The Stan Lee. The X-Men are the most recognizable and beloved team in all of Marvel Comics. However, recently Marvel's Merry Mutants have been debating the nature of their name - recalling an issue Stan Lee himself once pointed out.
The mutant team name of the "X-Men" has been called out as sexist by many due its use of gendered language - especially since the team started life with Jean Grey as a powerful female member. It's only grown more misleading over time, with heroes like Jean Grey, Storm, Mystique, and Jessie Drake ing (and often leading) the team. In a 2011 interview with the Washington Post, Stan Lee called this out, saying “In the case of the X-Men - whom I incorrectly named because one was a female - I wanted to do a strip that would point out the injustice and wrongheadedness of bigotry.” With this correction, Stan Lee reminds fans that the mutants of the Xavier Institute have always commented on social change.
'X-Men' Was Never an Accurate Name
Stan Lee’s quote on the X-Men’s name is a reflection of their purpose as progressive social commentary. The X-Men were first introduced in 1963’s X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and have grown into a versatile metaphor for groups disadvantaged by prejudice. Though the name may be a little outdated today, this message remains as relevant as ever, and Marvel avoided repeating the mistake Lee called out. The X-Men have many spin-off teams, but from Excalibur to X-Factor to the Exiles to the New Mutants, the franchise has seemingly observed Lee's criticism, all while commenting on racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other forms of prejudice, both through its diverse roster of heroes and its narrative exploration of its core metaphor.
It's unlikely the X-Men will ever change their main team name - if only because of the franchise's value as it currently exists - but it's in the spirit of Stan Lee's vision that the series is constantly critiquing itself, raising the question of the team's name as recently as February 2023's X-Men #19. The team's name has had its meaning changed before (the 'X' originally stood for 'extra power'), and so it fits with Lee's vision and the X-Men's history that the sexism inherent to their name doesn't go unaddressed, and is canonically a misstep on Charles Xavier's part, rather than something which is ignored or justified.
As a franchise, the X-Men are all about inclusivity and the rejection of bigotry, so it's fitting that Stan Lee acknowledged the core issue with their name, and that Marvel continues to do so.
Source: Washington Post, Michael Cavna
