'The Gifted' Showrunner On What Happened To The X-Men

In the world of The Gifted, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants are both missing, but they did not go quietly.

According to the creator and showrunner of The Gifted, Matt Nix, the X-Men and Brotherhood disappeared after a world-changing event.

"The X-Men are gone," Nix told CBR. "The Brotherhood is gone. Most of the powerful classic mutants are not around. People don't know where they've gone. They are shrouded in mystery. It comes out gradually over the course of the series that there's been a cataclysmic event, a bit of a 9/11 event, that caused enormous social upheaval and a lot of hatred towards mutants. It's somehow related to the disappearance of the X-Men and the Brotherhood."

In addition to the X-Men and the Brotherhood disappearing, the event also led to the harsh anti-mutant laws that have caused many mutants to go on the run, and the formation of the mutant underground to help them.

"They are working to deal with the results of this society-wide crackdown on mutants," Nix said. "They are trying to get mutants in trouble to safety. It's not illegal to be a mutant, but it's functionally illegal to use your powers in a public place in any way that could conceivably endanger anyone. So, The Gifted is another way into those classic questions of the X-Men. This group is asking itself a lot of the same questions that have been asked in the comics and the movies, but they are asking them from a unique perspective. They don't have a mansion. They don't have a jet. They are living in a ruined bank that is falling down and rests on the outskirts of Atlanta. They don't have anything, including money. They are struggling to buy food. It's a very different take on the comics, but they ask some of the same questions. Some people want to fight. Some people want to find a way to co-exist."

Those classic mutants may be missing, but their legacy lives on. It was Magneto's daughter, Polaris, who helped found the mutant underground.

The Gifted premiers Monday, October 2nd at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.