Superhero films Research Papers

The book is a scholarly study of superheroes and their mythology. This compilation includes chapters on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America and superhero teams, the Fantastic Four and heroes of Jack Kirby, Spider-Man, the... more

How does the superhero movie LOGAN reimagine the Western's loner anti-hero? This deconstructive reading of the popular 2017 movie connects its treatment of violence to longstanding genre and gender conventions.

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- by Brian Walter
- •
- 10
  Westerns, Constructions of masculinity, Superheroes, Marvel Comics

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- by Thomas Nehrlich and +2
  Joanna Nowotny
  Lukas Etter
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- 32
  American Literature, American Studies, Comparative Literature, Media Studies

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- by Joseph Walderzak
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- 19
  Feminist Theory, Genre studies, Popular Culture, Genre Theory

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- by Marc Champagne
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- 20
  Religion, Mythology And Folklore, Cultural Studies, Folklore

In 1962, the world was introduced to a character of epic proportions, not because he was as alien as Superman, as technically savvy as Batman, or as patriotically moving as Captain America. He was epic because he was the everyman; a... more

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- by Dan Smith
- •
- 5
  Comic book films, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Superhero films

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- by Jordan Upton
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- 9
  Christology, Superheroes, Film Criticism, Jesus Christ

This book examines Disney’s animated output from the perspective of genre studies, exploring the wide variety of Hollywood genres intersecting with, and re-envisioned by these animated films in the past decade. Facing the growing... more

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- by Dr Eve Benhamou
- •
- 10
  Gender Studies, Animation, Genre studies, Action Film

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- by Arturo Encinas
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- 15
  Faith, Cinema, Superheroes, Batman

The article describes the problem of constructing a comic superhero's body. The author has suggested that the superheroic character's physicality (in comic books, movies, TV series) is based on the subject's views of otherness (including... more

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- by Rastyam T . Aliev
- •
- 16
  Comics Studies, Comic Book Studies, The Body, Comics

Celem artykułu jest multimodalna analiza teaserów i trailerów filmowych towarzyszących kampanii promocyjnej produkcji Marvel Studios "Avengers: Infinity War". Ukazane zostało, w jaki sposób twórcy kampanii budują przekaz reklamowy,... more

Black superheroes are present through history in comics, and in film. Despite their seemingly consistent presence there is consistent marginalization of these characters in both mediums. In this paper I intend to breakdown the portrayal... more

With contributions from professors, scholars, bloggers, playwrights, and novelists from Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, and Great Britain, as well as the US, this collection explores recent additions to the multifaceted Whedonverse.... more

With contributions from professors, scholars, bloggers, playwrights, and novelists from Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, and Great Britain, as well as the US, this collection explores recent additions to the multifaceted Whedonverse. But it doesn't stop there. Above all comes the question "What's Next?" How will Whedon adapt other Shakespeares like Hamlet and Twelfth Night, seeing that he hates to make the same project twice? Will he offer a female Horatio, a stronger Ophelia, a play set on a spaceship or S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters? Who will star? Other creators have signed on for the Wonder Woman film, but can they surpass his unpublished script? What will come after Avengers: Age of Ultron – Star Wars?

In today's world of Netflix shows, comic continuations, and web releases, Whedon has far more options than he did in the '90s Meanwhile, fans across the world are devouring his Buffy motion comics even as American creators pay homage to his works in their own shows, from Husbands and The Guild to How I Met Your Mother. All of this combines to build a glittering future for Whedon's fans and for the creator himself as the Whedonverse swells larger with each passing year.

Contents
Presenting the Collection
Presenting the Classic Shows
Buffy’s Successors: How Both The Guild and How I Met Your Mother Spring from Buffy
Calvin Peat
The Vampire Family Plot: Naming, Siring, and Identity
Janet Brennan Croft
A Whedonite’s Guide to Characterization
Kate Johnson and J.T. Bock
The Future of Scholarship: Interview with Professor Rhonda V. Wilcox
Francesca Maria Stefanachi
Presenting The Cabin in the Woods
Watching the Whore: The Treatment of Jules in Cabin in the Woods
Carrie Sessarego
Something Nightmares Are From: Corporate Culture and Externalized Consequences
Erin Giannini
Presenting The Avengers
“That Man’s Playing Galaga” /Dis/ownership, Democratization and Demographics
Dr. Shathley Q
Collateral Damage: How The Avengers is a Superhero Film, Not an Action Flick
James Orbesen
Fun with Fandom in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Valerie Estelle Frankel
Presenting Much Ado About Nothing
The Whole Assembly: Much Ado About Superheroes, Shakespeare, and Shawarma
B. Mitchell
Sigh No More, Ladies: Much Ado Tackles Gender and Modern Judgment
Navya Dasari
Of Whedonverse Canon and “Someone Else’s Sandbox:” Marvel, Much Ado, and the Great Auteur Debate
Mary Ellen Iatropoulos
Presenting In Your Eyes
The Mad Girl Weds the Evil Doctor: Whedonisms in In Your Eyes
Valerie Estelle Frankel
Presenting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Deployment Patterns: How Joss Whedon Leverages Transmedia to Force a Rethink of Old Media
Dr. Shathley Q
“I’m Every Bit the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent That You Are”: Exploring Opposing Masculinities
Scott Interrante
Whedon’s Women: Melinda May and Maria Hill as Transgressive Superheroines
Leanne McRae
Presenting the Buffy Comics
From the Small Screen to the Panel: Buffy in Comic Form
J.M. Suarez
Big in Japan: A Cross Cultural Look at the Whedonverse
J. Malcolm Stewart
Presenting the Angel & Faith Comics
No Future For You? Faith and the Future of the Dark Slayer
Siobhan Lyons
Journey into the Heart of Darkness: Intertextuality, Redemption, and Rewriting (Neo)colonial Discourses in Angel & Faith’s Lost and Found
Jessica Hautsch
Presenting the Serenity Comics
The Browncoats Return! The New Rebellion in Leaves on the Wind
Eugena McCrann
Presenting Future Shakespeares
“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t”: Speculating on Adaptations of Shakespeare.
Carl Wilson
Much Ado About Whedon and the Hamlet Hypothesis
Stephanie Garrison
Joss Whedon’s Hamlet: The Problems of Ophelia and Representation
Joel Hawkes
Presenting the Future
Violence, Strong Language, and Adult Content: Whedon’s Return to Television
Sebastiaan Gorissen
How to Make a Wonder Woman Movie
Valerie Estelle Frankel
Cleaning the Slate with the Force: Star Wars, Joss Whedon, and the Mind-Body Problem
Dominic Nardi, Jr.
Contributors
Works Cited

Through a case study of The Avengers (2012) and other recently adapted Marvel Entertainment properties, it will be demonstrated that the reimagined, rebooted and serialized intermedial text is fundamentally fan oriented: a deliberately... more

The article is an opening message from the journal's editors summarizing the key aspects of the issue.

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- by Rastyam T . Aliev
- •
- 13
  Comics Studies, Comics, Mass culture, Comics and Graphic Novels

The porn industry is following Hollywood’s lead by taking superheroes more seriously than either had in decades past. Contemporary superhero porn parodies, particularly those directed by Axel Braun, eschew the goofy puns and tacked-on... more

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- by Dru Jeffries
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- 17
  Adaptation, Film Adaptation, Fan Cultures, Fandom

This paper discusses the prominence of serialization practices in contemporary Hollywood blockbuster cinema from the vantage points of political economy and seriality studies. It suggests that the recent trend towards sequelization,... more

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- by Felix Brinker
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- 36
  Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, American Studies, Political Economy

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- by Matt Yockey
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- 11
  Media Studies, Intermediality, Comic Book Studies, Film Semiotics

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- by Arturo Encinas and +1
  Juan Pablo Serra
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- 3
  Superhero films, Superhero Studies, Superhero Movies

Este diseño de investigación se sitúa en el marco del Seminario de Grado para obtener la Licenciatura en Sociología. Se propone un estudio que permita construir y caracterizar tipologías a partir de las masculinidades representadas en las... more

This article provides a genealogical understanding of the tropes of ‘science’ and ‘technology’ as they currently operate within dominant melodramatic structures of ‘Bollywood’ cinema. In recent times, the entry of Hindi film in... more

En el presente trabajo analizamos la imagen de la ciudad en el cine de superhéroes a través de: el estudio de la ciudad como signo de los valores democráticos y la relación del superhéroe con las leyes, el papel narrativo de la ciudad y... more

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- by Arturo Encinas
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- 12
  Mass Communication, Democracy, Superheroes, Mass media

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- by Alexander Vandewalle
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- 14
  Film Studies, Film Theory, Popular Culture, Film Analysis

Discusses the serialized superhero in the context of the cultural, literary tradition of the hero.

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- by Deborah Griggs
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- 9
  Comparative Literature, Popular Culture, Comics Studies, Film Genre

Con ilustración principal de Jorge Ávila. Mi tributo de loco al más literario de los locos. Comparto uno de los artículos que más me ha gustado escribir (lo cual no asegura calidad alguna en absoluto). Sin embargo: A través de un periplo... more

Este trabalho pretende construir uma trajetória histórica das adaptações fílmicas de superheróis, de 1978 em diante, começando por Superman (Richard Donner, 1978). O número de produções protagonizadas por heróis superpoderosos aumenta... more

In this piece I am exploring Hollywood’s use of the hero character as a reaction to both social and cultural anxieties. Initially, I will attempt to define the hero and its use in storytelling. I will then move onto charting the evolution... more

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- by Dorian Cozens
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- 11
  Film Studies, Film Theory, Film Analysis, Heroes

This short essay explores the ways in which the Old Norse source myths of Thor have been transformed first in the Marvel comic books of the 1960s and then again in the Marvel 2011 and 2012 films. Two competing approaches to mythology–the... more

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- by James B Kelley
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- 16
  Mythology And Folklore, Mythology, Film Analysis, Comic Book Studies

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- by Loris Magro
- •
- 15
  Russian Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Literature, Comics Studies

Abstract: The use of the subtext as sexist propaganda in the character of Lois Lane in Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013) The aim of this article is to uncover the existence and analyze the content of a sub-text associated with the... more

Abstract: The use of the subtext as sexist propaganda in the character of Lois Lane in Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013) The aim of this article is to uncover the existence and analyze the content of a sub-text associated with the character of Lois Lane, eternal girlfriend of Superman, in the film of Zack Snyder Man of Steel, 2013. First I will define the concepts «text» and «subtext», and I will relate them to the historical technique of writing between lines» described by the philosopher Leo Strauss. Then I will carry out the textual (and subtextual) analysis of the character. My conclusion is that the character has been designed with the intention of emitting two types of contradictory messages: at the textual level she is an intelligent, independent and capable woman, but at the subtextual level she reveals herself as a stupid and dependent woman, unable to complete satisfactorily her tasks without the help of a man.

Resumen: El objetivo del presente artículo es desvelar la existencia y analizar el contenido de un subtexto asociado al personaje de Lois Lane, novia de Superman, en la película de Zack Snyder Man of Steel, 2013. En primer lugar definiré los conceptos «texto» y «subtexto», y los relacionaremos con la histórica técnica de «escritura entre líneas» descrita por el filósofo Leo Strauss. A continuación llevaré a cabo el análisis textual (y subtextual) del personaje, para comprobar que su diseño responde a la intención de emitir dos tipos de mensajes contradictorios: a nivel textual es una mujer inteligente, independiente y capaz, pero a nivel subtextual se revela como una mujer estúpida, dependiente e incapaz de completar satisfac-toriamente sus funciones sin la ayuda de un hombre.

Resumo: O uso do subtexto como propaganda machista na personagem de Lois Lane em Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013) O objetivo deste artigo é revelar a existência e analisar o conteúdo de um subtexto associado à personagem de Lois Lane, a namorada do Superman, no filme de Zack Snyder Man of Steel, 2013. Primeiro, irei definir os conceitos de «texto» e «subtexto», relacionando-os com a técnica de «escrita entre linhas», descrita pelo filósofo Leo Strauss. Posterior-mente, farei a análise textual (e subtextual) da personagem, para verificar que o seu desíg-nio responde à intenção de emitir dois tipos de mensagens contraditórias: a nível textual, na superfície, é uma mulher inteligente, independente e capaz. Mas, na realidade, sob a superfície, a nível subtextual, revela-se como uma mulher estúpida, dependente e incapaz de concluir com êxito as suas funções sem a ajuda de um homem.

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- by Henry M. Taylor
- •
- 7
  Science Fiction, David Cronenberg, Fantasy, Existenz

SUPER-DUBBING. IL DOPPIAGGIO DELLE SERIE TV DALL'ADATTAMENTO DIALOGHI ALLA RECITAZIONE Incontro con i professionisti del doppiaggio. Seminario in collaborazione con Ricerca Continua (ricercacontinua.uniroma2.it). Coordinato da... more

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- by Valeria Giordano
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- 6
  Audiovisual Translation, Superheroes, Dubbing, Dubbing Translation

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- by Gustavo Herrera Taboada
- •
- Superhero films

In one way or another, serial narratives always reflect on the parameters and conditions of their own serialization—through devices like the 'previously on...'-segment featured in many contemporary TV series and the recapitulation of past... more

In one way or another, serial narratives always reflect on the parameters and conditions of their own serialization—through devices like the 'previously on...'-segment featured in many contemporary TV series and the recapitulation of past events through expository dialogue, for example, or by foreshadowing future events (which has become conventionalized in post-credits announcements that promise the return of iconic figures like James Bond or Iron Man). Individual installments of a series thus place themselves in the context of other episodes or films. Once the serialization of popular narratives, properties, and figures crosses media platforms, their latest incarnations by necessity situate themselves in relation to other media as well. On such occasions, the thematization of storytelling parameters frequently takes a decidedly medially self-reflexive turn. Our paper examines the ways in which serial film adaptations of graphic narratives from three decades across the 20 th and 21 st centuries negotiate their relationship to the materials on which they are based, and discusses instances of medial self-reflexivity in the film serials Ace Drummond (Universal, 1936; adapting the comic strip of the same name) and Radio Patrol (Universal 1937; also based on an eponymous comic strip), as well as in the superhero blockbusters Superman (Warner Bros., 1978, Dir. Richard Donner) and The Incredible Hulk (Universal, 2008, Dir. Louis Leterrier). Focusing on the medially self-reflexive opening sequences of these productions, we argue that all four examples of serial film exhibit a comparable preoccupation with their own prehistory in other medial contexts, and that all of them thematize the qualities and affordances of other media—comic strips and comic books in the case of Ace Drummond, Radio Patrol, and Superman, and television the case of The Incredible Hulk—in a similar fashion. By arranging comic panels on the film screen, the opening sequences of Ace Drummond, Radio Patrol, and Superman, for example, comment on the affinity between serial storytelling and the sequential art of comics, while simultaneously presenting themselves as worthy filmic successors to their respective source materials. The Incredible Hulk's title sequence, by contrast, evokes the aesthetics of the 1970s television show of the same name by offering a virtual remake of the earlier program's opening credits. Our examples, in other words, all pit the aesthetics of film against those of other media. In doing so, they evoke a self-conscious mode of reception that is cognizant of the differences and similarities between film and other media. Our paper argues that such a medial self-reflexivity is a recurring interest of serial film, and that the study of such moments can serve as a useful starting point for an inquiry into its shifting position within a broader media environment—from the coexistence with competing serial mass media of the 1930s (like daily comic strips and early comic books), to its integration into the 'transmedia universes' of the 21 st-century.

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- by Felix Brinker
- •
- 11
  Media and Cultural Studies, Cinema, Serialization, Superheroes

An analysis of the superhero genre, identifying the features and elements that create this ever-expanding genre. Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" are used as case studies.

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- by Vincent M. Gaine
- •
- 23
  Film Studies, Film Theory, Film Analysis, Film Genre

[Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot di Gabriele Mainetti ha ricevuto ieri sedici candidature per altrettante categorie di premio ai David di Donatello. Pubblichiamo una riflessione sul film, che è attualmente distribuito in trenta sale in Italia].... more

[Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot di Gabriele Mainetti ha ricevuto ieri sedici candidature per altrettante categorie di premio ai David di Donatello. Pubblichiamo una riflessione sul film, che è attualmente distribuito in trenta sale in Italia]. Accolto da qualche settimana con l'entusiasmo di un prodotto unico, per la novità che rappresenta nel cinema italiano, Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot, opera prima di Gabriele Mainetti, già si presta a divenire fenomeno di culto. Sarebbe inappropriato sostenere che il film supera le aspettative, proprio perché non si misura con nulla di simile del repertorio cinematografico nazionale; piuttosto diremo che stupisce per il modo in cui ritaglia una mitologia originale dentro un orizzonte noto, fisionomizzando in un contesto tutto italiano il modello del superhero movie. L'esperimento si mostra tanto più interessante in quanto agisce all'interno di un genere fortemente stereotipato, che, seppur con diverse gradazioni tra una produzione e l'altra, tende ad una ricorsività standard di alcuni elementi: grandiosità delle azioni e degli effetti speciali messi in campo, psicologia bidimensionale dei personaggi, conflitto tra due termini antagonisti che trova equivalenza in un chiaroscuro emozionale. La risorsa principale del film di Mainetti sembra invece risiedere proprio nel modo con cui aggira l'appiattimento del genere, dando lo spessore dell'originalità ai personaggi e alle situazioni messe in scena. In primo luogo, l'abilità del regista trova sviluppo nella maniera in cui interagiscono il primo piano e lo sfondo attraverso l'uso bilanciato dell'ironia e dell'intertestualità. Così in un contesto di piccoli criminali romani matura un'epopea che non ha nulla di epico (sebbene la scena finale lasci intendere il possibile inizio di una nuova mitologia). Per quello che riguarda il livello narrativo, sono diversi i sottotesti che dialogano, talvolta con chiaro umorismo citazionista, con il testo principale. Un esempio evidente giunge dalle parole del cattivo, Lo Zingaro, che rivolgendosi al supereroe per avere delle spiegazioni sulla eccezionalità della sua forza, gli domanda: " t'ha mozzicato un ragno? un pipistrello? sei cascato da un altro pianeta? ". La ridondanza metatestuale. più che amplificare l'effetto di eco con il genere, autoironizza sulla parentela con il modello dei supereroi. Ma il primo e più esplicito sottotesto è ovviamente il manga giapponese di Jeeg Robot, icona della cultura televisiva degli anni '70, riproposto all'interno del film come paladino di una ragazza che convive con il grande trauma di una violenza fisica e psicologica. Oltre ai manga, ai comics della Marvel, al pulp della violenza accesa e antitragica, sullo sfondo è abbozzata anche la Roma di Romanzo Criminale, al quale il regista guarda con umorismo, attraverso la lente della parodia. Sono vari gli elementi di corrispondenza, tra i quali spiccano le motivazioni che spingono lo Zingaro e la sua " batteria " all'avventura criminale: il desiderio di entrare nel " giro grosso " attraverso un interlocutore di eccellenza come la camorra, la descrizione del panorama dello spaccio[1], l'ambizione di conquista della città attraverso i traffici criminali. Nel film però la situazione perde ogni drammaticità grazie al rovesciamento con cui viene rappresentato il capo della banda: non vi è traccia della grandezza statuaria del Libanese, del suo essere leader che agisce in funzione di un gruppo-al suo posto un personaggio eccentrico, sociopatico, spietato, che agisce per un delirante bisogno di riconoscimento, e che non esiterà a sacrificare tutti gli altri nella sua corsa folle di potere e prestigio. Lo pagina 1 / 3

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- by Lucia Faienza
- •
- 4
  Italian Cinema, Queer, Contemporary Cinema, Superhero films

Introduction: From the original X-Men in 2000, which generated several sequels and prequels, to Ant-Man, which was released this July, the past fifteen years have been marked by a significant rise in superhero narratives. Following the... more

Introduction: From the original X-Men in 2000, which generated several sequels and prequels, to Ant-Man, which was released this July, the past fifteen years have been marked by a significant rise in superhero narratives. Following the acquisition of Marvel Studios in December 2009, Disney released its own take on the genre in 2014, with its very first animated superhero film based on Marvel comic-book characters: Big Hero 6. With excellent box office results and an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, it has become a popular and critical success.
This paper will explore the way this Disney animated feature fits within the superhero genre and contemporary trends in comic-book films by focusing on its gender constructions. Indeed, with its multiracial cast including two superheroines, some reviewers welcomed the presence of “strong female characters” who “are not oversexualized”. These comments reveal some recurring tropes regarding the depiction of super femininity – and by contrast super masculinity – in live-action superhero films, including the generic imperatives of “sex appeal” on one hand, and excessive muscularity on the other. My research question will be the following: to what extent does Big Hero 6 – a Disney/Marvel animated feature – provide some challenging alternatives to mainstream gendered constructions of live-action superheroes? Building on Lisa Purse’s concept of “playful knowingness” and Tasker’s observations on contemporary postfeminist constructions of femininity, I will analyse the way the film text reworks and adapts contemporary superhero tropes, and how this impacts on its gender constructions.
This paper will start with a brief overview of earlier animated superhero films in order to contextualize Big Hero 6. Then, part 2 will focus on the characterization of the teen male superhero through the figure of Hiro. I will pay attention to the superheroines’ portrayal in part 3, before concluding with the robot Baymax, whose depiction seems particularly interesting in the light of superheroes’ gendered identities.

Conference papers, published or accepted for publication material

Steven Spielberg, legendary Academy Award winning director and producer, reputed for the versatility in the content of his films, made the following comment on the recent deluge of movies focusing on and centred round what are Universally... more

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- by Dr Eve Benhamou
- •
- 10
  Computer Animation, Film Genre, Gender in Film, Postfeminism

The article is an opening message from the journal's editors summarizing the key aspects of the issue.

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- by Kwasu D Tembo
- •
- 11
  Art, Comics Studies, Comics, Mass culture

26. Mai 2018, 20h im ExZess, Leipziger Str. 91, Frankfurt/M.
– im Rahmen von: Erster Frankfurter Frühjahrsputz – Festival des Putzfilms, 25.–27. Mai 2018
https://putzfilmfestival.de/

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- by Drehli Robnik
- •
- 40
  Film Studies, Film Theory, Political Theory, Film Analysis

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- by Liam Burke
- •
- 12
  Comics Studies, Comics and Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic books

Desde hace algunos años al presente se vienen publicando algunos libros que relacionan el género de ficción y cierto ámbito trascendente. Se aprovechan del tirón mediáticos que suscita el género en sí y ofrecen ciertas reflexiones que... more

An analysis of the transnational elements in "Thor" (2011), within the context of Hollywood production within globalisation.

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- by Vincent M. Gaine
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- 20
  Globalization, Film Studies, Film Theory, Film Analysis

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), S.H.I.E.L.D., a secretive governmental agency, responds to a range of conventional and existential threats. This work examines S.H.I.E.L.D.’s actions in light of the law of armed conflict (LOAC),... more

It's very common among fans to discuss the ideology of superheroes. In this paper I present a simple test consisting on a list of several questions that will help us to discover the ideology of superheroes. I will analyse issues such as... more

Superhero films

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