Perpetual Oppression: A Theological Reflection On The X-Men Narrative
The X-Men franchise is often celebrated as a parable of inclusion, a story in which those born different must endure the fear and rejection of the world. It is praised for advancing themes of civil rights, tolerance, and what our age likes to call "diversity." But this reading is spiritually deceptive. It accepts the stated moral of the story without examining the actual moral structure that drives it. Beneath its noble rhetoric, the X-Men mythos is not about justice or misunderstood beauty. It is about autonomy. It is about pride. It is about worship of the self.
The mutant allegory is not a metaphor for the imago Dei, nor is it a defense of human dignity. It is a liturgy of identity: self-willed, self-defined, and self-exalted. It is the fantasy of godhood without submission, an assertion of identity that rejects the grace of God which alone grants true and lasting personhood in Christ. It is a glory that rejects the God who alone is worthy. And like Babel, it is many voices rising together in defiance, not harmony.
I. Identity as Rebellion: The Lie Beneath the Metaphor
Most mutants do not seek to be restored and the rare exceptions only do because their powers are deemed too dangerous. But even good mutants like the X-Men themselves demand recognition and rights not as a plea for reconciliation but as an imposition of forced inclusivity. They engage in peaceful protest and call for systemic reform, yet their claims rest on the presupposition that the existing authorities (mostly non-mutants) are inherently oppressive, violent, or authoritarian in their treatment of “the other.” This worldview echoes much of contemporary progressive discourse that dismisses opposition as reactionary, extremist, or tyrannical, thereby shutting down genuine conversation and framing resistance to authority as wholly legitimate.
In the biblical worldview, personhood is received, not asserted. We are not self-authored. We are creatures, shaped by the Creator’s word, bound to His design, and accountable to His judgment. But in the X-Men universe, the self is sovereign. Mutations are not weaknesses to be healed or gifts to be stewarded. They are banners of personal divinity.
This mirrors the modern cult of identity. Sexual orientation, gender self-definition, ethnic grievance, and expressive autonomy are not seen as aspects of fallen humanity to be redeemed. They are seen as sacred truths, irreducible and unquestionable. And just as the mutant finds strength in being despised, so too does the modern identity-claimant find righteousness in being rejected. Victimhood becomes virtue. Pride becomes sanctified.
What the world calls "diversity" is simply the fragmentation of man into his own image. It is the multiplication of idols. It is not beautiful. It is Babel.
II. No Peace Without Lordship
Romans 1 reveals the true root of the world’s dysfunction: not ignorance, but suppression of the truth in unrighteousness. Mutants in the X-Men universe are not portrayed as fellow sinners. They are never in need of repentance. They are, by default, righteous and thus, those who fear them are unrighteous. The possibility of mutual sin, and thus mutual reconciliation, is ruled out. One side is pure; the other, corrupt.
That is why peace never comes. To reconcile would require submission. It would require admitting that difference does not sanctify, and that identity alone does not justify. But in a world where the self is god, repentance is impossible. Grace is offensive. The cross is folly.
The X-Men are trapped in an endless struggle because the writers (like the characters) will not bow. They need the conflict. It feeds their sense of moral clarity. It gives structure to their gospel of grievance. It replaces the unity of the Spirit with the solidarity of the excluded.
III. Pain as Sacrament: The Self as God
The false religion of the X-Men becomes clear: Normatively, the law is not God's Word, but personal trauma. Situationally, the world is not created and fallen, but divided into oppressors and oppressed. Existentially, the self is not a sinner, but a victim whose suffering validates their authority.
In this new gospel, pain replaces atonement. Being wounded (oppressed for being a mutant) is your justification. To be harmed is to be holy. Therefore, peace is not only unnecessary, it is betrayal. Forgiveness would dissolve the very thing that gives the self meaning.
Writers who participate in this story are not neutral observers. Many of them inject their own ideological grievances into the narrative, turning the world into a sermon for their own glory. They weaponize fiction to normalize resentment. In doing so, they offer their readers a false gospel: "You are not the problem. The world around you is the problem. You are the solution to both the world and to yourself."
IV. The Case of Nightcrawler: Faith Beneath Identity
Some may point to the character of Nightcrawler, a Roman Catholic mutant, as evidence that the X-Men narrative does not reject Christianity. But this is not the defense people assume it to be. Nightcrawler's faith does not shape his identity; his identity shapes his faith. Allegorically, Christianity becomes one among many chosen identities and not the exclusive and supreme truth by which all other identities must be judged.
Nightcrawler’s Catholicism is presented as an ornament of personality, not a declaration of lordship. His mutant givenness is the immovable foundation. His theology, his cross, even his priesthood are refracted through that lens. But God has not given man the option to place Him second. The first commandment stands: "You shall have no other gods before Me."
So the question remains: Is the God of Scripture primary or secondary for Nightcrawler? The narrative answers this for us. Christianity is tolerated so long as it functions in harmony with the god of identity. But when conflict arises, identity wins. Allegorically, then, Nightcrawler’s religion is not a rebuke to the narrative. It is proof of how deep the narrative’s idolatry runs that even worship can be colonized by selfhood.
V. The Gospel They Refuse
The gospel of Christ is clear: all have sinned. All need grace. There is no righteousness apart from Christ, no identity that can stand before God without the blood of the Lamb. Ephesians 2:14 says that Christ is our peace, not our politics, not our pride, not our identity markers. He alone breaks the dividing wall.
But the X-Men refuse that gospel. They want salvation without a Savior, vindication without humility, exaltation without God. They want resurrection, but will not die. And so their story remains what it is: a closed circuit of wrath, grievance, and self-glory.
Until the mutant repents, until identity bends the knee to the cross, peace will remain a fantasy. The utopia they seek will remain a tower of pride, built in vain. Yet Christ’s kingdom alone offers true reconciliation, breaking down dividing walls and calling sinners from every tribe and tongue to a new, unified identity in Him. Only by His grace can the scattered voices be gathered into harmony, and the Lord who will not share His glory with another be rightly worshiped.
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Interesting, as always. While I'm generally okay with X-Men because it promotes virtuous behaviors like protecting the vulnerable and loyalty to friends, it is like any story men tell each other, rooted in the desire for godhood. Almost always, this desire manifests as a supremely gifted protagonist who defeats gods or other gifted men who are morally worse than himself.
A battle of moral relativism has replaced a battle of good vs. evil because being good is hard while being better is easy. All the writer has to do is make the antagonist slightly worse than the protagonist to give the hero moral authority over the villain. Grey characters become Marxist vangards through the rite of oppression, often taking the form of mere bullying or name-calling. Did someone call you a mean name? Time to punch that Nazi!
Does Garfield kick Odie off the table for fun? Sure, but he's not as mean as the Dog Catcher. Therefore, Garfield is relatively good but also delightfully gluttonous, selfish, and lazy. Gluttony, selfishness, and laziness are made good purely by showing them as "better than dognapping." This is almost always the defense of real life "good people"--they are better than murderers and therefore good. But isn't a murderer better than a torturer? (I consider child SA to be torture.) Isn't a torturer better than a hospital bomber? And so on until everyone except for Hitler is a "good person." From within a majority Christian society, Garfield was funny to me, but in this supermajority secular age of America, I find him a desensitizing harbinger of further decayed amusements that have come after.
one cannot give what they do not have.
like all marvel comics, the story is contrived to sell to a specific demographic on a narrow topic / theme and laden with stan lee's freemason upbringing along the way. The writer ultimately determines how that base is presented, and the format doesn't exactly lead to deep storytelling.
In the 90's there was both a comic arc and a cartoon episode dedicated to Nightcrawler talking to Wolverine about Christ, which eventually ended up with Wolverine Converting and unbenownst to Nightcrawler saved Wolverine from committing suicide. It's probably the only plot thread from the 90's that is still remembered to this day.
That story could not be made today because the writers have no such answers for the questions presented, nor would they even be aware of the problem (which is why they killed off wolverine forever about 10 years ago).
To make the story you want, there would have to be a writer who understands such ideas, is willing and able to present them in an entertaining way, and able to be in the industry and hired for the job. Good luck, and the comic isn't doing that itself, just the people running it.
Nightcrawler being a cardboard cut out of Catholicism is because of the writers, not because of the story being unable to handle his religion. I would assume the comic could ONLY make sense within a Catholic Eschatology, in fact.
There is also the "inhumans" storyline where mutants are basically driven to extinction because the world is introduced to a race of alien / human hybrids that have this weird gnostic religion surrounding a space gas that is totally poisonous to mutants. The entire world accepts the "inhumans" and proliferates the gas, despite mutant protests. The mutants die off and the ones that voice their concerns are seen as pure evil, and the ones that just choose to die to protect the convenience of their new "religious minority" are seen as "virtuous."
This is also the comic series that comes after Captain America unites the Avengers and X-men, so that mutants can be fully integrated into society. During the inhumans arc, Captain America is then seen as and repeatedly called a "fascist" and "nazi" and "hitler" by the "good mutants" because Captain America wants the inhumans off the planet so the mutants won't be exterminated by space gas.
"predictive programming" ahoy.
EVERYONE hated that arc, and I wouldn't say that's an intrinsic story to the comic's world despite it fitting your presentation here. I just think you are blaming the wrong target.