Philosophical Problems in Superhero Movies

Bulletin Column – May 18, 2019

            I suppose it’s a curse, but I can’t watch a movie without analyzing its philosophical and theological undertones. Most people watch movies for enjoyment and entertainment, but I’m always watching them and thinking, “Hmm, isn’t that similar to Plato’s allegories? Isn’t that from Sartre or Aquinas?” I really wish I could just sit and be entertained like everyone else!

            Recently, like the vast majority of the world, I saw the new Avengers’ movie, “Endgame”. And while it was three hours of your typical superhero movie (bad guy wants to rule the universe, powerful artifact that gives him power, lots of explosions and an endless fight scene, good guys eventually win), it made me realize just how many theological and philosophical errors and problems are present in every superhero movie.

            (N.B.: I mean this bulletin column to be cheeky, not overly-serious! There’s nothing wrong with watching superhero movies, despite the truly problematic philosophies!)

            1. Superhero movies never acknowledge God. If a bad guy suddenly takes over the world, my first instinct will be to pray! But you will never see anyone recognizing that there is a Higher Power that can give them grace to overcome evil. Rather, mankind has to do it on their own strength, coming up with their own solutions.

            Even in “Endgame”, when one of the main characters dies, there is no hint of a religious funeral, or prayers at the graveside. It is completely secular, as if God did not exist.

            2. Superhero movies treat death as the worst tragedy ever. The premise of “Endgame” – and pretty much every other superhero movie – is that the bad guy wants to destroy the world, killing everyone. In “Endgame”, half of the human population is destroyed, and the people who are left will literally do anything to bring them back. They can’t see any way that these deaths will be redeemed.

But for a Christian, death is not such a horrendous tragedy, because we have hope for everlasting life. We can look at death with a healthy perspective – we want to live, but we realize that this earthly life is merely a preparation for a better, eternal life with God.

3. Superhero movies reject natural law. There is a terrible arbitrariness in superhero movies. I honestly thought that “Endgame” was nothing more than three hours of deus ex machina. Why is it that certain characters can be beaten endlessly and still survive, but then when the director wants one certain character to die, they die immediately? There is no logical reason for why certain magical amulets are granted magical powers – what is up with the “infinity stones”? Where did they come from? Why do they have their specific powers? There is no logical reason for anything in superhero movies – the directors and screenwriters can break or rewrite rules of their own universes constantly.

This is in contrast to our Catholic belief in natural law. God has written into the very fabric of creation a certain way in which the world is meant to work. For example, fish were created to live in water only; gravity works at a consistent rate; human beings find misery in selfishness. These laws were not created by us, but by an all-loving, all-powerful God. We cannot violate this natural law without coming to our own destruction.

4. Superhero movies follow Nietzsche’s “Will to Power”. Nietzsche was a German nihilist philosopher who believed that the driving force in human nature was the desire to control things. Certainly the villains in superhero movies live out this “will to power” (they always want to rule the world) but, interestingly, so do the heroes. The heroes believe that if they obtain enough power, they can stop the bad guy. So they seek out the strongest weapons, the best techniques, the smartest plan.

This is the opposite of Christ’s example. Jesus chose to be humble, poor, and weak. He won His true victory in being crucified. When He was powerless, it was then that He was strong. He did not seek to rule in a worldly sense; rather, He came to serve, and by serving, He has been given all authority in Heaven and earth by His Father.

5. Superhero movies always fight death with death. The only way superheroes win is by violence. They say they are trying to stop violence, but they do so only with violence. There is always an epic battle that is supposed to defeat the bad guy.

Here, there is a hint of truth. We do live in a spiritual war zone. We have an enemy (Satan) who wants to destroy us, and we must fight him. But we do so with weapons of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We fight his hatred with our love for God and neighbor. As Christians, violence is acceptable in self-defense – but as history has shown, non-violent protests (such as the Civil Rights Movement) have proven more effective than armed conflict. What would it be like for the superheroes to fight evil without weapons and battles, and instead find a creative and peaceful solution to their crisis?

In sum, please do not take this article as a condemnation of superhero movies – it is not intended as such! I watch them and have (occasionally) enjoyed them.

But we must be aware of the philosophical and theological errors present within. The media always communicates a message – it is never merely a tabula rasa, but espouses a certain subtle ideology (by the way, did anyone catch the not-so-subtle homosexual innuendo in “Endgame”?). We must go into movies wide-aware of our own beliefs – and the beliefs of Hollywood. Movies are made, not just make money or create a work of art, but also to form culture through the mass media!