The X-Men, I did the natural thing there. I said to myself, 'Why don't I just say they're mutants? They are born that way. In 2004, Lee recalled, "I couldn't have everybody bitten by a radioactive spider or exposed to a gamma ray explosion. In 1963, with the success of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four, co-creator Stan Lee wanted to create another group of superheroes but did not want to have to explain how they got their powers. The X-Men have been also adapted to a number of television shows, films, and video games. The X-Men's archenemy is Magneto, a mutant with magnetic abilities who leads a mutant supremacist group known as the Brotherhood of Mutants. Professor X runs a school for mutant children out of his mansion in Westchester, New York, which secretly is also the headquarters of the X-Men. They are led by Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, a powerful telepath. The X-Men are a paramilitary group of mutants that fights for peace and equality between normal humans and mutants.
In the Marvel Universe, mutants are humans who are born with natural superhuman abilities, and most normal humans fear and hate them.
The series' creator and fans have suspected that Marvel Comics copied the basic concept of Doom Patrol, from DC Comics to create the X-Men, which debuted a few months later, but other fans also speculate that they share similarities with another Marvel superhero team, the Fantastic Four. Created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee, the characters first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963) and formed one of the most recognizable and successful franchises of Marvel Comics, appearing in numerous books, television shows, films, and video games. The X-Men are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester County, New York (historically) Variant cover of X-Men Legacy #275 (December 2012) by Mark Brooks depicting Rogue, Wolverine, Cyclops, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat (with her dragon Lockheed), Pixie, Storm, Angel, Cannonball, Emma Frost, Rachel Summers, Hope Summers, Magneto, Psylocke, Beast, Colossus, Magik, Gambit and Iceman, Doop