Spike Lee expressed interest in one day directing a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While he's not actively seeking a Marvel directorial role, if the right film comes along, he could do a really good job with it. Fans will naturally speculate what film Lee would be best suited for, and given his cinematic lens, Lee might be the best choice for the MCU's try at X-Men.

What Is a Spike Lee Film?

When looking at Lee's filmography, it's apparent that Lee uses his films as vehicles to discuss political matters he feels strongly about. Da 5 Bloods and BlacKkKlansman are two recent examples of this, but going further back into his older films, like 25th Hour, Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, Lee works best when his political viewpoints intermingle with his filmmaking.

In particular, Lee is focused on examining matters pertaining to racial inequality. This includes overt racism and the complexities of the Civil Rights movement, but it also deals with matters such as colorism, urban poverty and how the media influences the public's perspective of race relations. BlacKkKlansman in particular has multiple sequences where the film examines the role media plays in substantiating racist beliefs in America. This is not to say that all of Lee's films are overtly political, but politics influence all of his films. For instance, when Lee remade Oldboy and Ganja and Hess -- retitled Da Sweet Blood of Jesus -- Lee incorporated his political worldview into these genre films, like he could do with X-Men.

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How Does Lee's Political Worldview Fit the X-Men?

God-loves-man-kills - Bigotry Aimed At Nightcrawler

The X-Men have always been a metaphor for oppressed people, and different storytellers have brought different spins on this general message. Sometimes the X-Men are a metaphor for a specific social group's particular issues -- such as those relating to racial groups or the LGBTQ community. Other times, the issues discussed are more specific. For instance, the comics ponder if it's positive for a discriminated group to fit into society and if this integration is even possible. X-Men also explores how mutants who pass as normal differ from those who don't. Furthermore, it addresses how intersectional bigotry plays a role in mutant society.

While other filmmakers deal with bigotry in a general sort of way, Lee's films often show the multifaceted elements of bigotry and hate. A great example of this is in BlacKkKlansman, where just about every character has a different view of racial discrimination. Ron Stallworth, a Black cop, helps play the racist stereotypes the Klan believes in against them; meanwhile, many white cops react to the Klan in a more sympathetic way. Furthermore, while Stallworth thinks he can fix the system from within, other Black characters react negatively to this. All of this shows how bigotry is far more complex than most films make it out to be, but Lee has been able to explore the layers of prejudice in a successful way.

The Nuances of Bigotry in X-Men

Magneto (Ian McKellen) from X-Men

Lee's worldview, based on his films, is that all matters of bigotry affect people differently. The X-Men films, on the other hand, had sides drawn in the sand. Individuals had unique opinions, but the majority of characters fell into three belief systems: mutants are bad, mutants can co-exist or mutants should rule, but Lee could show how it's not so black or white, especially when it comes to Magneto.

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Magneto, as stated by Stan Lee, was never "100 percent bad." He's a nuanced characters who sees how broken the system is, especially in regards to those who're mutants. There's also been comparisons made between this character and a real life historical figure who cannot be boiled down to a black and white depiction, Malcom X, who Lee directed a biopic about. With this experience, Lee could create an iteration of Magneto who audiences empathize with on an intimate level, like he did with Malcom X.

He'd especially be able to examine the more "well-intentioned" bigotry that is often harder to portray in a narrative, where a human almost fetishizes the existence of the oppressed class. This sort of bigotry is still bigotry, yet it is underrepresented in films, including the X-Men franchise, with Ichiro Yashida being an exception. Lee could examine humanity's unhealthy fascination with mutants and how it harms them.

Intersectionality and the X-Men

X-Men Storm

Most interesting of all would be how Lee examines intersectional bigotry through the X-Men. Intersectional bigotry is when a person deals with multiple forms of bigotry simultaneously -- sometimes from within other minority groups. This is a real issue, so if you add mutations to the mix, that adds a whole new layer that affects the other circles. This is seen on occasion in the X-Men comics, but rarely in their films.

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To date, the films have primarily examined bigotry through the lens of mutant-kind, with Magneto being the exception as a Jewish Holocaust survivor. Aside from this, the film don't scrutinize how people might face bigotry beyond their mutant identity. Black mutants, like Storm, aren't seen dealing with racism, and Jewish mutants outside Magneto, like Kitty Pryde, aren't seen dealing with antisemitism. While X2 includes a scene where Iceman comes out as a mutant, which feels reminiscent of an LGBTQ person coming out, the films miss the opportunity to examine what it'd actually be like to be queer and a mutant.

For a series dealing with the global spread of mutation, it's remarkable how concentrated the films are in American and Canadian culture, and it isn't until The Wolverine that fans see how cultures outside of this continent regard mutation. Even then, it often excludes other forms of bigotry mutants could experience because of the other parts of their identity.

Lee demonstrates in his films how cultures intersect and how each culture and subculture bring their personal bigotries into matters of great importance, something the X-Men films could benefit from. Lee is a fantastic director and could do a fantastic X-Men film. However, what he could bring the most to X-Men is that intersectional lens that can make it truly profound in ways no other film has done before.

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