MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The dawn of the twenty-first century has heralded the ascendance of the American superhero in popular culture. Long denigrated as little more than a niche junk-culture, superhero fare has jumped from the comic book racks to the silver screen and dominated the box office in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. While Hollywood and comic book companies had long flirted with each other—and even occasionally created a film of some note—only these recent superhero films established themselves with such consistent commercial success. DC did so with Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy (2005-2012) as well as Zack Snyder’s less-acclaimed take on Superman (2013). The Marvel cinematic universe similarly began with classic heroes like Iron Man (2008-2013) and Captain America (2011-2016). All of these films arrived in and addressed pressing post-9/11 insecurities that moved Americans to seek out some sense of safety, helping audiences to attempt to sort out the world in which they lived, much as superhero popular culture has always done. Scholars should thus examine these films for the ways in which these moving images reveal cultural and social values that lurk beneath the surface. Indeed, a closer examination of some recent superhero blockbusters—grounded in a broader historical context—reveals that DC and Marvel often argue with each other in terms of defining the enemy (external and “other” for DC; internal and systemic for Marvel) and thus framing just what it is that makes for a “hero” in the so-called “global war on terror.” Despite what seem to be substantial differences, however, the fare produced by both DC and Marvel struggles to imagine an alternative approach to engaging the world.