Privilege, Surveillance, and the Politics of Superheroes: A Marvel Cinematic Universe Study

Our movies often reflect the realities of the world we live in.

As such, it is inevitable that themes such as inequality, exclusion, and prejudice appear in our fictional worlds. I believe one of the clearest and yet often underrated portrayals of these realities can be found in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

As a Marvel fan and superhero enthusiast, I grew up having debates about which characters were stronger or cooler: Iron Man or Captain America? Thor or Hulk? Even if we acknowledged that they didn’t always make the right decisions, they were still celebrated as the “good guys,” the moral core of the MCU.

But as I got older, I realized that Marvel told a darker, more complicated story too: the story of the X-Men.

ScreenRant | "It's Been a While, but X-Men Is Ready to Return to the Theme That First Defined the Franchise"

The Politics in Forming Superhero Teams

Although both the Avengers and the X-Men are teams of superheroes, their portrayals could not be more different. The Avengers were adored, hailed as saviors, at least until events like Sokovia and the subsequent Accords shifted public opinion. The X-Men, meanwhile, operated from the shadows because they lived in a world where mutants were distrusted, surveilled, discriminated against, and eventually controlled through the Mutant Registration Act.

This raises several questions regarding their unequal treatment because both groups were full of people who could no longer be classified as regular humans. One group was composed of a mutate, an alien, and a superhuman, among others. The other was a group of mutants. If both groups were so similar, why did one receive admiration until they slipped up, while the other was distrusted from the start and not given a chance?

The answer lies in the intent of the creators. I argue that such a juxtaposition was intentional and a storytelling tool to depict the bigotry we face in reality. It is well known that the creation of the X-Men serves as an allegory for the duplicity in the ways the government treats different groups of people. While this allegory was initially connected to the civil rights movement and the social struggles of the time, it has now expanded to include more social issues related to the discrimination of people born different, like racial minorities and people with disabilities, among others. On the other hand, the Avengers are the representation of the extraordinary, a symbol of hope and the power of collective action (the American Dream). However, the American Dream is highly racialized, and as time passes, it becomes clearer that the original American Dream was meant only for a set of people who fit certain criteria.

The Alternative Interpretation 

A large population of the MCU fandom would disagree with the idea that the juxtaposition of the two superhero teams was intentional. They would argue that mutants are different from mutates and superhumans because mutates are rare and mutants are not. 

Marvel’s world shows us that that explanation is not true. It is true that the fear of mutants is often explained as a response to their unpredictability. Anyone could be a mutant, and that possibility makes them threatening. Yet that logic does not hold up under scrutiny. Aliens like the Skrulls can also be anyone, infiltrating the highest levels of government. Objectively, mutants such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones also hide their powers and blend in with ordinary people. If society seemingly accepts them, why not others?

The answer, I argue, lies in fear.

Fear in Marvel is not just a reaction from characters. It is also a storytelling tool. Artists often use it to reflect society, showing how people respond when faced with difference, uncertainty, or change. This is the same reason dystopian novels resonate with readers. On the surface, they describe imagined futures, but underneath, they reveal real anxieties about power, control, and belonging. What once felt like pure fiction is now beginning to feel uncomfortably familiar, especially in the context of today’s America and its political climate.

NewsRama | "Superheroes as super Presidents? When heroes ran for public office (and won!)" | What If... ? #26 cover (Image credit: Herb Trimpe/Mike Esposito (Marvel Comics))

 Thus, what drives hatred for mutants is not reason, but a fear of the unknown grounded in bigotry. The Avengers, who were celebrated until they made mistakes, represent groups society deems as acceptable to the social framework. Those groups are given trust until they prove otherwise. On the other hand, the X-Men, distrusted from the beginning, are a reflection of the marginalized communities who are surveilled, restricted, and denied opportunities before they even act because they are different and don't fit the societal framework.

The inability of some members of the MCU fandom to see the inconsistency in their logic only cements the necessity of the juxtaposition between the two superhero groups. These are the same kinds of excuses used in reality to justify surveillance, restrictions, and policing of minority groups, and it has dire consequences. Marvel makes this clear by showing that the cycle of policing and discrimination does not prevent danger. Instead, it creates it.

The Real World Impact

Policies like the Sokovia Accords or the Mutant Registration Act mirror real-world legislation like surveillance laws, residential segregation, or immigration controls. These measures justify restrictions in the name of safety while disproportionately harming those already vulnerable. The justification is always the same: to protect and safeguard lives. However, it is all rooted in fear. Fear of difference. Fear of change. Fear of what society refuses to understand.

Giving in to this fear under the pretext of enforcing safety becomes an excuse to normalize prejudices and cement them in law. Moreover, assigning generalizations to people based on the groups they belong to has never proven effective. When fear becomes law, prejudice becomes institutionalized, people are no longer judged for their actions but for who they are, and Marvel, like many great stories, asks us to see how dangerous that mindset can be.

If superhero stories are modern myths, then their message is clear. The real threat is not those who are different, but the systems that refuse to let them belong. That lesson may not change society overnight, but it challenges us to begin with small steps. We can start by questioning assumptions, recognizing biases, and acknowledging that the stories we consume are reflections of our present reality, not just escapist fantasies.

The question is: if the artists are already warning us, are we willing to listen?