ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the world of Marvel’s prolific mutant X-Men films, beginning with X-Men (2000) which, although premiering before the 9/11 attacks, sets the scene for the superhero film boom in the 21st century. The X-Men have always provided a rich metaphor for a variety of marginalized identities, and here we look at the 12 X-Men films as a lens through which to understand how various identities are represented in the post 9/11 landscape. We pay special attention to representations of gender (the role of the X-women as well as mutant masculinity), race, and LGBT identities, culminating in an exploration of mutants as representative of the ‘Other’, an especially salient mutant metaphor in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, where the Other was frequently vilified and maligned. Given that the X-Men films span the two full decades of the 21st century, they provide a wealth of material through which audiences can better understand the intricacies of identity in the contemporary moment.
