10 Reasons Why X-Men Are Actually Better Than The Avengers
9. The Teacher-Pupil Dynamic
Marvel Comics
Even though the X-Men are a team of superheroes, they're also a lot more than that too. Sure, they have an underground lair replete with all kinds of gadgets, vehicles and training facilities, but above there is a boarding school for mutants. It doubles as a sanctuary, a safe space for mutants to live and learn without the fear of attack.
Adding to this dynamic is the fact that the X-Men also double as teachers. Granted no one's asking to see their credentials, but when they're not rescuing the world or having some downtime, the likes of Jean, Wolverine and Cyclops can be found teaching history, geography and even combat to Xavier's pupils.
Everyone tends to have one picture of school in their mind (that being either it was the worst or the best), but the fact that the X-Men are an institution as well as a super-group lends them a certain kind of appeal.
It's a profession, and to have that teacher element at play in the school and in combat adds another wrinkle of responsibility for the X-Men to deal with.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
