Marvel has undoubtedly catered to a broader audience base and has received mixed reviews over the years regarding their plots and characters. While most Marvel superheroes and villains have received appreciation, the X-Men has surprisingly received more scrutiny and criticism, perhaps because of their mutant nature.
Among the X-Men, Morph has been one mutant who was subject to extreme mockery and criticism, especially because of his sexuality revealed in Uncanny X-Men: #14. Coming out as homosexual, the character received backlash from bigots and conservative readers. But with Stan Lee to his rescue, the late creator stood by Morph and revealed his real reason behind creating the X-Men.
Morph Faced Intense Backlash For His Sexuality
The mutant superhero Morph, who was initially introduced as a resident of Earth-1081 sparked headlines after he came out of the closet in 2013. With his ability to alter his appearance and flawlessly transform himself to appear as humans and animals, Morph, who joined the X-Men at some point, came out as homosexual in Uncanny X-Men: #14.
Ever since then, conservative readers and bigots have been attacking Marvel for introducing a gay superhero. The whole situation was flawlessly presented in the 2013 issue of X-Men #14 which offered a powerful argument for the importance of representing marginalized identities. But somehow people weren’t happy about Morph coming out of the closet.
Therefore, despite the character being a member of the X-Men and a close friend of Wolverine, people failed to accept him for his sexuality. That’s when Stan Lee came forward to take his stand, extend his support for Morph and reveal his real reason behind creating the X-Men.
Stan Lee Revealed the Real Reason Behind Creating X-Men
Following Morph’s sexuality reveal in the 2013 issue of Uncanny X-Men: #14, Stan Lee opened up about why he first launched the Marvel Comics title. The former Marvel president noted that the whole point of creating the X-Men was to offer an “anti-bigotry” message and a celebration of diversity and inclusiveness.
During a Fandomfest in Louisville, Kentucky, Stan Lee initially began by addressing the suggestion of Spider-Man being bisexual. Thereafter he went around joking with the audience and making clear his views on bigotry. As reported by Comicbook.com, Lee further revealed the intention behind the variety of diverse characters in X-Men.
“If you think it’s good, I did it intentional. I wanted them to be diverse. The whole underlying principle of the X-Men was to try to be an anti-bigotry story to show there’s good in every person.”
Receiving a big round of applause from the audience, Stan Lee indirectly addressed the importance of representing marginalized identities, like that of Morph. Especially after his character received backlash, Lee revealed that he created the X-Men and turned Morph into one because people still marginalize sexuality like mutants.
X-Men ‘97 Making Changes to Morph’s Sexuality
After Stan Lee stood firmly on his views against bigotry and noted the reason behind the creation of the X-Men, a lot has happened. Although Morph didn’t receive much attention afterward, he is now becoming the center of the spotlight. With Marvel reviving the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series, which first introduced Morph, fans can expect him onscreen once again, but this time with a few worthy changes.
According to a new preview from Empire Magazine via X-Men Updates, it was noted that the shapeshifting mutant Morph, who in the comics is known as Kevin Syndey aka Changeling, will now identify as non-binary in the new show. Although previously the codename Changeling was tweaked to Morph in order to avoid an alleged copyright concern with DC Comics, the character will now return to pick up its legacy in X-Men ‘97.
