Captain Marvel became a statement around the world when bringing, arguably, Marvel’s strongest superhero to the big screen. This action sparked political outrage while discussing diversity.
Brie Larson’s role as Captain Marvel was a concern of the politically obsessed. Her role was assumed to have been too much of a step in diversity because God forbid there is a woman superhero.
Captain Marvel was seen as controversial by critics, but superhero movies have always pushed a political agenda. Since the invention of comic books, politics and propaganda have been pushed in superhero media.
Observing the Marvel world closer, Black Panther, like Captain Marvel, automatically creates a political base for trying to increase diversity with their main characters. With a cast full of people of color, Black Panther creates a foundational look at the treatment of black people in the U.S.
Also, in Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa’s, or Black Panther’s, father is killed by terrorists at a U.N. meeting. The movie stoked American fear of terrorism ever so subtly. This is something studios have done time and time again to keep Western audiences interested and engaged.
Superhero movies have had a political bias since they were comic books.
Superman, created by two German men, could be seen fighting Nazis in his early comics. The release of these comic books correlated with WWII in 1938. The timely release of Superman led antisemites to accuse Superman himself of being Jewish. Being in the turmoil of WWII, Germans had a lot to say.
Readers, or Nazi-sympathizers, despised that Superman represented the American agenda to destroy Germany, even though the main target was Nazis. This same political concern was created with another superhero in 1940. That’s right: Captain America could be seen punching Adolf Hitler in his early comics.
In Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America’s sole purpose in the beginning was to defeat the Nazis. In fact, that’s why he originally joined the army in his disheveled shape. Throughout Captain America, the audience is introduced to the villain: Red Skull. Red Skull is was speculated to closely represent the Führer of Nazi Germany.
Captain America: Civil War creates everything an audience fears. The plot creates the idea of a war between the two “good guys,” alluding to the internal struggles of the U.S. The audience is able to watch the possibility of authoritarian America. Civil War discusses the battle of humanity and the politics disguised in it. This fantasy of morally sound American attempts to draw parallels between these characters and American political heroes, which do not truly exist.
WWII is not the only American history super hero movies propagandize. 9/11 is warped to fit the narrative of many superhero stories and plot lines of other superheroes. 9/11 is referenced in countless movies, and this causes conflicts when teaching what actually happened.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is an example of blatant 9/11 symbolism.Spider-man was actually thought to have helped the healing of 9/11. Superman Returns and many other superhero movies create the idea that 9/11 could have been stopped if we only had real superheroes, despite our actual government’s real failures to prevent the terrorist attack.
Dipping into the DC universe, Batman does not go unscathed. The Dark Knight Rises is speculated to have supported Barack Obama’s political campaign. The villain Bane was thought to be an influence on voters.
However, Bruce Wayne seems like he would be a mascot for those right-wingers. Besides, Batman is a fascist who is money driven but never had to work for wealth, right?
In real life, Batman would likely be criticized by the left for using his resources to dress up in cosplay and assault criminals instead of devoting funds to solving crime.
Superheroes are a perfect way to silently share political agendas and share politicized history. These superhero movies could be the reason there is more diversity and, theoretically, could be the start to understanding politics. I’m here for that, but they’ve also been used to push harmful political narratives and historical propaganda. They make America the good guy and create fictional villains to represent complex, bad actors in the real world.
Kayla Bennett is a freshman studying journalism. Please note that the views and ideas of columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Kayla? Tweet her @kkayyben.
