Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Time to Work for a Living: The Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Organized Superhero

2016; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 44; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01956051.2016.1174666

1930-6458

Adrian Acu,

Cinema and Media Studies

:The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) crystallizes how the superhero genre is now inflected by employment: by one's relation to a larger organization. If the superhero movie remains escapist, then that escape is no longer from the impotence of the individual, but rather from the stereotypes of the lumbering, ineffective organization and the disconnected participant. A survey of pre-MCU superhero movies will demonstrate that the MCU is on the leading edge of a change in the dream of superpowers: from the ability to do anything to the ability to meaningfully contribute through one's affiliations.