American comics (as opposed to European comics or manga which have very different political leanings) were founded by the working-class children of Jewish refugees who were excluded from the professions of the time by their race. Like Hollywood, it was a new industry that didn't have the same barriers to entry as law, marketing etc.* They are inherently political. Captain America was punching Hitler before America joined WW2!
The X-men are an even more blatant metaphor for minority communities, and CC went full blast on that theme when he took over the title in the 70s. Complaining that an MCU film is pushing a political agenda is like complaining that your lemonade has citric acid in it.
There is no such thing as an apolitical movie or comic. There are movies and comics which seem apolticial to Reader A because they depict the world as Reader A sees it, or reflect the belief system of Reader A. Reader B might read that same comic a completely different way.
As an example, as an Irish person living in the UK I see this *all the time* when British history is portrayed in the media in what the portrayer thinks is a neutral POV. There's a lot of writing about Oliver Cromwell and the English Civil War that do not mention Ireland. Ignoring Cromwell's legacy in Ireland (e.g burning cities to the ground) isn't being neutral- it's subscribing to a type of inherent bias on what constitutes objectivity.
Well said. I believe many of my ethical and political leanings came as a result of reading Marvel comics. It shaped me in many ways when growing up.
Stan Lee's Bullpen Bulletins and the empathy with which he talked about characters like Spiderman had a big effect on me as well.
ANYWAY, I get a feeling that the MCU X-men are going to lean into mutants as stigmatised others. I really want a Revered Stryker or Graydon Creed popping up in the background of other MCU properties talking about the mutant menace, or maybe even Logan got into that a bit, but we didn't see much of the wider world outside Wolverine's direct POV.
*Two notable exceptions are William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman, and Steve Ditko.