Despite all the ambition, the Disney+ era of Marvel has not been without its missteps. There were hits, there were misses, and one of them, in particular, ‘Secret Invasion’, was perceived as the biggest flop in the MCU. Its reception was poor, its potential was squandered, and its storyline was barely a surface-level treatment of its comic-book origins. It left many wondering why it was even there in the first place.
And yet, in a weird twist, ‘Secret Invasion’ might turn out to be much more significant than it ever appeared. Not because it was effective, but because of what it silently initiated. With the MCU on the verge of a significant reset following ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’, Marvel has a huge opportunity: to introduce the X-Men in a manner that finally does them justice. Ironically, the social paranoia, fear, and violence depicted in ‘Secret Invasion’ may be the ideal narrative foundation to do just that.
The Perfect X-Men Origin May Already Exist In MCU
For decades, the X-Men have been fundamentally different from other Marvel heroes. Whereas the characters such as the Avengers are being praised, worshiped, and justified by the masses, the mutants have been nearly always feared. It is not Magneto, it is not Sentinels, it is not cosmic threats; it is the fear that is the X-Men’s real enemy. The X-Men movies of the Fox era were toying with the concept but didn’t follow through on it.
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There were hints of prejudice, occasional references to registration or government control, and isolated villains like William Stryker. But the majority of the stories failed to be mutant-versus-mutant. The MCU now has a chance to change that. ‘Secret Invasion’ brought something that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had never really delved into before, namely widespread civilian paranoia. The discovery that Skrulls had been coexisting with humans caused fear, which soon became violent.
At the end of the series, regular citizens were killing anyone they thought could be an alien. Innocent people were killed in broad daylight. A politician was killed just because someone believed that he was different. It is not merely world-building, but a way of thinking. And it is precisely the attitude that has characterized anti-mutant hatred in Marvel Comics since the 1960s.
By the time mutants finally come to the post-Secret Wars MCU, they will not be entering a world of optimistic wonder. They will be joining a society that is already pre-conditioned to fear infiltration, difference, and concealed identities. The people no longer need to be convinced. ‘Secret Invasion’ already seeded the notion that the enemy might be anybody. The most recognizable villainous mutants in the MCU might already be there. And they are not Magneto or Apocalypse. They are frightened, vile humans.
The X-Men Must Embrace Their Darkest, Most Important Stories
The X-Men Should Learn to accept the Darkest and most significant stories. To make the X-Men count, Marvel must go where they do not feel comfortable. All of the greatest X-Men stories in the history of comics aren’t epic battles; they are tragedies. There are times when heroes rescue individuals who hate them, where children are hunted. Where governments make fear the policy.
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Marvel Comics has never been afraid of demonstrating the ugliness of humanity when it is threatened. Organizations such as the Purifiers, headed by fanatics such as Reverend William Stryker, did not merely engage in combat with mutants; they engaged in atrocities. In a chilling plot, Stryker directly refers to Nightcrawler’s evidence that mutants are monsters. His followers react by attacking children. These aren’t abstract ideas. They are terrors based on real history.
The comics depicted the genocide of Genosha, in which Sentinels were released on a mutant country that was peaceful, killing men, women, and children in the millions. They shared tales such as Operation: Zero Tolerance, in which mutants were forcefully enrolled, jailed, and hunted in the name of public safety. Posters were distributed with the question to parents, Do you know what your children are? Weaponizing fear against families.
These were not spectacle stories. They are concerned with identity, survival, and moral courage. The MCU has hardly ever gone that far, but it now has a reason to. ‘Secret Invasion’s action left a plausible climax. Once people have justified killing neighbors over suspicion, targeting mutants becomes horrifyingly plausible. The X-Men are supposed to save the world, not because it loves them, but because it needs them. That’s the story Marvel has been circling for years, and now, almost by accident, the MCU is ready for it.
