WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dark Phoenix, in theaters now.

For decades, the X-Men defended a world that hated and feared them, in the hopes that one day, mutants and humans could coexist peacefully. Constantly facing adversity is one of the major mainstays of the franchise in every iteration. However, by the events of Dark Phoenix, the X-Men are revered for years of heroic acts, including saving the world from Apocalypse. They receive congratulatory calls from the president of the United States, appear on magazine covers and make public appearances. The mutants are now a far cry from being actively hunted by the government.

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The drastic shift in how the X-Men are perceived in-universe could be a jarring one for fans accustomed to seeing mutants persecuted by a world that hates and fears them, but this global celebrity status isn't without precedent in the source material. There have been several notable instances where the X-Men have overcome years of stigmatization to become superstars, celebrated among Earth's greatest heroes.

Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, concurrently with Pete Milligan's X-Statix, had the X-Men largely celebrated by the general public after years of defending the world from the Brotherhood of Mutants, Apocalypse and Minister Sinister. Professor X and the X-Men regularly appear at public events, advocating greater mutant equality, conduct televised interviews and are even tasked to broker peace between humanity and more radicalized, extreme mutant factions that carry out terrorist activities around the globe.

The most visibly comparative example, though, is Mark Millar's run on Ultimate X-Men, redefining the franchise for a 21st-century audience in Marvel's Ultimate imprint. After stopping Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants from using rewired Sentinels to conquer the planet in revenge for the destruction of Genosha, the X-Men become overnight celebrities.

They appear regularly on late-night talk shows, adorn the covers of magazine, receive action figures based on their likenesses, and even star in edited home videos of their adventures. Within the Ultimate Universe, the X-Men found their way into virtually media platform possible in Millar's sly, metatextual wink to the franchise's enduring appeal.

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Of course, the X-Men can never seem to maintain the adoration for long; every incoming writer seems to want to restore the franchise's status quo of having mutants perceived as a threat. As soon as the X-Men are involved in an incident involving an especially destructive mutant, they are immediately blamed for not keeping their species in order and become social pariahs once more.

Dark Phoenix New X-Men Costumes

Dark Phoenix is no different in that regard, with the X-Men blamed for an out of control Jean Grey after she unleashes her powers and kills several police officers in the film. With the X-Men failing to bring in one of their own to answer for her actions, the federal government begins to hunt the Brotherhood and X-Men alike in their efforts to bring Jean into custody, while treating her fellow mutants as accomplices and accessories in her crimes.

Despite its sci-fi leanings, the climactic final battle has a relatively grounded premise, starting with the X-Men and Brotherhood under federal custody on a military prison train -- once again persecuted by an untrusting government.

The X-Men have always faced a world adverse to their existence but their repeated acts of heroism usually led to fleeting moments of praise and celebrity by the general public. The comics will likely continue to keep delving into that strange social dichotomy before and, now, it has been replicated cinematically.

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As with fame in the real world, the public seems to only have a memory that stretches as far back as the last headline. On both page and screen, the X-Men all too quickly experience the ephemeral nature of celebrity, often with devastating consequences.

Directed and written by Simon Kinberg, Dark Phoenix stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters and Jessica Chastain.