Professor Charles Xavier claims in Way of X that mutants have "upgraded morality,” but the X-Men’s attitudes toward humans show that they are just as bad as the world that fears and hates them. Throughout their history in Marvel Comics, mutants have faced persecution and discrimination from everyday humans, all the while proclaiming themselves as the next stage in human evolution. While some like Magneto have consistently believed themselves to be naturally superior to Homo sapiens, the X-Men have long maintained that humans and mutants are equal and should live in harmony.
The founding of the mutant nation of Krakoa has changed all of that. Mutants have suddenly found themselves catapulted to a whole new level of political and economic power on the world stage. Charles Xavier announced the existence of Krakoa in a message to the entire planet, where he said that he had realized his old dream of harmony was “a lie.” He declared that humans are not worthy of receiving gifts from mutants, who are above man’s laws and the true inheritors of Earth. While Xavier has in the past often spoken out against the prejudice of mankind and the belief that mutants are inferior, it seems that he and his students have adopted similar biases against their genetic cousins.
The attitudes that mutants carry towards humans can be seen in the opening pages of Way of X #1, written by Si Spurrier with art by Bob Quinn. While a group of X-Men infiltrate the Venice base of the enemy organization Orchis, Pixie wonders what is taking Nightcrawler so long to complete part of their mission. Her teammate DJ responds by telling her to relax, saying, “Worrying’s totally sapiens.” To use the name of an entire species as a derogatory term—and one that is tossed out so casually, at that—betrays the implicit bias that DJ holds towards non-mutants. And the fact that nobody else on the team calls him out or even seems to this remark indicates that this type of microaggression must not raise many eyebrows in the mutant community.
This term brings to mind another common pejorative word used against humans in X-Men comics: “flatscan.” This phrase was first uttered by Acolytes of Magneto way back in 1991’s X-Men #1, and is often used in dialogue by writers to signify that a mutant character has anti-human biases. But it’s not just mutant terrorists and villains who use this term. When Emma Frost is leading a group of young mutant students on a tour in Marauders #8, one of the children says “flatscans” while answering a question. Emma remarks that it’s “not a nice term,” but rather than using the opportunity to educate her students more about why a term like that is unacceptable, she just brushes past it and goes on to talk about something else.
adult X-Men worry about the teens who are choosing to live among the humans, discussing them like parents whose kids are hanging out in a bad part of town. Nightcrawler says the teens may not be safe in the human world, and attributes it to “the tension and resentment humans feel regarding Krakoa and our gifts.” He is placing the blame solely on humans, even though perhaps they can be forgiven for feeling a bit of fear at a species declaring themselves the world’s greatest superpower overnight.
These prejudices against humans could have more sinister implications. Recently in S.W.O.R.D. #2, former Acolyte leader Fabian Cortez tells Magneto that he would like to speak to Krakoa’s Quiet Council “in regard to certain national policy matters. Pertaining to the flatscans.” Magneto, one of mutantkind’s leaders, simply says, “Yes, of course. I think that would be most instructive.” Magneto later sends a memo to the Quiet Council, suggesting that they discuss potential amendments to the second law of Krakoa, "Murder No Man." Charles Xavier and the X-Men have shown they have no problem eradicating an entire race of techno-organic lifeforms simply because they view artificial intelligence as a threat. If they have a similar dehumanizing opinion of mankind, who knows what actions they may be willing to take against Homo sapiens.
