As a neurodivergent child born in the mid-90s, Tré later identified with Jubilee in the 1992 television show X-Men: The Animated Series, who too was shunned by those around her.

Through characters like Jubilee, audiences can see these are young adult stories that centre children, young people, and their adult mentors victimised by a system that discriminates based on genetics. And through mutant metaphors on page and screen the X-Men stories have been social commentaries of discrimination, violence, and identity since their inception in 1963.

In this lecture, historian and sociologist Tré Ventour-Griffiths will discuss Marvel’s X-Men as a neurodivergent cultural text via its united themes including crises of identity and discrimination.

The neurotypes considered as 'divergences' from the apparent default, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and so forth, may be seen as genetic variants: a stark parallel between the lives of those who they called ‘The Mutants’ and neurodivergent people now.

Are neurodivergent people superpowered, or like Armando Muñoz (codename Darwin), do they adapt to survive?

Claims to superpowers oversimplify the narrative and ‘able-wash’ neurodivergent lived experience including trauma and abuse. If we tear away the veil, stories of The Mutants can teach us lots about ableism and pride, as the line between abled supremacy and survival is violent in all worlds.

Brighton and Sussex Medical School and the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sussex are excited to co-host this very special in-person guest lecture from Tré Ventour.

This is a free event and open to staff, students and members of the public.

The in-person talk takes place in the Chowen Lecture Theatre in the Medical Teaching Building on the University of Sussex campus, Falmer: Tuesday 16 May, 2:30-3:30pm – with 30 minutes of Q&A with Tré from 3:30-4pm for those who can stay on after the talk.

Please register on Eventbrite now to guarantee your place.

The Metahuman Antithesis: Parables of Neurodivergence in Marvel's X-Men