Download or read book The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe written by Nicholas Carnes and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2022-12-16 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the most expansive and widely viewed fictional narrative in the history of cinema. In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, including its subsidiary film production company, Marvel Studios. Since then, the MCU—the collection of multimedia Marvel Studios products that share a single fictional storyline—has grown from two feature films to thirty interconnected movies, nine streaming Disney+ series, a half dozen short films, and more than thirty print titles. By 2022, eight of the twenty-five highest grossing films of all time are MCU movies. The MCU is a deeply political universe. Intentionally or not, the MCU sends fans scores of messages about a wide range of subjects related to government, public policy, and society. Some are overt, like the contentious debate about government and accountability at the heart of Captain America: Civil War. More often, however, the politics of the MCU are subtle, like the changing role of women from supporting characters (like Black Widow in Iron Man 2) to leading heroes (like Black Widow in Black Widow). The MCU is not only a product of contemporary politics, but many of its stories seem to be direct responses to the problems of the day. Racial injustice, environmental catastrophe, and political misinformation are not just contemporary social ills, they are also key thematic elements of recent MCU blockbusters. In The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, more than twenty-five leading scholars examine these complex themes. Part one explores how political issues are depicted in the origin stories; part two examines how the MCU depicts classic political themes like government and power; and part three explores questions of diversity and representation in the MCU. The volume’s various chapters examine a wide range of topics: Black Panther and the “racial contract,” Captain America and the political philosophy of James Madison, Dr. Strange and colonial imperialism, S.H.I.E.L.D. and civil-military relations, Spider-Man and environmentalism, and Captain Marvel and second-wave feminism. The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the first book to look expansively at politics in the MCU and ask the question, “What lessons are this entertainment juggernaut teaching audiences about politics, society, power, gender, and inequality?”
Download or read book Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe written by Julian C. Chambliss and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-03-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Marvel Cinematic Universe--comprised of films, broadcast television and streaming series and digital shorts--has generated considerable fan engagement with its emphasis on socially relevant characters and plots. Beyond considerable box office achievements, the success of Marvel's movie studios has opened up dialogue on social, economic and political concerns that challenge established values and beliefs. This collection of new essays examines those controversial themes and the ways they represent, construct and distort American culture.
Download or read book Avengers Assemble written by Terence McSweeney and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are living in the age of the superhero and we cannot deny it. Avengers Assemble! is a vibrant and theoretically informed interrogation of one of the defining and most financially successful film franchises of the new millennium. In the first single-authored monograph on the topic of the Marvel cinematic universe, Terence McSweeney asks, "Why has the superhero genre reemerged so emphatically in recent years?" In an age where people have stopped going to the cinema as frequently as they used to, they returned to it in droves for the superhero film. What is it about these films that has resonated with audiences all around the globe? Are they just disposable pop culture artifacts or might they have something interesting to say about the fears and anxieties of the world we live in today? Beginning with Iron Man in 2008, this study provocatively explores both the cinematic and the televisual branches of the series across ten dynamic and original chapters from a diverse range of critical perspectives which analyse their status as an embodiment of the changing industrial practices of the blockbuster film and their symbolic potency as affective cultural artifacts that are profoundly immersed in the turbulent political climate of their era.
Download or read book Marveling Religion written by Jennifer Baldwin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-09-09 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marveling Religion: Critical Discourses, Religion, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an edited volume that explores the intersection of religion and cinema through the lenses of critical discourse. The focus of the shared inquiry are various films comprising the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and corresponding Netflix series. The contributors explore various religious themes and how they intersect with culture through the canon on the MCU. The first part focuses on responses to the societal, governmental, and cultural context that solidified with clarity during the 2016 Presidential Election cycle in the United States and in the following administration. Additionally, it provides lenses and resources for engaging in productive public actions. Part two explores cultural resources of sustaining activism and resistance as well as some of the key issues at stake in public action. The third part centers on militarization and resistance to state violence. Taken in concert, these three sections work together to provide frames for understanding while also keeping us engaged in the concrete action to mobilize social change. The overarching aim of the volume is to promote critical discourse regarding the dynamics of activism and political resistance.
Download or read book Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe written by Michael D. Nichols and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2021-02-22 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Breaking box office records, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has achieved an unparalleled level of success with fans across the world, raising the films to a higher level of narrative: myth. This is the first book to analyze the Marvel output as modern myth, comparing it to epics, symbols, rituals, and stories from world religious traditions. This book places the exploits of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, and the other stars of the Marvel films alongside the legends of Achilles, Gilgamesh, Arjuna, the Buddha, and many others. It examines their origin stories and rites of passage, the monsters, shadow-selves, and familial conflicts they contend with, and the symbols of death and the battle against it that stalk them at every turn. The films deal with timeless human dilemmas and questions, evoking an enduring sense of adventure and wonder common across world mythic traditions.
Download or read book Theology and the Marvel Universe written by Gregory Stevenson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-11-22 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Theology and the Marvel Universe, fourteen contributors examine theological themes and ideas in the comic books, television shows, and films that make up the grand narrative of the Marvel Universe. Engaging in dialogue with theological thinkers such as Willie James Jennings, Franz Rosenzweig, Søren Kierkegaard, René Girard, Kelly Brown Douglas, and many others, the chapters explore a wide variety of topics, including violence, sacrifice, colonialism, Israeli-Palestinian relations, virtue ethics, character formation, identity formation, and mythic reinvention. This book demonstrates that the stories of Thor, Daredevil, Sabra, Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Thanos, Luke Cage, and others engage not just our imagination, but our theological imagination as well.
Download or read book The Hours Have Lost Their Clock written by Grafton Tanner and published by Watkins Media Limited. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hours Have Lost Their Clock charts the rise of nostalgia in an era knocked out of time. In The Hours Have Lost Their Clock, Grafton Tanner charts the rise of nostalgia in an era knocked out of time. Nostalgia is the defining emotion of our age. Political leaders promise a return to yesteryear. Old movies are remade and cancelled series are rebooted. Veterans reenact past wars, while the displaced across the world long for home. But who is behind this collective ache for a home in the past? Do we need to eliminate nostalgia, or just cultivate it better? And what is at stake if we make the wrong choice? Moving from the fight over Confederate monuments to the birth of homeland security to the mourning of species extinction, Grafton Tanner traces nostalgia’s ascent in the twenty-first century, revealing its power as both a consequence of our unstable time and a defense against it. With little faith in a future of climate change and economic anxiety, many have turned to nostalgia to weather the present, while powerful elites exploit it for their own gain. An exploration into the politics of loss and yearning, The Hours Have Lost Their Clock is an urgent call to take nostalgia seriously. The very future depends on it.
Download or read book Marvel Cinematic Universe Guidebook written by Mike O'Sullivan and published by Marvel Entertainment. This book was released on 2017-04-05 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CollectsÿGuidebook To The Marvel Cinematic Universe - Marvel's Iron Man, Marvel's Incredible Hulk, Marvel's Iron Man 2, Marvel's Thor, Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel's The Avengers, Marvel's Iron Man 3, Marvel's Thor: The Dark World. The official handbook of the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes you all the way through Phase One and to the dawn of Phase Two! Filled with fact sheets, movie-to-comic comparisons, behind-the-scenes art and production stills, this volume details the first eight blockbuster Marvel movies - from 2008's Iron Man to 2013's Thor: The Dark World. In-depth character profiles give you the whole story on heroes like Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, War Machine, Hawkeye and more! Deadly villains including Abomination, Loki, Red Skull and the Mandarin! Plus a universe of supporting characters like Nick Fury, Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter and Phil Coulson! It's your indispensable guide to the MCU!
Download or read book Superheroes Movies and the State written by Tricia Jenkins and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Despite continued warnings of "superhero fatigue," Marvel and DC's current cinematic universes (the MCU and DCEU) have dominated the last two decades of popular culture and continue to obliterate box-office records. Where other scholars have focused solely on superhero films' global popularity, reflections of American imperialism, cultural legacy, or treatment of minority groups, Jenkins and Secker examine these films' production-side relationships with the American Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEEX), and other government agencies that have aided (or withdrawn from) their creation and promotion. This government-entertainment complex, they argue, uses superhero films as non-traditional propaganda: the state does not directly generate or force the creation of these movies, but instead leverages its unique resources to encourage positive images and messaging. Positive portrayals of the state differ from movie to movie, and military and scientific agencies emphasize different "American values," but their methods are similar and their efforts can coincide. By using documents obtained from government entertainment liaison offices through years of FOIA requests (including script notes, production correspondence, and marketing materials), as well as personal interviews with both producers and government liaisons, Jenkins and Secker illustrate how and why state agencies invest in the production of superhero films, how their support-or lack thereof-influences those films' final narratives, and how both studios' past films and current story arcs offer opportunities to diversify their future productions"--
Download or read book Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe written by Julian C. Chambliss and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Marvel Cinematic Universe--comprised of films, broadcast television and streaming series and digital shorts--has generated considerable fan engagement with its emphasis on socially relevant characters and plots. Beyond considerable box office achievements, the success of Marvel's movie studios has opened up dialogue on social, economic and political concerns that challenge established values and beliefs. This collection of new essays examines those controversial themes and the ways they represent, construct and distort American culture.
Download or read book Marvel Studios Character Encyclopedia written by Adam Bray and published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd. This book was released on 2019-04-04 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn the facts, figures, super-powers and origins of your favourite characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). From the Avengers and Ant-Man to Black Panther and Doctor Strange, this book spans over a decade of action-packed Marvel Studios movie releases. Filled with interesting facts and key information, whether your favourite hero is Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, the Wasp, Iron Man or Gamora, you'll be able to find out all about their story, super-powers, weapons, and much more. It isn't all heroes though; this book includes powerful villains and their followers, sinister spies, brave soldiers, and even ordinary people who find themselves caught up in epic battles! Whatever it is that you want to know, Marvel Studios: Character Encyclopedia will make you an instant Marvel Studios expert. Wondering what Thor's hammer is called*, or where Vision came from? How Iron Man builds his suits, or who Thanos is? Then this is the book for you! *Mjolnir, just in case you were wondering!
Download or read book The Road To Marvel s Avengers written by Eleni Roussos and published by Marvel Entertainment. This book was released on 2019-04-24 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fourth installment in the blockbuster Avengers saga is about to hit theaters! An action epic like no other, it will be the culmination of 22 interconnected films and audiences will witness the finale of this epic journey across the length and breadth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This collectible volume features art from the films leading up to this thrilling event including additional behind-the-scenes images, interviews and photography from Avengers: Infinity War! Relive the road to the fourth Avengers film, and prepare yourself for the cinematic experience of a lifetime!
Download or read book Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe written by Michael D. Nichols and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2021-02-11 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Breaking box office records, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has achieved an unparalleled level of success with fans across the world, raising the films to a higher level of narrative: myth. This is the first book to analyze the Marvel output as modern myth, comparing it to epics, symbols, rituals, and stories from world religious traditions. This book places the exploits of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, and the other stars of the Marvel films alongside the legends of Achilles, Gilgamesh, Arjuna, the Buddha, and many others. It examines their origin stories and rites of passage, the monsters, shadow-selves, and familial conflicts they contend with, and the symbols of death and the battle against it that stalk them at every turn. The films deal with timeless human dilemmas and questions, evoking an enduring sense of adventure and wonder common across world mythic traditions.
Download or read book Marvel Studios The Falcon The Winter Soldier written by Marvel Various and published by Marvel Entertainment. This book was released on 2022-06-29 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Faced with a new super-threat in the radical movement called the Flag Smashers, and the conflicting emotions generated by John F. Walker, the government's newly appointed replacement for Captain America, Sam Wilson (the Falcon) and Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier) team up to go on a globe-trotting adventure that tests their abilities…and their patience for one another. Go behind the scenes of the smash-hit Disney+ series with exclusive concept art, and interviews with cast and crew, in this one-of-a-kind volume!
Download or read book Spider Man and the Use of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Propaganda written by Mandi Skierkiewicz and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My thesis focuses on the significant changes made by The Walt Disney Company to the Marvel Cinematic Universe informed by the corporation’s long history in supporting the military. Focusing on Spider-Man’s appearances in live-action movies since Disney’s purchase of Marvel in 2016, I explain how the changes to his character made by Disney represent a new type of propaganda film released by Disney. In my analysis, I draw on Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony and Noam Chomsky's notion of manufactured consent to argue that Marvel’s newest films keep the masses unconsciously influenced in the same ideals of an authoritative power, such as the U.S. Government and it’s military. Through analysis on the role of the Freedom of Information Act, the history of Disney's relationship with the U.S. military, and the characterization of Spiderman in movies since 2016, I argue that Marvel’s newest films can be seen as militaristic propaganda intended to keep the ruling class in control by creating a domineering system of ideals over the subordinate class.
Download or read book All of the Marvels written by Douglas Wolk and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2023-10-03 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2022 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book The first-ever full reckoning with Marvel Comics’ interconnected, half-million-page story, a revelatory guide to the “epic of epics”—and to the past sixty years of American culture—from a beloved authority on the subject who read all 27,000+ Marvel superhero comics and lived to tell the tale “Brilliant, eccentric, moving and wholly wonderful. . . . Wolk proves to be the perfect guide for this type of adventure: nimble, learned, funny and sincere. . . . All of the Marvels is magnificently marvelous. Wolk’s work will invite many more alliterative superlatives. It deserves them all.” —Junot Díaz, New York Times Book Review The superhero comic books that Marvel Comics has published since 1961 are, as Douglas Wolk notes, the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages to date, and still growing. The Marvel story is a gigantic mountain smack in the middle of contemporary culture. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Everyone recognizes its protagonists: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men. Eighteen of the hundred highest-grossing movies of all time are based on parts of it. Yet not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing—nobody’s supposed to. So, of course, that’s what Wolk did: he read all 27,000+ comics that make up the Marvel Universe thus far, from Alpha Flight to Omega the Unknown. And then he made sense of it—seeing into the ever-expanding story, in its parts and as a whole, and seeing through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In Wolk’s hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a fun-house-mirror history of the past sixty years, from the atomic night terrors of the Cold War to the technocracy and political division of the present day—a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders. As a work of cultural exegesis, this is sneakily significant, even a landmark; it’s also ludicrously fun. Wolk sees fascinating patterns—the rise and fall of particular cultural aspirations, and of the storytelling modes that conveyed them. He observes the Marvel story’s progressive visions and its painful stereotypes, its patches of woeful hackwork and stretches of luminous creativity, and the way it all feeds into a potent cosmology that echoes our deepest hopes and fears. This is a huge treat for Marvel fans, but it’s also a revelation for readers who don’t know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels.
Download or read book Marvel Cinematic Universe Guidebook The Good The Bad The Guardians written by and published by Marvel. This book was released on 2017-12-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The official handbook of the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes you all the way from the introduction of the long-lost Winter Soldier to the reluctant hero Doctor Strange - with new profiles on the ragtag Guardians of the Galaxy! Filled with fact sheets, movie-to-comic comparisons, behind-the-scenes art and production stills, this keepsake collection details seven Marvel blockbusters - from 2014's Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2! Catch up on the heroes you love - including Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and more - and get the full story on new heroes such as Ant-Man and Doctor Strange! Not to mention their deadly foes - from S.H.I.E.L.D. itself to Dormammu - and a universe of supporting characters including Nick Fury, Phil Coulson and Dr. Christine Palmer. It's your indispensable guide to the MCU! COLLECTING: GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE- MARVEL'S CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, MARVEL'S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, MARVEL'S AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, MARVEL'S ANTMAN, MARVEL'S CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, MARVEL'S DOCTOR STRANGE, MARVEL'S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
