What makes X-Men so gay?
Thanks to Manta Sleep for sponsoring this video! Use code MATTNAP10 to get 10% off a Manta Sleep mask: https://tinyurl.com/42us5ab4
From the earliest issues, the X-men comics used subtle subtext to comment on the way society treats outcasts. But when it came time to make a movie in the early 2000s, filmmakers set a seemingly impossible goal — to make a direct comparison to gay rights, to tell a story about what happens when the government targets minorities, and to ask the question: In the face of bigotry, is it better to respond with compromise, like Professor X? Or with violence, like Magneto? This is the story of the original X-Men films, the twenty-year struggle to make them, and why they are so very gay.
Join me on Patreon for bonus videos about the making of the X-Men: https://www.patreon.com/c/mattbaume
Watch the full conversation with Anthony Oliveira: https://youtu.be/vBKeVctu-PM
Watch the full conversation with JP Karliak: https://youtu.be/xkjMkk5wARM
Listen to Anthony and JP on my podcast, The Sewers of Paris: https://sewersofparis.com/
Thanks to Emma from @mediaprocessingchannel for the edit on this video!
@enbygamer
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
36:40 Not to mention that the people arrested by the Nazis because of their homosexuality were among the only ones to stay in prisons after the end of WW2 (at least in West Germany).
@Tinœud
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
J'ai découvert la bonne vidéo grâce à l'annonce dans le Fugues. Bien fait !
@JayTheMutantAtTable12
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Trans Man here
HUGE X-Men fan ever since I could remember
@MotherOfFuzzbutts
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
@20:43 – Today, I learned the correct way to say Dougray Scott's first name and that he was in something other than Ever After 😅
@korneliak1629
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Who who (i am spreading the owl infection that turns Humans in to. owls when you are infected you say who who join us or die)
@nachannel6
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
0:40 well of course, Karen, you have right to be an a*hole, but others have right to tell you that you are a narrow minded unf*ble a*hole and gtfo with your bigotry. The nerve of these holier than thou people, the sanctimonious pompous self-righteousness… Christian virtues are supposed to be kindness and humility, Karen
@ShaneFalko
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
The way i had no clue the xmen movies were a queer allegory made by queer people. I’d heard about the civil rights allegory of the comics, but nothing about the intent behind the films. Fantastic journalism with this video, mate.
@NightcrawlersFuzzyBlueTail
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
I know in the comics Nightcrawler has had women love interests, but idk I still like to think of him as gay, especially with the angle of someone being so devoutly Catholic and also there being queer people who have mannerisms that may not match traditional masculinity or femininity that might not be as easy to "hide". Just a lot of facets to his character that are super queer coded other than his blatant mutation. Also I hella ship him with Wolverine.
@ememem2952
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
i think espiecally now it is so easy to make connections with the West's treatment of trans people and the x-men movies, like they still hold up today
@pymn9362
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
I love your videos but the lack of acknowledgment of disabled people when discussing a eugenics allegory is embarrassing
@elibeckham7711
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
It will never stop hurting my soul how dirty Steven Spielberg did my boy Howard the duck😢 he is the best marvel character, and I have devoted my life to collecting all of his issues. Please give us a good adaptation of Howard for the screen
@silascaceres4060
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
❌️✊🏻"Mutant and proud!"✊🏻❌️
@Shadow_Solace15
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
I hate how I am legit tearing up watching this until I remember that I am a bisexual teen girl who has always felt different/ outcasted because of who I am and how different my interests have always been
@man.actual
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
17:27 highly recommend you look into metal gear solid’s queer representation too, it’s kinda complicated
@aaronfagerstrom34
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Why do you care this much?
@lilsoggins
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
In X2 the actor for Nightcrawler was really pleased to know the subtext was heavily about queer relationships with society and even other queer people. I forgot his name I know I should remember lol
@LiberatorForever
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
If that world was here and now, I would be in the Brotherhood fighting for mutant rights and freedoms
#MutantFreedomNow
@n0va_da_m4gicalgirl
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
this video actually helped me understand the "magneto was right" argument. it's not that his approach was fundamentally flawless and absolutely what should have been done, but that he correctly predicted the direction in which the humans would go to oppress mutants and had several counteracts which he could have taken ready, unlike charles. (and quite frankly, he is a much more morally grey character than typically presented, because he needs to pose a major threat in the viewers' eyes, so he considers mutants above humans.)
@bbokc6942
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Team magneto here.
@teletubbie-chan9061
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
They’re so gay because they’re the superior homos 😏
@SquekretGenius420
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
What did you just call me…
@habibikebabthe4th868
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Great vid but a couple massive mistakes. 1 Stan Lee making the X-Men about civil rights is a retcon. Stan is a notorious bullshitter. 2 leaving out Jack Kirby as the main influence
@Omgitslowki
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
the Xmen were a mirror for race civil rights. your entire thesis is incorrect
@arachnon4785
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
I mean the beauty of the xmen is no matter what the social issue is it feels related. Stan was genius in the way it was portrayed it didnt matter it was relatable through decades and different social issues people could relate
@maxxvii2037
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Chris Claremont is the Goat. Not only he revitalized the X-Men, but revolutionized the comic industry as a whole
@Iselihome143
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
it’s crazy watching this video now with the state of the us right now. i felt like magneto shouting into a void of clear pattern and signs of where things are leading. this whole election i said constantly “he’s using tactics like lower grocery prizes” and “targeting immigrant criminals” spreading g fear to seize power. now we have latinos and people of color being just people living their lives are not criminals being brutally “detained” in “detention facilities” being actively built all over the country and people are basically “disappearing” and never being heard from again. this is why these type of stories being told to larger audiences is important because people still ignore signs of people trying to live their lives being their own daily hero and yet they’re being singled out, wrongly criminalized and targeted. thank you for this informative and excellently explained important topic of discussion.
@Iselihome143
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
21:16 waaaaah i’m poor i wanna see that bounce vid 😭
@DogMA-d1t
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Like suck bryan
@DogMA-d1t
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Tank girl was awesome
@DogMA-d1t
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
We need carmella!!!😊
@DogMA-d1t
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Why i would never believe stan Lee was capable of creating x men idk maybe because its based on blks
@TKimChen
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Oh everything
@lexer13
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
It’s not JUST gay that’s just the lens you want to see it through, which is fine. X-Men is for all outsiders.
@alexlynn7517
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
aren't you amazed that the history repeats itself again and again?
@doggowar
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Len Wein Is responsible for the resurrected X-Men run, not Claremont…
@TheSuzberry
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
I’m watching this in February 2026 from the United States, where people of color are being rounded up and put into concentration camps.
@KlaraL-_-
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
This was such an interesting video!
@williamswonderland3636
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
My favorite marvel character made herself a mutant and then came out as aro ace Gwen poole thats my queen
@michaeldenney6622
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
love this bideo matt
@michaeldenney6622
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
i m not sure where to drop this or if youlleven be interested im agobig exorcist fan its not justfor halloweeafterwatching the film so many times i put some puzzle pieces together but maybe im stretching the older intrusive detectiveafter seeing chris mcmeill speaking to damianhe finds the father running on the trackthe what i think is ablaent inqiry for adate the detective says he loves movies but the best part is talking about it after saying his wife doesnt have the aptitude then asking damian if he wants to catch a movie sometime theres a little dialogue the detective tells damian he could pass for areal fighterdamian questions like john garfield in body and soul?the detective sreplies he was thinking moressl mineo there doesnt seem to be malice behind but to me the detective called damian gaythat in conjunction with asking damien out to a movie seems like one aspect of the etrrnally disected film that has been overlooked thank you for your patience and time
@tayzer2019
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
Top 10 thumbnails oat
@kx4532
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
It's because of Gene Gay
@aazhie
May 23, 2026 at 5:27 am
I just finished watching a little short on Grace Jones. Storm and Grace could definitely work together in awesome ways 🙂
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