New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

[ErikModi]

Re: New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

 

Some things to consider:

 

The X-Men are outnumbered two-to-one by the Brotherhood at the end of First Class:

 

X-Men: Havoc, Beast, Banshee.

Brotherhood: Magneto, Mystique, Riptide, Angel, Emma Frost, Azazel.

 

Of course, the X-Men have the capability of finding new mutants with Cerebro, since they have Beast to build it and Prof X to use it, but how long will it take to build a new one? To say nothing of finding and training mutants to fight. Magneto already pretty much has a trained strike team ready to go.

 

So, how long before Magneto begins waging his war against mankind? Will he pause to recruit new mutants, or will he set out immediately to start bringing humanity to its knees? Will Xavier need to send his X-Men into battle outnumbered and ill-trained?

 

The population at large may or may not be aware of the existence of mutants. The resolution to the missile crisis was fairly extreme, but only military personnel were on hand to witness it. The intervention of mutants may be a classified government secret. The X-Men are certainly not ready for the existence of mutants to become public knowledge. . . as Xavier said, "anonymity will be our first line of defense." The Brotherhood will certainly want to keep humanity in the dark until they're ready to strike. And the US and Soviet governments will definitely not want to admit to their people that two groups of homo superior A) almost started World War III and were instrumental in stopping it. To me, this says that mutants are still not a publicly known phenomena in the years succeeding the end of First Class. As the Civil Rights movement sweeps up, mutants may want to become involved, but how? I really can't picture a white, normal-looking guy like Charles, Havoc, or Banshee walking into a group of black people fighting for their right to be treated as people and trying to talk about mutants feeling their pain. Especially as things turn disgustingly violent, I imagine most mutants are simply trying to keep their heads down and not get swept up in it all. Xavier may believe in mutantkind biding their time, waiting for this conflagration to die down before trying to do the same thing for mutants. For one, Xavier believes in peaceful cohabitation between mutants and humans, and much of the Civil Rights movement is far from peaceful. For another, much of the Civil Rights movement is tied up in affairs that mutants really have no part in. Third, Civil Rights is asking for something relatively small. . . accept a black man like you would a white man. Asking people to accept a red man, or a blue furry man, or a man who can walk through walls, or a steel man, or a man who can make you think you're a five-year-old-girl. . . well, that's a bigger pill to swallow, and humans are having a hard enough time with this one.

 

The US and Soviet governments, however, are certainly aware of the existence of mutants, and know that they are dangerous, and that their first attempt to "deal with the problem" failed rather dramatically. Plans are almost certainly drawn up immediately to begin dealing with mutants should they become a threat (and possibly, even if they don't.) Weapon X almost certainly starts up in this time, perhaps with the initial goal of exploring the feasibility of mutant "super-soldiers" in Vietnam. Getting wind of America's Weapon X program, other governments around the world begin similar initiatives. Mutants may become common knowledge through the actions of Weapon X in Vietnam, or Weapon X may be successful enough to hide its involvement. The Brotherhood would almost certainly step in to try and dismantle Weapon X, and recruit its "subjects" as "victims of the dying homo sapiens." Ironically, Weapon X traces its lineage directly back to the X-Men. . . "the government's new mutant division."

 

And perhaps as a backup to Weapon X, the Sentinel program starts. I agree that the idea of Sentinels as "Iron Man" clones is much more interesting idea than the giant robots we're used to seeing. If you want to nod to other Marvel continuities, perhaps Tony Stark gets the government contract to design 'mutantproof' battle armor for the government, and his Iron Man suit is just the prototype for a full production run of Sentinel armor. From my studyings on the Marvel Wiki, there was indeed a set of Stark-designed Sentinel armor, known as Sentinel Squad O*N*E*.

 

It's well known that Vietnam was a "proxy war" between the superpowers, to avoid the actual destruction of a third World War. How does the Brotherhood react to this? Do they, taking a page from the Sebastian Shaw playbook, attempt to escalate the conflict in Vietnam to bring it to a full-scale war between superpowers? Do the X-Men try and stop them, indirectly becoming involved in the Vietnam war?

 

As someone mentioned earlier, what happens when mutants show up in "undeveloped" nations? Does a mutant in Africa set himself up as a warlord? Does a mutant equivalent of Doctor Doom lead a coup in his home country and install himself as Emperor? Does a new Hitler arise, with dreams of global domination and mutant powers to back them up? Are mutants hunted and killed in less-developed nations, without full knowledge of what they are? Are they worshiped? If people think of them as gods, do they begin to see themselves the same way?

 

The late sixties and early 70s are amazingly fertile ground for setting such stories, though the root could be "aged" into the modern day, though things could be vastly different then they are today. When did humanity at large become aware of mutants, and how? Are mutants accepted members of society, or are they still fighting for their human rights? How quickly are mutant births overtaking human births (i.e., what percent of the birthrate is human, as opposed to mutant? And how many of these births are "spontaneous mutation", that is, mutants born from human parents, and how many of them are mutants bearing mutant children?) Is Xavier's School the only place mutants can go to be among their own kind, or have mutant schools and communities been established across the country? Are mutants isolating themselves, or are they rejecting this idea as a form of "voluntary segregation?" Are Mutant Pride parades marching down the street, shouting "We're here, We can read your minds, Get used to it?"

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

 

Interesting thought, some of my own impressions...

 

Cover up what happened in Cuba? With several hundred eye witnesses on each side? Plus thousands of second hand witnesses belowdecks? The Soviet Russians might pull it off, but not the Americans.

 

Here we have a man who effectively neutralized two fleets. I can see a 'arms race' by major powers, as each tries to recruit mutants for its own use. And, as you said, minor powers getting taken over by mutants. (Comic-book verse, one of Magneto's early plots was to take over a third world country.)

 

(I don't know if I mentioned it before, but a pet peave of the movie: Xavier, Havok, Banshee, and originally Beast: The good guys are all northern European looking. The bad guys: Magneto a Jew, Mystique blue skinned, Angel Hispanic, Azreal red skinned, Riptide Hispanic... And the black man, Darwin is dead.)

[ErikModi]

Re: New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

 

True, but in expanded continuity, ignores all the other "ethnic" X-Men, like Storm, and. . . uh. . . well. . .

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

 

My complaint is solely on this movie, not on the comics as a whole, nor other movies.