What's the difference between Inhumans and mutants? In Marvel Comics, both groups have long histories. The lesser-known Inhumans have appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and in a short-lived TV series of their own that many saw as an inferior version of the X-Men.
On-screen, mutants were long the property of Fox, and therefore off-limits in the MCU. With the acquisition of Fox by Disney in 2019, the MCU now has the potential for using both sets of more-than-human superheroes in future film and TV projects. While it seems that mutants will hit the MCU in force long before the Inhumans do, the two groups are both very distinctly present in the pages of Marvel comics.
Updated September 3, 2022 by Peter Eckhardt: Since the Krakoan Era, Marvel's mutant property has expanded in major ways. With a whole new mutant society a critical part of the Marvel paradigm, we've altered this article to reflect this massive expansion.
Inhumans Gain Their Powers As A Societal Rite
While both Inhumans and mutants essentially begin as normal humans, just how they come into their meta-human abilities is different. With Inhumans, it all begins with Terrigen, a rare mineral. When exposed to water at the right temperature, the Terrigen Mists are created.
When inhaled by Inhumans, the Terrigen Mists activate special Inhuman genes in a process is known as terrigenesis. This process is a key aspect of Inhuman culture and Inhumans generally go through this process when they are teenagers. The powers that come from this can result in a variety of powers ranging from energy projection to full-body transformation.
Mutant Powers Activate In Times Of Stress
Unlike the Inhumans, mutants do not intentionally trigger their own powers. Mutant powers generally activate in times of intense stress or emotion, such as when Colossus suddenly gained his organic steel form to save his sister from a runaway tractor. Other times, mutants are born with their powers active, as was the case with Nightcrawler.
Like the Inhumans, mutant powers are triggered by a certain gene. The X-Gene might manifest in a variety of ways and can be carried by any baseline human. While the activation of mutant powers is rarely met with celebration in human society, it is the key to entry into Krakoan society.
The Inhumans Have A Secretive, Hierarchical Social Structure
For as long as they have been published, the Inhumans have been portrayed as a secret society. A culture based on hierarchy, the Royal Family of the Inhumans are often the primary characters of Inhumans stories. Based in the hidden kingdom Attilan in the Blue Area of the Moon, Inhumans generally keep to themselves.
Inhuman society is rigid in its caste system. Once an individual's powers manifest, they become a member of a certain cast and remain so until their death. Lowest in this system are the Alpha Primitives, a group generally used as slaves for the rest of Inhuman society.
Mutant Society Is Insular But Inclusive
For the majority of their existence on Earth, mutants have been a disconnected diaspora. However, this changed when Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert came together to found the mutant island nation of Krakoa. Since then, mutantdom has been linked in an equalizing, celebratory culture.
Mutant society on Krakoa generally is egalitarian, though the island is governed by the Quiet Council and becomes much more hierarchical in times of war. When a mutant's power becomes activated, they become able to pass through Krakoan gates, portals that dot Earth's Solar System and lead to the mutant homeland. Mutant society is based around three rules: make more mutants, murder no man, and respect this sacred land (Krakoa).
Inhumans Have Cosmic Origins
Inhumans are a by-product of meddling with early Homo Sapiens. A million years ago, the Celestials gave humans genetic gifts, which the Kree meddled with several hundred years ago. This Kree experimentation led to the creation of the Inhumans and links the group to a greater cosmic destiny.
The Kree creation of the Inhumans has repeatedly come up in the modern era, with Ronan the Accuser first enthralling their society to help overthrow the Shi'ar control of Kree society. After winning his people's freedom, Black Bolt later turned Attilan into a giant spaceship and began a partial conquest of the galaxy, though they ultimately returned to Earth.
Mutants Have Only Grown In Cosmic Importance
While the Inhumans have been cosmic from the very beginning, the mutant relationship with cosmic Marvel is a more recent development. The true importance of outer space to the X-Men began with writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne's "Phoenix Saga," which saw team member Jean Grey become connected with the intergalactic Phoenix Force.
The mutants of Earth have also seen conflict with many outer space races, such as the powerful Shi'ar Empire and the parasitic Brood. More recently, the rulers of Krakoa have terraformed Mars and placed it under mutant rule. Currently, Storm sits as Regent of the Solar System.
Inhumans Are Generally Accepted By Earth's Populace
While Inhuman society was secretive for many years, the group became known to the larger Marvel Universe in the pages of Fantastic Four #44 by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. After the FF battled Royal Family member Gorgon, they met the larger society in #45 and, following a conflict, became allies with the group.
Since then, the Inhumans have allied with various super-teams and been recognized by a variety of Earth governments. Generally, the Inhumans have been accepted by the populace of Earth. The group's biggest conflict came in the pages of Inhumans Vs. X-Men, when the Terrigen Cloud threatened to eradicate mutant life on Earth.
Mutants Are Typically Hated And Feared
Often written as an allegory for those outcast by society, mutants in the Marvel Universe are generally persecuted by society. Historically, Marvel's mutant characters have been beaten, slandered, and even executed en masse for their X-Gene. Mutants often formed small communities of their own like the Morlocks or X-Men to escape this prejudice.
With the dawn of the Krakoan Era, mutant perception and position in global society has changed. The island nation exports life-giving products to predominantly-human countries on the conditions of mutant acceptance and Krakoan recognition. Still, prejudice nips at the heels of mutantkind as groups like Orchis seek their extermination.
The Inhumans Are Generally On The Side
In the larger context of the Marvel Universe, the Inhumans have not generally been all that important. Their biggest bump came in the mid-2010s, when Marvel began introducing a new era of Inhuman characters to make the franchise a more viable alternative for the then-unavailable X-Men franchise.
Aside from their 2017 TV series, the Inhumans have yet to headline a big-budget endeavor. However, they remain a key side part of the Marvel Universe, consistently appearing in video games, animation, and crossover events in the MU. Most recently, Black Bolt appeared in the MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The X-Men Are One Of Marvel's Biggest Franchises
While the X-Men got a slow start in the Silver Age of Comics, their relaunch in 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1 (written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Dave Cockrum) sent Marvel's Merry Mutants on a path to super-stardom. Since then, the concept of mutants has been crucial to the fabric of the greater Marvel Universe.Outside of their importance in-universe, the X-Men have been critical to the concept of superheroes in general.
The Mutant Massacre was the first single-franchise-centered crossover, while the 1992 TV series was a blockbuster cartoon. Finally, the X-Men movies began the modern superhero movie era that so many enjoy today.