More than Superheroes

X-Men: Would Evolution Create Mutants?

x-men apocalypse

I am intrigued by how the villain Apocalypse is being portrayed in the new X-Men movie. I won’t be able to see it first hand for a couple of weeks but I am curious because of the what I have seen in the trailers. In the stories that I have read or seen in animation, Apocalypse is usually presented as an extremely powerful mutant with Darwinian ambitions. He strongly pushes for a “survival of the fittest” mentality. Only the mutants who are the strongest deserve to be part of his kingdom. He certainly wants to rule over all and he is willing to crush the weak to in order to reign supreme.

In the trailers for X-Men: Apocalypse, the idea is included that Apocalypse has presented himself throughout history as a religious figure. The movie seems to suggest that he is a kind of Messiah who is rallying people to his cause. I suppose part of this goes along with the fact that his four lieutenants are called the Four Horsemen. This is a biblical picture that calls back to the book of Revelation and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. This religious motivation that the trailers seem to present and the Darwinian thought I saw in the comics makes be think of the argument between religion and science. We often see this in the conflict between Creation and Evolution. This makes be think of a question. If there were mutants would they come from Creation or Evolution? There are many who would suggest that Evolution is the answer.

Since I have not seen X-Men: Apocalypse yet, I will refer back to previous movies, especially Days of Future Past. The idea of evolution creating mutants is a theme that goes back to the first of the X-Men movies. As the movie is starting, Professor Charles Xavier says this, “Mutation, it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.”

The idea continues  in many of the movies including Days of Future Past. In that movie, Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels, talks about mutants as the next step in evolution. Part of the reason that he creates the Sentinels is because he sees it as a way of preserving the normal humans. In his mind, the survival of the fittest idea would lead mutants to take over. Therefore, he creates the Sentinels to protect humans from the mutant threat.

Even Magneto views mutants as the next step in evolution. He passionately believes that it is the right of mutants to rule over humans because mutants are superior. He refers to humans as homo sapiens and mutants as homo-superior. Professor Xavier on the other hand wants to peacefully coexist with humans. He doesn’t want to rule over human beings. He sees the danger of human beings trying to fight back and creating tools like the Sentinels.

However, I wonder, would evolution really create mutants? Or maybe I think about it like this, if so many people today think that evolution is the way the universe was formed, then why don’t we see people evolving into mutants? Why don’t we see people being born with superpowers? Usually in our world, when we do see genetic mutations, the result is some sort of disability. In a way that is the opposite of what evolution tells us. Evolution tells us that things in this world are going to keep getting better and better. But is that what we see? Or do we see things getting worse? This world seems very corrupt and very sinful.
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As a Christian, I believe what the Bible tells me about Creation. I believe that God created the World in six 24 hour days. God even tells us that the world will get worse and worse. People will continue to gratify their sinful natures all the way up until the end of the world. I also know that any super human powers would need to be gifts from God. There are even examples in the Bible of people with superpowers. Samson has super strength from God. Elijah is able to call down fire from heaven because God allows it. Jesus walked on water. Jesus calmed the storm. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus rose from the grave.

With God all things are possible. That is what the angel Gabriel said to Mary when she was wondering how she, a virgin, could be the mother of Jesus. Gabriel says, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). In the X-men movies and comics, there are certain characters who talk about their powers as a gift from God. Other characters fully take hold of the evolution idea. If mutants really are the next step in the evolutionary ladder, then Magneto’s idea of ruling over the humans actually makes more logical sense than Professor Xavier’s idea of peaceful coexistence. After all, isn’t that what natural selection and survival of the fittest promote?

Go back to the fact that nothing is impossible with God. If he wanted to give superpowers today, he certainly could. That doesn’t mean that he is going to grant powers but he could. It also means that he can do absolutely anything. He can create the entire universe in 6 days just like he said. He can save us from our sins by sending his Son to die on a cross. Jesus can rise from the dead as the proof that he really did pay for our sins. Jesus will return to take us to be with him in heaven.

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Far more important than desiring an earthly peace like Xavier, we desire an eternal peace which God promises us in heaven. The X-Men stories ultimately promote earthly peace. The main emphasis is about humans and mutants living together in this world. The focus is not on an eternal life and I wouldn’t expect it to be since the movies are not promoting the Christian faith. If mutants were real, it would be because God allowed it. The reason that Christians have heaven is because it is part of God’s plan. He used his power to accomplish salvation for his believers.

X-Men History

Days of Future Past was an intriguing story that came out in the 1980’s. The 2014 movie did a good jobDays of future past comic of bringing the story to life in a new way. There are some big differences between comic book and movie but that is fairly normal when it comes to comic book movies. I think the story raises some interesting questions about time-travel and even technology. Could the past be changed? Is the future set? Could machines eventually subjugate humans? If a person believes in evolution, would it be within the realm of possibility that robots are the next step in evolution? Personally I don’t think God would allow that but it is an interesting topic. The idea of robots ruling over humans is one that has been seen in many other movies and stories besides just X-Men comics.

I am a Lutheran pastor who is currently serving at Trinity in Belle Plaine, MN. My wife is Megan and my daughter is Elizabeth "Libby". I have two dogs (Labradors) - Samson and Charlie. In my spare time, I train for and run in marathons, I cheer for the Green Bay Packers, and I love the Comic Book genre of entertainment.

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