User blog comment:Dragonofelder/X-Avengers/@comment-4652104-20130802174132

It is an idea for a consistent universe. And it’s fairly easy for most heroes. Thor may simply be a guy with superstrength, flight etc. who simply uses Thor as an alias (and Mjolnir is just a hammer made of some very heavy stuff – too heavy for anyone normal to lift). For Iron Man and (other tech-based characters) the tech may either be a manifestation of their powers or their power may simply be the ability to create and control this tech (like Forge). However, it does screw with a lot of the origin stories. So, let’s complicate stuff.

Firstly, in some way, a lot of the meta-humans are mutants. Normally if you're exposed to gamma radiation, you die, not get powers. So Banner's mutation is simply the ability to absorb massive amounts of radiation and turn them into a Hulk persona. Daredevil's power is in fact the ability to develop new senses, when old ones have been compromised (that's official). So for the FF, Hulk, Ms. Marvel and all others who got powers from some sort of accident, you could simply state that their mutant power is the ability to absorb those random energies and convert them into superpowers.

Magic-based characters may be reality-warping mutants, who need gestures and vocalization to focus their powers. (And if we want magic as an art to pre-exist, we may assume that magic-users are an older breed of mutants, who have developed “magic” as an organized way to teach each other how to wield their powers). Similarly, gods may be an old breed of mutants, who have some sort of “genetic memory”. When a descendant is born with a particular x-gene, he not only gets the powers, but also the memories of the “god”.

Lastly, all the “super-soldiers” (Cap, Luke Cage, etc.) are attempts to insert the x-gene into a regular human.