10 Grim Realities Of Superhero Origins

6. X-Men Would Be Pretty Normal Or Not At All

The origin story: Most superheroes are made, but some are born. Whilst the majority of the metahumans that occupy the Marvel Universe got their amazing abilities from some sort of freak accident, the X-Men are part of a new species, the next evolutionary step for humanity. They're mutants, born with the "X" gene which alters their DNA in new and exciting ways: giving people lasers that fire from their eyes, angel-like wings, or amazing telepathic powers.

Hated and feared by the rest of the human race, who they may very well replace at some point, the X-Men use their powers to protect their genetic ancestors and try to earn their trust. Or at least stop them from building big purple robots designed to wipe out mutantkind.

The grim reality: You know what genetic mutations do? We'll tell you what they don't do, and that's give you lasers that fire from their eyes, angel-like wings, or amazing telepathic powers. Or claws that pop out of your fist. Or really any of the things shown in various X-Men media from across the decades.

In reality "mutants" are more likely to be people who have one eye a different colour from the other (because of a genetic screw up), or some other barely-noticeable change. The more extreme mutations you get are also less about having powers and more about your life being a challenge, like progeria - which causes accelerated aging - or the proteus syndrome the Elephant Man had. And the Elephant Man, despite his name, was not a superhero.