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  • - Well, if isn't Tony Stark messing everything up,

  • it's the X-Men, with all their time-hopping,

  • body-switching, reality-altering and X's.

  • Hey, everyone, I'm DK, and this is Alter Ego,

  • the show that strives to take a deeper look

  • at some of our favorite names in comics.

  • Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters hosts

  • one of Marvel's premier super teams, the X-Men.

  • But despite what you may think,

  • this name is not an ego booster for Mr. Charles Xavier.

  • Not for the first time nor the last time

  • Sheldon from Big Bang Theory is wrong about something.

  • - I guess I was wrong.

  • - X-Men first appeared in September of 1963

  • and were created by, of course, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

  • And as a side note, Stan Lee has said in many interviews

  • that the comic was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement

  • that was taking place and sought to enlighten everyone

  • to the acceptance of all people,

  • with Professor X being more

  • of a Martin Luther King, Jr. figure,

  • and Magneto more of a Malcolm X,

  • but this has no actual solid basis.

  • In fact, this statement was not made definitively

  • until Chris Claremont had stated his inspirations

  • after taking over the title.

  • The starting lineup consists of a small group

  • of teenage heroes led by Professor X himself.

  • There was Cyclops, Scott Summers,

  • Marvel Girl, Jean Grey, later to be known as Phoenix,

  • Angel, Warren Worthington III, later Archangel,

  • Beast, Hank McCoy, and Iceman, himself, Mr. Bobby Drake.

  • Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had wanted to create

  • another group of heroes after the Fantastic Four

  • and decided that, as he put it,

  • "I couldn't have everybody bitten by a radioactive spider

  • "or exposed to a gamma ray explosion,

  • "and I took the cowardly way out.

  • "I said to myself, 'Why don't I just say they're mutants?'

  • "'They were born that way.'"

  • And to that end, when they were

  • deciding on a name for the team,

  • they came up with the perfect one,

  • the Mutants, but that's not their name.

  • Marvel publisher and founder of the company,

  • Martin Goodman, made sure of that.

  • He was worried that no one would know what a mutant was,

  • so the most logical name was a no go.

  • The brains behind the comics

  • decided to go with X-Men,

  • which is not a self-aggrandization for Professor X.

  • In modern times, it relates to the X gene,

  • the mutant making gene, the gene responsible

  • for the difference between Homo sapiens and Homo superior,

  • the gene which grants the mutants their powers.

  • And since the X-Men are a team of mutants,

  • it only makes sense that their group is named

  • after the very thing that makes them who they are.

  • But it wasn't always this way.

  • No, see, that would make too much sense.

  • This is comics; things are rarely that coherent.

  • In fact, the X in X-Men originally

  • stood for something much simpler.

  • Let's read how Professor Xavier

  • explains it to Jean Grey in X-Men number one.

  • "You, Miss Grey, like the other four students

  • "at this most exclusive school, are a mutant.

  • "You possess an extra power,

  • "one which ordinary humans do not.

  • "That is why I call my students X-Men, for extra power."

  • Yep, that's right.

  • X stands for "extra," or more specifically, "extra power."

  • The Extra Power Men, running around

  • in their extra power jets with their extra power powers.

  • The gene thing was added later,

  • but that is the long and short of it.

  • It's uncanny how extraordinary the X-Men are,

  • wouldn't you say?

  • I don't even feel bad; I think it's funny.

  • So what did you think the X in X-Men stood for?

  • Who is your favorite X-Man?

  • And how do you feel about the title, "The Mutants"?

  • Let's talk about it all in the comments.

  • Hey, if you happened to dig this show,

  • go ahead and click on this video right here

  • to check out some more of the show.

  • It's good, I know I'm not Scott but it's good.

  • You should watch it.

  • And if you didn't catch all of our videos for X-Men week,

  • click right here to get a playlist of all of them.

  • There's even one on Nightcrawler, he's one of my favorites.

  • I love that fuzzy blue elf.

  • And hey, if this is your first time

  • joining us here at NerdSync,

  • we publish new videos every week,

  • so make sure to slap that subscribe button

  • so you don't miss a thing while we explore

  • the art, history, science, and names

  • behind our favorite comics.

  • Once again, guys, this is DK, and I want to say

  • thank you for joining us here on Alter Ego

  • and remember to always read between the panels

  • and grow smarter through comics.

  • See you next time.

- Well, if isn't Tony Stark messing everything up,

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