Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Abstract

In a world filled with challenges and crises, a hero is never too hard to find—just head to your local movie theater. Yet, despite the mass popularity and abundance of superhero films, many have criticized the genre as nothing more than frivolous entertainment. For instance, Martin Scorsese considers Marvel films visual theme parks that have been “market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted, and remodified until they're ready for consumption” (New York Times, November 5, 2019). But there is plenty to say for these tried-and-true formulaic stories, or “molds,” as Scorsese calls them. After all, superheroes were saving the world long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first film, Iron Man (2008).Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) by Michael D. Nichols provides narrative context for the Marvel films produced within the three phases of the MCU, fitting those films into decades of consistent and popular comics based on folklore themes, mythology, and religious tales. Nichols identifies rites of passage and shamanism, the shadow-self or villain, purity and contamination, death, and the fight against death as the main themes derived from various mythic texts of traditions, including Greek, Hindu, African, Buddhist, medieval European, and others.One of the major universal tropes throughout the diverse texts is the birth of the hero. As a person moves from one life chapter to another, mythology emphasizes this transformation as a rite of passage, a transition that may be against their will, but ultimately provides them with a better mythical position in the community. Tony Stark launches the entire MCU when he transitions from egotistical businessman into Iron Man after his military convoy is ambushed. He emerges from the experience with a mini-reactor in place of his physical heart and a new emotional heart filled with humility and an instant moral compass. Nichols compares Stark's journey to rituals of Islam during Hajj, when participants change their physical appearance and don white robes. With abundant primary sources on traditions and origin stories, Nichols compares Marvel's Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, and Dr. Stephen Strange with multiple worldly texts. With each transformation comes great personal and community benefit, but also grave danger. Most of these characters find that growth requires coming face-to-face with their shadow-self.Villains, or the shadow-self, have always been a part of myths and religious texts. They are inverses of the hero, amplifying “their worst flaws, greatest temptations and most unseemly impulses” (p. 40). Examples of these hero/villain relationships include Hulk/Abomination, Iron Man/Iron Monger, Antman/Yellowjacket, Spiderman/Vulture, Dr. Strange/Kaecilius, Black Panther/Killmonger, The Guardians/Ronan, and Thor/Loki. Iron Monger, Yellowjacket, and Vulture personify the hero, but also represent selfishness and greed—values that the hero previously embodied before his transformation. In contrast, Loki looks nothing like Thor; Loki's monstrosity comes from his ability to shape-shift and his deep-seated resentment of his role in the family. Nichols compares Loki to the Christian Satan and the Buddhist Mara, both of whom can easily shape-shift and cause chaos.When Nichols turns from origin stories to Phase Two of the MCU, he highlights purity and pollution as the themes that complicate the heroes’ roles. However, using Mary Douglas’ definition and concept of impurity as “contamination and pollution—whether moral, mental, or physical” (p. 65)—seems too broad. Nichols uses only Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America as examples, and while they may fit under the overall category, they each exhibit different moral, mental, and physical aspects of impurity. For instance, when a lethal liquid physically invades Thor's girlfriend's body, he defies the rules by bringing her to Asgard for medical attention. This choice then sparks an invasion by Dark Elves and the death of his mother Frigga. Nichols compares this sequence of events to Buddhist Theravada traditions in which impurity ripples outward if personal pollution lingers too long. While Nichols makes the case for pollution within Thor's journey, his argument for moral contamination within family dynamics is stronger.Nichols focuses on the relationship of family, to which the Avenger heroes begin to fracture upon their encounter with impurity before coming back together to face the ultimate test of death within Phase Three. In Captain America: Civil War (2016), two groups of superheroes battle one another after having to decide whether to register their abilities with the authorities or not. On one side is Iron Man, who believes everyone should register; on the other is Captain America, who values his own judgment rather than that of politicians. Nichols compares this divide to the Greek Iliad, the Hindu Mahabharata, and the Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge, which highlight pain and suffering as main contributions to contamination. Nichols further describes the family divide of Black Panther and his ancestors, Thor and his sister, and Peter Quill and his father to illustrate muddy moral contamination through suffering and painful family dynamics.Lastly, in Phase Three, the dominant subject is death, which the heroes must either accept or overcome. In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Thanos (Greek for “death”) kills half of all beings in existence by acquiring the infinity stones and snapping his fingers. Nichols devotes an entire chapter to Thanos, comparing and contrasting his motives, representation, and actions to inclusive texts from world religions and mythologies—including Judaism, the Aztec god of death Mictlantecuhtli, and the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh—rather than merely choosing the easiest comparison of all, Hades.Next, Nichols spotlights the heroes in Avengers: Endgame (2019), including those who were erased from existence and the rest who were left behind with guilt, resentment, and an inability to accept the reality of their failure to defeat Thanos. With little hope, the remaining heroes travel back in time and face death. After reversing “the snap,” the heroes must face a climactic struggle, like Western ideals of the apocalypse, before Iron Man accepts his own self-sacrificing death.As he builds his argument, Nichols relies primarily on mythological texts rather than religious texts, and rarely from Western traditions, which seems a minor shortcoming. Although Nichols cites mythic texts, alongside several non-Western religious texts throughout each phase, Christianity appears largely within Phase Three only. Nevertheless, because many of its characters are recognizable around the world, Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe deserves a place in classrooms to engage younger audiences studying folklore. While Marvel produces and will continue to produce blockbuster films filled with these iconic heroes, there are reasons why these films are mainstays in our theaters: they elevate themes and ideas already embedded in our cultures; they tell the lore of the people.