It would be terrible. It would only take one nut job to be born with the wrong powers and they would kill millions.

If mutants were real I probably wouldnt be one, therefore it would be a bad thing because I would be jealous.

If Mutants were real, I think it would turn out like how the Ultimate Universe is currently.

Mutant or powered Human it doesn't matter to me.
If people with superpowers just started popping up you would have a good reason to fear. The lvl of power they control with  one bad person or even one good person who make a bad decision could be devastating .
How would you even police something like that.  
Take extreme measures? no do I even have to say why
Get someone with equal power who has proven themselves to go up against them? maybe but how much destruction and lives lost would happen as a result of the battle?

Yeah the idea that Kitty Pride should be feared and hated because she can walk through the walls into a bank vault and steal all the money, but Sue Storm, who could turn invisible and walk into a bank vault and steal all the money, never gets bothered by anyone always bugged me. I wonder if you've been re-reading the House of M Spiderman books, Tony, because they're all about this scenario (just in reverse). 
 
One thing I think you started to touch on in the section about Blob and Nightcrawler was that not all mutant powers are useful. In college a friend and I actually worked on a fan-script for an X-Men spinoff comic (we thought we could pitch it to Marvel via a friend of his who worked there) about a team of mutants whose powers are embarrassing, or useless (like a girl who can make plants grow slightly faster, a woman who knew you were going to sneeze before you did, and a guy who was allergic to himself, and a boy who could unhinge his jaw like a snake, and a guy whose blood was alcohol... like i said we were in college) but by the time we got our first draft to a place where we were happy, some rough but decent character sketches done, and some story arcs fleshed out, Scarlett Witch said those 3 words, and our premise didn't really fit in to the rest of the 616 universe. 
 
Lastly, I just feel like sharing, that I am a mutant... in real life. I have no wisdom teeth. They have not been removed, and they did not come in without being impacted, they never formed because I am a mutant. Behold, I am the next stage in human evolution. (Divulging this was actually one of the ways we decided to focus on the "useless mutant powers" story for our attempt to break into the industry.)

Knowing my luck, my mutant ability would be giving birth to koalas every thirty minutes.

With my luck I would get the power to life forever so long as I'm unhappy.

I bet everyone wants to have superpowers but nobody wants to look like Beast.

Pretty sweet article. Yeah it would be cool if mutants were real and many of us were mutants. However, we already have another social stigmas, prejudices, and racism going around that is apparently never-ending. If mutants were a reality they'd get all that 10-50x as bad as some of us HUMANS already do; hated because people are afraid of you or even jealous. 
 
And now that this has been brought up, I wonder how gay characters such as Anole or Northstar would be treated as both that and mutant in today's society. Just because New York and other states are (probably reluctantly) accepting gay marriage doesn't mean gay mutants would necessarily be accepted. Sad world we live in already. 
 
But back to the point: yeah it be cool, but also chaotic. Especially if the Sentinel program was actually put into effect. D=

If I were to get mutant traits/powers, i'd wan't either Iceman or Magneto or even Boom Boom would be cool.

I would love to be a Mutant.

I'd love to have an X-gene. Some form of energy manipulation would be right up my alley.:)
 
As far as mutants being feared, especially the X-Men, given how many times that they've saved the earth, timelines, and etc. It makes no sense to me at all. Cyclops has referenced that issue quite a few times and I myself would get pretty irate with it after a while.

If I were a mutant the last thing I would think about is putting on a costume and fighting crime / robbing a bank.  I'd market my freakness for big $$$$$. Every kid around would have my lunchbox and Oprah would love me because I'm not afraid to cry. 

I don't think them having powers is the issue, but rather that anyone with a mutant gene could randomly manifest devastating powers.

I bet everyone wants to have superpowers but nobody wants to look like Beast.

I won't mind looking like Kurt (well he's my favourite)

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 would be something to behold. And hopefully, despite much turmoil, it would eventually lead to a better world.

I never understood why people feared mutants but not any other of the artificial nut jobs zipping through the night sky. It would make sense if mutants were in their own universe where normal humans getting powers is impposible but in place where chewing bubblegum that's been out in the sun too long grant you super strength not a lot of sense for fearing the oh natural super freaks. 
And if they're worried about rouge mutants just have the x-men be a legitimate government thing and have a station in all the cities and a few agents in small towns.
But they would have to registered somehow so they don't end up locking a bunch powerful puberty stricken 13 yr olds because they accidentally glued someone or changed their sex.

Taxes will go up with all the destruction cause, the politicians will have excuses to do so. To feed the rich from tax dollars, opps did I say that. In some ways, if all the mutants are rounded up, than they will enslave the human race, because the rich man wants the coin to keep on coming.  Make up threats that are not there, knee jerk reactions.  Americans are the first to grab there guns and ask questions later.  There's a couple powers I want to have, is fast healing and to copy other mutant powers.

@Phished0ne: Yet no one really feared Sentry or fears Thor. Why are mutants feared more than other insanely powered non-mutant characters?

They be feared that's for sure and hated too much power is dangerous, then again some of the world dictators would think twice about oppressing the people, when one of them could kill him with a thought  

man i dont give a shit if im ugly. as long as i have powers im good.

@Omertalvendetta said:

@sesquipedalophobe: I spat Diet Pepsi all over my desk... thanks!

Sorry.

If a guy could blow up a city, I'd want him to contain his powers somehow, let him be trained, maybe a registration act. Although having mutant powers would be awesome, I'd prefer not to have my looks changed too much. If mutants were real, some governments would probably try to make weapons, or breed mutants. And racism. Look at the world today, there's already some screwed up stuff, racism, hate crimes. With mutants, it could get worse. Also, responsibility, some mutants might use their powers for evil, and I fear it would be the evil mutants outweighing the good mutants.

I think it is still perfectly acceptable for Marvel to use the mutants are the most feared and hated, despite there being many other super powered  beings in the Marvel U. Think about it, with the FF, or avengers, people know who's in the group, how many there are, and their agenda, which is to protect the world. Even for the villains like Dr. Doom, the many nemesis of Spider-Man etc. they still are able to be singled out by the public, their agenda is known, and there are other heroes to stop them. The difference with mutants is they can be anywhere and anyone. They are just as powerful, yet unorganized, no common agenda, and can easily blend into society. You never know if tomorrow your neighbor's kid is going to suddenly blow up the whole neighborhood, you never know if someone like Emma Frost is in complete control of the entire government, or if a mutant is sitting next to you on an airplane. But you do know that the FF is in the Baxter building, that the Avengers are out stopping Loki, or whatever.  And the worst part is there are more and more coming.  According to evolution, its survival of the fittest. All of the Avengers, Spider-Man, FF, etc will eventually die, and with them their powers, Mutants will die too but they will pass on a dominant mutant gene. A future generation to further outnumber the humans.  
I always thought that if mutants were real, they would be the rulers of the underworld worldwide, with a complete monopoly on drugs, trafficking, extortion, etc. That way they can thrive, yet still go unnoticed. This would make more sense because in the real world, I don't think concentration camps would be out of the question.

I do understand the public paranoia about mutants. A mutant could be good or bad, you don't know, and they have power over you. Even us normal humans, we get angry and lash out once in a while, we hit people and get into fights... but what happens when someone that can put a hole in your chest loses his or her cool? How do we keep security when someone can walk through walls and rob you blind? What happens when a telepath can discover all of your secrets and use that knowledge for personal gain? Do we not allow people with super strength or super speed to pay sports since they have such an unfair advantage? What's even stopping someone from being corrupted by their own powers? How can we possibly keep peace and order? Unless of course we all have powers, which would be awesome.
 
Aside from that, I relate superheroes as a type of law figure in comicbooks, people trust them with powers for the same reason we trust cops with guns. Costumes identify characters, just like styles of dress can identify officers and gangsters. But there's nothing identifying mutants living normal lives.
 
And on a final note, it's my belief that mutant powers are somehow subconscious manifestations of some aspect of the individual.

-Рants  off  and  running ;D

always wanted to be a mutant ( i started with the x-men when i was  six)  come who hasnt dreamed o think about it?

After reading District X you really don't want to become a mutant. X-Men are (mostly, with a few exception like Rogue) are the best that can happen if your X-Gene is manifested. The worst kind of mutants live in District X (mutant ghetto).
- the mutant who puts roots down whenever he falls asleep;
- the worm-like mutant who lives in the sewers and eath dirt;
- the mutant whose only power is that his skin is blue.
Not really Homo Superior, are they?

I my self have always wonder why other non mutant characters with super powers are not feared or hated as the mutant kind is. 

  Well, here's just my opion, but I think that if mutants are feared in the MU, it's not so much because they are different (even if it is an undeniable reason), and only partly because of their super-powers. I think the primary reason for that fear is the fact they exist as an ethinc group.
  Let's put aside vilains like Doom or Osborn who hide their game, and focus on the more "plain" vilains that everybody should fear a lot more than the mutants, like, let's say, Venom. He's strong, fearful, violent, a killer. And yet he's alone, a "one-man threat", like most of the super-powered vilains. But the mutants are awfully numerous, to a point that they could overthrow and replace the MU mankind as the new humanity. Besides, the fact that they are "genetically different", and that the X-gene seems to be dominant, means that their children are mutants too, which eventually even lessens the ratio normal humans/mutants. The fact that they are super-powered is actually more of a collateral phenomenon (and obviously a problem) ; the fact and source of hatred is that they threaten "normal humanity" as a wholejust because theyexist.
  Now, about our world being full of mutants... Let's face it, we live in a sad world. And I'm not only talking about wars and huge stuff like that. Think about the little incivilities our daily lives are made of : this guy not picking up his dog's crap, that girl sat in front of you in the subway that litteraly yells in her freaking cellphone, this teenager who just stepped on your foot and went away like you didn't exist, or that guy who just nearly drove you over just because he didn't want to slow down. People think they can do whatever they want and are all alone, even in the middle of Fifth Avenue. Now imagine how all these incivilities would be like with super-powers ! Not to mention how fights between drunk guys in bars would end up... 
 
  And, just for the record, I wouldn't mind looking like Beast. ^^

@leokearon said:

I won't mind looking like Kurt (well he's my favourite)

you say that now...lol 
@Deadknight said:

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.

Damn! QMFT bro...

It would be both, it also would depend on the person. I would think it would be worse, because everyone gets angry and would do something bad with their powers if your pushed that far. I wouldn't want powers, I've got nothing against those who want them. 

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.
 
^

Mutants for me are Stan Lee's answer to the growing prejudice against minorities during the sixties. 
It's a mirror of what Humanity has done time and time again to others they barely understand.

man id love to be a mutan but probably be something like heightened flexibility or strength though 
but if mutants existed people would treat them as second clas citizens simply because their different and they are jealous of their capabilities much like most minorities are outside of their respective countries. 

I don't mean to blow my own trumpet but i would probably be the strongest mutant in existence.

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 WANNA B A MUTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;P

I'm really getting sick of humans hating and fearing mutants in.... well... EVERYTHING! Why can't we amazed that we live in a world full superpowered people.