324. Why Does Spider-Man Keep Saving the Day for Superhero Cinema?

Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Does whatever other heroes can’t. And these days, that means make a good movie. Other super-movies, even in the Marvel world, take on the fake responsibilities of social activism, then are forced to fight the sinister criticism of fans. Meanwhile, Spidey and his amazing friends just keep uniting people in his friendly cinematic neighborhood. How does one hero keep wielding such great power? Episode sponsors Enclave Publishing: Winter’s Dawn by Morgan L. Busse Realm Makers fundraiser for ongoing defamation lawsuit The Talismiths: The Secret Saboteur by M. L. Hodder King Justice: The Legend Begins by Evelyn M. Exley Mission update New at Lorehaven: The Shattered Ones book quest has begun. Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild. 1. Superhero movies are fighting off villains. Just last week we heard of more cancelled Marvel movie projects. With some exceptions, the MCU has flopped on streaming screens. Apart from quality, fans discerned a stench of Agenda moments. Perfect-storm also struck with Jonathan Majors cast controversies. Unlike older movies, fans follow every detail, leak, and rumor. And like Spider-Man’s powers, internet is our gift and is our curse. Meanwhile, DC’s latest reboot can’t even get off the ground. DC is cancelling and delaying projects as a buyout draws nigh. In the past, DC has proven actively hostile to particular fans. Official statements and books isolate and mock certain versions. For instance, The LEGO Movie mocked Green Lantern the hero. In another case, an official Superman book criticized Zack Snyder. In both universes, fanbases are divided, politicized, anti-heroic. It feels like they’re pitting fan “denominations” against each other. As a late famous comic creator famously uttered, “ ‘Nough said.” 2. But everybody loves one friendly hero. Meanwhile, over in the Spiderverse corner of the Marvel world … Corporate heads, marketeers, and actors alike are unifying for this. Consider one recent GQ stunt with Brand New Day actors at trivia. (‘Ware language.) Actors were asked about many Spidey versions. In this universe, every story gets canonized and respected equally. This follows No Way Home’s blend of previous film characters. But for DC, they’ve tried to purge all previous versions except one. This unifying approach helps fans love all Spider-Man versions. Whether you like Tobey, Andrew, or Tom, you can celebrate Spidey! So it’s not political. Now fans can have fun doing compare/contrast. This ends up more like denominations who unify in essential faith. (And yet that only goes so far. Holland won’t meet Madame Webb.) 3. The rise of self-aware yet sincere stories. This year we’ve seen a wonderful increase of truly good films. Three come from Amazon/MGM: Project Hail Mary, The Sheep Detectives, and even Masters of the Universe all work so well. Jenneth Leed praised Hail Mary’s earnest optimism and hope. This is “metamodern,” a flavor beyond modern and postmodern. Now we’ve faced real-life dystopia, war, political unrest, and a divided society. More people long for the hope of modernism, but aren’t so naïve to think life doesn’t come with the complexities postmodernism criticized. So instead of embracing one philosophy over another, metamodernism combines the best features of both. This approach keeps the self-awareness, irony, and subversions of expectations. But these stories also value hope, sincere themes, and admirable heroes. In fact, one working definition for metamodern storytelling may be, “Delivering a sincere theme about life in a self-aware or absurd premise.” Note: this isn’t the same as flippant stories that claim “optimism.” And it’s a whole galaxy far from stories ashamed of their nature. Stephen has loved “metamodern” stories wherever they appear. The Tick and Galaxy Quest also skewer tropes yet stay sincere. Even the original Superman: The Movie (1978) does this so well. Do note Richard Donner’s out-loud commitment to verisimilitude. So do Sam Raimi’s and Marc Webb’s two Spider-Man film series. And one detects much of this in Lord and Miller’s Spiderverse Brand New Day will likely follow in these wall-crawling footsteps. We’ve had enough division over clashing canons and flippancy. Through other reboots and controversies, Spidey stays faithful! And if other Marvel and DC films do the same, they can unify fans. Com station Top question for listeners What do you love about sincere superhero stories? Next on Fantastical Truth Christian kids, do you remember all those old warnings against fantasy fiction? Some people implied that if you made up too much stuff, you’d lose track of reality. Alas. For some cases, they’re absolutely right. Too many people are abusing God’s gift of imagination. They cast people they do not know as villains in a fantasy world in which they are the big moral heroes. This habit is taking over social media. And now this sin is hurting faithful creators we know. How can Christian fans respond?