I'm kind of asking two questions here. One question is about hope and the other is about spiritual beliefs.

I like to keep my world grounded in reality. For some reason, I feel like this is super easy to do with mutant-like superpowers. When it comes to magic I struggle.

For example, mutant powers are genetic based. So by default hope and spiritual beliefs are eliminated or at least limited because it doesn't matter how much you try or believe in yourself, you can never be a mutant. Mutants in my world are born not taught. When it comes to spiritual beliefs, yeah, you can view mutant powers as spiritual gifts, but keep in mind that you can also view an athlete's talents as spiritual gifts too.

I feel like magic existing would give too much room for those both.

You can learn magic. Therefore, everyone has hope that they can do magic one day.

My problem with hope is that it comes off as plot armor or main character syndrome. I feel like I would be enabling a lot of cliches and tropes when it comes to hope. (Cough, cough. The power of friendship.)

Honestly, I don't know how big a role spiritual beliefs would play in this topic. Maybe the fact that magic is learned not genetic. Maybe it would be easier for people to view magic through a spiritual lens since magic is learned, therefore making it harder for skeptics to debunk spiritual beliefs associated with magic.

In my world magic is one of those classic "it's not really magic, it's just science that is indistinguishable from magic" type of magic systems. My magic system is inspired by alchemy, chemistry, quantum mechanics, and cosmic energy.

In conclusion, my main question here is: Does the nature of traditional magic make it hard to limit hope or spirituality in a story?