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Public view:
The public view of mutants is much like that of the first two X-Men movies. In case you havn't seen them, mutants are people with extraordinary powers which are determined from birth and generally manifest around puberty. In the usual theme of 'people fear what they do not understand,' mutants are treated with the same kind of racism that has, at various points in time, been associated with blacks, gays, and any other minority group you can name. Some more extreme mutants fight back, thinking a war is brewing between mutant-kind and human-kind. Others work toward a peaceful solution. The general public believes that these mutations have only started to surface within the past five or ten years, and the cause is highly debated but generally unknown.

The truth:
Mutants have been around for about fifty to a hundred years. They simply have been able to keep themselves secret until now. The first mutants were almost all results of radiation of some sort or another. Depending on the degree and type of radiation, the person actually exposed to the radiation often noticed no difference, but when he or she produced offspring, it was their child who was a mutant. More severe radiation has changed people into mutants directly. Such radiation was sometimes even experimented with to turn people into mutants intentionally, since their powers could often be used in warfare and such. It is rumored that these human super-weapons were used as early as World War I, but none have been confirmed. For certain, they were in use by World War II. It's uncertain who's side they were on or how many, as much of this has been covered up by the governments involved in the project, but the decendents of these mutants (or even the mutants themselves, as a few of them still live today) know the truth. Most of the mutants born today are a result of radiation exposure by their father, grandfather, or even great-grandfather, who are all technically mutants and carry the mutant gene but do not show any physical characteristics of the mutation. It's like carrying an albino gene and having albino children, even though you are not albino yourself.

Public view:
Technology level is exactly what it is today. Computers, televisions, cars, etc.

The truth:
There are many 'secret weapons' the public doesn't know about which utilize technology the public doesn't have access to. Some of this is created here on Earth, but in secret, while some comes from aliens. Many people who make use of alien technology are not aware of it, especially since many modern advances were made using such technology. The level of computers we have, for example, would not be nearly as high if not for alien interference. Bill Gates does have a trade agreement with at least one species of alien, as an example. However, the biggest use of secret technology, alien and otherwise, is the creation of weapons. From expensive battle-suits that make people into one-man armies to robots that can be used for any purpose imaginable, these things all exist, though are generally carefully tucked away from the public eye.

Public view:
Yup, you guessed it; same as this world. Books have been written about it, people have guessed at how it might work, movies have been made, so have TV shows. Many think it impossible, others are more open-minded, but very few actually believe it could happen to them.

The truth:
Time travel has occured, throughout different timelines, and so it is entirely possible that one such traveler has appeared in this one. It has been done with both magical and technological means. Many have different theories on how it works. The real answer to how it works is rather difficult to explain, but I will attempt to do so. From every point in time, every time there is more than one possible outcome for an event, a new timeline branches off. Every millisecond, millions of new timelines branch off. Most of them are only slightly different from one another, but all exist. I think a diagram is in order:



The diagram above shows an extremely simplified timeline. As I mentioned, to make it completely accurate, there would have to be millions of branches coming out from each point. Now, the green point represents the present time. The red is the past, the blue is the possible future from this present.

Traveling backward is easy enough; you would simply go back to the red dot. However, once you're there, you'll probably change something. You being there and changing something is one of the possibilities, and thus one of the other lines. When you travel back to your own time, you'll probably follow one of those other routes, ending up at one of the junctions to the left or right of the green dot, since your present will now reflect the changes that took place in the past.

Traveling to the left and right is also not unheard of. This is what is depicted in, for instance, the show Sliders; traveling to different versions of the present, rather than traveling forward or backward in time. Doing this, of course, requires completely different spells or machines than traveling forward and backward does.

Traveling forward, you will tend to take the most likely route. So, in the above simplified diagram, for instance, the leftmost blue dot might be the most likely future, so most devices and spells will take you there. Once you have observed this future, of course, you may go back to your own time and change your actions, thus taking you to the second or third future. Again, only having three futures in the diagram is an extreme over-simplification; there are millions, billions, or perhaps even an infinite quantity of futures from any given point in time.

Hopefully all this will help you understand time-travel, as it exists in this universe, at least enough to make a character from the future or past, if that is what you wish. Complicated to think about, but I think it makes most character ideas possible.

International

In other nations, there are many well-known heros and villians as well, however, most people in America have never heard of them. Think of them like various music groups and other celebrities from other countries; only people involved in certain fandoms are likely to have heard of them. I'll list some major countries here, and edit this if someone has a question about a specific country not listed or more information comes up about one of the countries already listed.

Japan:
Pretty much like America, Japan has it's own group of supers, based in Tokyo, called "Musha Itsutsu." They are very similar to the Defenders in that none of them are mutants, and they tend to keep good PR. Everything else about America (general view of mutants, etc.) is generally true of Japan as well.

Canada, Mexico, South America:
Very much like the US, though with no major team of supers.

Most of Europe, as well as Russia, Germany, China, and other areas of Asia:
In these countries, mutants tend to be more accpeted than in the countries listed above. There is still much debate over how they should be treated, but a mutant is much more likely to be able to walk down a street without being attacked by mobbing citizins and such. There are no terribly well-known teams or individuals, but there are definately a few that are viewed well in the public eye. Most are more regional, rather than national.

India, Australia, Jamaica, and a few other smaller areas:
These are some of the few areas where mutants are actually generally accepted and well-liked. There are some well-known heroes in each, but very few people in America are likely to have heard of them.

Africa and most middle-eastern countries:
Mutants are even more strongly hated than in the US, Japan, Canada, etc. In some of them, the law permits people to shoot mutants on sight. In others, it is not officially permitted by law, but most law enforcement officials will turn the other way as it occurs. Definately not a good place for a mutant (or possible mutant) to be.