants already exist. Though, not to the degree of super-powers. Mutations in the human genome are not uncommon. Sometimes these are advancements that we inherit and sometimes they are deficiencies. Gifts like photographic memory could be considered a mutation that is an advancement. The word mutation just often has a negative reputation. That's not always the case.

loved this article, ive been thinking this for years. its actually made it kind of hard for me to get into the X-Books. well besides X-Force of course. lol. but yeah ive been thinking for a while that they maybe should move on from all the mutant hating. just doesnt feel realistic anymore. getting a bit old too. wouldnt mind a status quo were mutants are pretty much accepted by the general public in the Marvel U. people are pretty tolerant these days. i can see people being more fascinated by mutants then scared of them. can you imagine the market for mutant porn? lol

What if.... What if, indeed.
Well, it would give the world one more reason to be racist, and that is sad :(

Ah the great double standard of the Marvel universe. The heroes are almost worshiped and the mutants are hated. This has always struck me as incredibly  stupid. I mean what difference does it make if Cyclops blasts a hole in a building or if Thor puts his hammer through it, none. It's just a stupid plot device left over from 30-40 years ago when people would accept easy answers for why thing happen in comics and now we are stuck with it.I thought this would change with Civil War when all super powered beings were painted with the same brush but no that didn't last long.  The Heroic Age came and went and now with Schism all the sentinels world wide come out of the woodwork's. Also still not happy that a long term Mutant story line the Mutant Registration Act was co opted to become the Civil War event.

loved this atricle, ive been thinking this for years. its actually made it kind of hard for me to get into hte X-Books. well besides X-Force of course. lol. but yeah ive been thinking for a while that they maybe should move on from all the mutant hating. just doesnt feel realistic anymore. getting a bit old too. wouldnt mind a status quo were mutants are pretty much accepted by the general public in the Marvel U. people are pretty tolerant these days. i can see people being more fascinated by mutants then scared of them. can you imagine the market for mutant porn? lol

I would befriend one with the gift to bestow powers to others, or anyone who can resurrect people. They are better as humanity's BFF to solve a majority of our world crises.

If mutants were real I recon the comics have it pretty well sumed up as far as Prejudice is concerned!

it would give the homomsexuals a break

In comics the X-Men do have the problems of being the target of several hate groups that want them dead and gone, unlike Spiderman who just has one man and a newspaper (who on occations have been seen thinking that its for Spideys own good). Also they do have the problem that characters like Magneto and Apocalypse see regular humans as a branch of evolution that has no purpose anymore.
 
But yes, being a mutant would be cool, if you could keep it reasonably well hidden, I can easilly imagine someone like movie-Mystique getting bullied at school. As for ending up with a power that 'sucks', depends on what you make of it really. There was a Family Guy episode where they were drenched in chemicals and got powers as a result, Chris became pyrokinetic, Stewie a telekinetic, Pete could shapeshift, Brian got superspeed, Lois got superstrength and Megan (predictably) got the amazing power to grow her nails.

If i had mutant powers i would probably end up with the lamest ones ever lol smdh 

The if U-Men approach could be done then it could be great for the rest of us

it would give the homomsexuals a break

Soo people panic and fret when it comes to mutants but when Sentry goes ape sh1t it's all cool right?

i'd think it'd be cool to have powers but think about it: if everyone or much of the current population had beyond human abilities then there would be a lot more danger in this world and much havoc. we would have a lot more on our hands.

Evolution! What a wonderful thing.

If the mutants of the X-Men universe existed, I would work with them to the best of my abilities to try to insure peace, ala Moira Mactaggart. But I would know that some of the mutants have powers that are a threat to every living thing on the planet and so I would prefer the world was mutant-free, just for that. And if I were a mutant, I would hope that it would be a power I'd have the capacity to control, so that it wouldn't cause anyone or myself harm. 

i'd like if mutant will exist for a lot of motivation and, if i wouldn't  be one of them, my worst reaction would be the envy of a child that want the same toy of another child XD
but all the central plot of X-men, the war between human and mutant, the conflict between "Xavier" and "Magneto"'s ideologies may become real and then, well, only one species will survive, there won't be the super-heroine of the moment that will erase the powers of the 90% of mutants, not in our reality

humans fear mutants because they think that they are going to become extinct and who wouldn't hate them if your type of people are dying out and the muties are dominating (i think i'm right but still confusing)or maybe some jealousy factor is present which humans conceal by hating them and fearing them i hope no one is offended but it is kinda like black people staring to appear in a world completely filled with white people ( 
no offence to anyone)  anyway it was just an example but i want to be a mutant to with jean's powers

I think natural evolution may eventually (millions of years) present such phenomena. But according to the law of averages and the inifinte property of space, I'd prefer to believe that there already exists sometihng similar. It would be awesome, and give rise to more variety than we experience here on boring old earth.

Its hard to believe than one day a boy was borned with wings or with blue fur. Adaptation of the fittest is a slow process but humans are so desperate to be different that dreamed with super powers and to be better than others.

Unfortunately, prejudice and hate always finds a way.  
Throughout history the human race has hated itself again and again for various reasons with the underlying factor always being "because they're different from us." Whether religion, appearance, and/or cultural and lifestyle choices - if it's considered outside the norm enough and it gets widespread enough to be considered a "threat" by people, it will be met with prejudice and force.  
The pagans oppressed the Jews for faith, white oppressed black based on some asinine belief that skin tone determines one's worth, Hitler oppressed the Jews (and other "imperfections" in society) for some belief in a master race, and now we oppresses the Muslims for the fear that each and every one of them is a terrorist.  
Ultimately, the human race is a teenager with low self-esteem. It's changing and growing, and there's nothing wrong with it, but it always manages to find something that it will come to hate about itself. 
So to the human race: GROW THE F#%K UP!  
WE"RE HERE, WE'RE HUMAN, AND THAT MEANS WE"RE ALL ONE AND THE SAME! 
In the end, mutants are simply a further perputuation of human prejudice, which only would garner considerable support simply because mutants like NIghtcrawler aren't considered human. And to consider humans as nonhuman is truly loathsome. As Jimmy Carter said:
  “In order for us human beings to commit ourselves personally to the inhumanity of war, we find it necessary first to dehumanize our opponents, which is in itself a violation of the beliefs of all religions. Once we characterize our adversaries as beyond the scope of God’s mercy and grace, their lives lose all value.” 
 
Mutants like the X-Men may be largely fictional, but the warning they bring of the prepetuation of prejudice and discrimination is all too real.

It'd have its good side & bad side as some would use their powers for good & help humanity & other bad for control & not be held down to what humans are held down to no real power or wealth ... now if i were a mutant i'd just like something like x-man's power & just explore the universe not even bother with earth any more lol .

Mutants aren't real? Well hell what do I catagorise myself under then.  I've already proven my uncanny mental abilities to my friends and they accept me for who I am, not to mention my clever and undeniable wit.

I would trade looking like a blue furry demon for teleportation and stealth skills any day

Mutants are real. Strictly speaking thats what we all are. Why some of us are like 7 foot and others of us, have red hair and others can lick our elbows. (I hate photographic evidence!!!!!) lol
 
As for bigotry, by design its meant to be flawed. How its fostered can make it even more ridiculous, just like how real life racism works. I don't think mutants have ever been hated by most people, In comics, its just that the hateful people, like in real life can be the most vocal about their hatred. Uncanny X-Men #200 had dual protests, those defending mutants and those condemning mutants. Except racism is potent. If your black and your in a class of 20 people, and all of them are white and 18 of them of them accept you and one person calls you, and attacks you because of your skin color? Its not that easy to just think... well, 18 other people won;'t say that and only 1 would, I feel okay.  
 
Thats the thing about using words like usually and most and so on. Thor has been attacked many times, Avengers now and then, and mutants have also often been praised and championed by people.  
 
So anyway, mutants (Marvel's version) will just experience what we already go though (and vice versa) except the differences will be more extreme than height, hair color and elbow licking abilities. I mean my mutant power is lame, I can't sunburn. Yey! (I sort like it though) 

Humans envy their power and are disgusted by the fact that they are superior

It would be bad. because for every 1 awesome cool mutant that just wants to hang out and be cool.  There is 4  evil mutants that will destroy whole cities in their quest for the mutant uprising.    
 
@LB70145: Dont pull that "mutants as a metaphor for the civil rights movement" bullshit with me.  Black people dont shoot red lasers out of their eyes, or have the power to control the weather, or regenerate, or powers of magnetism. The Anti-mutant movement isnt just  'discriminating because of skin color or difference'  they are literally SCARED FOR THEIR LIVES. Before the civil rights movement people were 'scared of different people' but it was an unjust fear.  Being scared of someone who has claws made of adamantium and the ability to heal almost instantly is perfectly reasonable. I realize that mutants were always supposed to be a metaphor for the civil rights movment, but i've always refuted it, its a really bad metaphor.     You're telling me, if mutants were real, and you weren't one, you wouldnt be scared shitless?  c'mon, lets be realistic here.   
 
 
And really tony? you dont understand why people would be afraid of mutants?  Magneto could realistically destroy the whole of new york city at the flick of his wrist., before the blackbird even left the home base.   What about Dark Phoenix?  really?  not scary at all?     

I think living in a world with mutants would be cool. Granted some of them would not use their powers for good, it would still be cool. If Forge could build technology to save lives that would be awesome. Madrox could start multiple companies and create jobs to boost our economy. If people could get over their fear of the unknown, then living in a world with mutants wouldn't be as bad as in the comics seeing as some of them turn to evil out of revenge against humanity for casting them out of society.

I'm sure greedy governments would try to capture mutants for their pourposses: 
 
Slaving electric-based mutants to be generetors, forcing wheather affecting mutants against their will to change things on their favor, etc... 
 
I think that today the great thing to fear would be greed and evil pragmatism rather than racism when talking about this possibility.

If I was lucky and got a good power I would be an X-Man! :D

If I drew a bad hand and got a deformed power I'd join the Brotherhood! XD

If I did not get any powers while others around me did, sign me up for the Friends of Humanity! Those muties must die! >:)

I wouldn't mind looking like nightcrawler if I got a cool power, there has to be a trade off between looking horrible and awesome power

It would be bad because the vast majority of mutations in X-Men are useless or not that "cool". For every 1 Storm, there are 2,000 Cypher's.

There's this secondary mutation called the David Haller Syndrome which was mentioned in the X-Men anime. Nobody would want that.