TheX-Menis not only one of the most important titles in the history of Marvel Comics, or comic books in general for that matter, but it has become one of the biggest film franchises in history over the years. Stan Lee, as is the case with so many characters, was responsible for co-creating the classic Marvel mutant team. But it turns out that ifStan Leehad his way, theX-Menwould have been called something completely different.
As reported byComicbook.com, Stan Lee recently attended Wizard World Nashville and, as he regularly does, he entertained the crowd with stories from his long career. At one point, he was talking about creating theX-Menand revealed that he originally wanted to call themThe Mutants. However,Marvel’s publisherat the time, Marvin Goodman, shot that down. Here’s what Stan Lee had to say about it.
“I wanted originally to call them The Mutants and he said, ‘you can’t call them The Mutants’ and I said, ‘why not?’ He said, ‘our readers, they aren’t that smart.’ He had no respect for comic book readers. He said, ‘they won’t know what a mutant is.’ Well, I disagreed with him, but he was the boss so I had to think of another name. So, I went home and I thought and thought and I came up with the X-Men and I mentioned it to him the next day and he said, ‘that’s okay’ and as I walked out of his office I thought, that was very peculiar. If nobody would know what a mutant is how will anybody know what an X-Man is? But he had okayed the name and I used it.”
The Mutants, considering that the central characters in theX-Menare all mutants, would have been a fitting name for the book. However, Marvin Goodman felt differently. So, we know Cyclops,Professor X, Wolverine and the gang as theX-Meninstead. In case you aren’t familiar, Marvin Goodman is a very important figure in the history of comics. He started Timely Comics in 1939, which was rebranded as Marvel Comics in 1961. That is where Stan Lee Got his start and eventually became president of the company after Marvin’s son Chip briefly took over in 1972. Lee also joked at the panel that he didn’t feel Goodman was “very smart.”
“I can say that now because I’m not working for him anymore.”
Who knows what would have happened if Stan Lee had his way with theX-Menand titled itThe Mutants? Would it still be what we all know and love today? The firstX-Menmovie helped usher in the modern age of comic book movies as we know it, which is a huge deal. Not to mention that on the comic book side of things, theX-Menhas given us some of the greatest stories ever told. Maybe that wouldn’t have happened if the title were different. It’s impossible to say, but this is definitely an interesting bit of history from Stan the man.
