Marvel’s Inhumans Pay a Dark Price for Being More Powerful Than Mutants

The Inhumans and the mutants of the X-Men are often compared and contrasted with one another in Marvel Comics, but the former’s power over the latter comes at a terrible price. Both Inhumans and mutants are marginalized groups who are mistreated and even persecuted simply by the nature of their genes, and are oftentimes feared by humanity. But while the Inhumans and X-Men can appear to have similar powers, the Inhumans are generally superior…but the power comes with a massive price that none of the X-Men have to pay.

In 1963, Stan Lee was running out of ideas for the methods of granting superpowers to new characters. He couldn’t simply use cosmic rays (the Fantastic Four) and radioactive spiders (Spider-Man) for everyone, so he learned about the concept of mutation: a completely random and spontaneous alteration of a biological creature’s DNA that would lead to a change within the individual of the species. Suddenly, Lee had a catch-all explanation for superpowers, and he didn’t have to create any convoluted stories about gamma bombs or particles based on pseudoscience; the X-Men franchise was summarily created that year.

By contrast, the Inhumans did have a convoluted backstory: they were the result of Kree experimentations on humans to create a race of soldiers to be used in their never-ending war against the Skrulls. Inhumans obtain their powers by going through Terrigenesis: a process in which the Inhuman is exposed to the Terrigen Mists, activating or unlocking their powers. But while some characters like Crystal or Medusa have powers that are ultimately beneficial, others live a cursed existence.

Perhaps no one Inhuman knows this more than Eldrac, best described as a living door. Once exposed to the Terrigen Mists, Eldrac’s otherwise human body was transformed into a living portal that can transport all Inhumans who walk through his mouth. This transformation is permanent and Eldrac cannot move, his fate forever tied to Attilan itself. Black Bolt’s sound-based power, as powerful as it is, means he can no longer speak or even whisper, lest he destroy an entire city accidentally. There are others still who expose themselves to the Terrigen Mists only to disappear outright; these Inhumans don’t even survive obtaining their powers.

By and large, mutants will not die when their powers activate (some, like Chamber of the New Mutants, may suffer injuries initially but their powers make up for the loss in other ways). But their phenomenal powers come with the risk that they could be immobilized or even vanish without a trace. The X-Men survive their abilities, but the Inhumans risk their lives every time they step into the Terrigen Mists.