This is very late and I still need to add a bunch of analysis and flesh it out a lot, but this is what I have so far!

EDIT: Added page numbers and made it more clear what came from where.

• • Introduction
    • Brief history of superheroes
      • Modern superheroes and superhero culture, Marvel vs. DC, etc.

  Superheroes have become an increasingly popular part of mainstream culture in recent years, a phenomenon helped along by the nearly constant stream of superhero movies that began in the 2000s. From the X-Men movies with Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, to Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man trilogy, these movies did a lot to help popularize superhero movies as a part of mainstream culture. There had been other superhero movies before this, of course, such as with the various Batman movies over the years, but they were more spread out. Flops such as Batman and Robin became laughingstocks, as it was considered too campy and not nearly realistic enough to satisfy an audience that had come to expect grit and darkness from Batman, a far cry from the days of Adam West’s rendition of the “Caped Crusader”. DC’s superhero movies have improved in quality and diversity over the years, expanding from Batman and the Green Lantern to other heroes such as Wonder Woman and Aquaman, whose titular characters were both played by people of color. But Marvel has outpaced DC in sheer popularity, with their steady stream of box office hits infusing the public consciousness with a superhero frenzy. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU as it’s known by fans, began in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie, and continues in the present day with Avengers: Endgame which was released earlier this year. With the charismatic Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Iron Man sparked a wave of superhero movies the likes of which had never been seen before. The MCU was probably the most ambitious movie series that had been attempted before as each movie was part of a single cohesive universe, so the writers had to make sure that each movie built on the previous ones. This kind of worldbuilding had been previously confined to mediums such as comic books, which as the source material for the MCU helped make it feel as though the movies were depicting the fans’ favorite comic book heroes come to life. This is part of what made the MCU’s popularity soar.

  • • • Lawrence, John Shelton, and Robert Jewett. The Myth of the American Superhero. W.B. Eerdmans, 2002.
        • the original superhero archetype as conceived through Westerns, how it relates to American culture

  “The monomythic superhero is distinguished by disguised origins, pure motivations, a redemptive task, and extraordinary powers. He originates outside the community he is called to save, and in those exceptional instances when he resides therein, the superhero plays the role of the idealistic loner. His identity is secret, either by virtue of his unknown origins or his alter ego; his motivation is a selfless zeal for justice. By elaborate conventions of restraint, his desire for revenge is purified.” – The Myth of the American Superhero Pg 47

  “The frontier vigilante as protector of a defenseless civilization was given substance by actual conditions in the West. Rapidly expanding exploitation of western resources and the lack of an effective national police system provided an ideal seedbed for vigilante justice.” – The Myth of the American Superhero Pg 30

  • Examination of how superheroes are presented in media
    • Brownie, Barbara, and Danny Graydon. The Superhero Costume: Identity and Disguise in Fact and Fiction. Bloomsbury Academic, An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016.
      • How different identities are treated, levels of “realism”, white bias and “Everyman” status, etc.

  “Commentators’ surprise at the decision to create an African American Spider-Man, in the form of Miles Morales, provides evidence that the superhero genre has previously equated American national identity to whiteness.” – The Superhero Costume Pg 61

  “Through the years, mainstream American superhero comics have struggled to distinguish ethnicity from otherness, insofar as characters of nonwhite ethnicity are often costumed to appear either exotic or primitive.” – The Superhero Costume Pg 64

  “Though these features of costume appear to be markers of cultural authenticity, they are for Western audiences.” – The Superhero Costume Pg 65

  “A sense of authenticity is therefore often dependent on imagery that is appropriated from Western media, and from Western constructs of exoticism. For these Westernized societies, native dress is as exotic to natives as to outsiders.” – The Superhero Costume Pg 66

  “The heroes are exoticized too, with costumes that are more ornamental than functional, decorated with fringes and feathers. However, this exotic vision is also markedly primitive.”- The Superhero Costume Pg 66

  • • • Superheroes as military propaganda (?)

  With some heroes, it’s obvious that there’s an element of propaganda involved, such as when Captain America does things such as punching Hitler.

  

  But there are some heroes that people might not expect to see spouting military propaganda. Superman was created in 1938 by two Jewish men, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Knowing this, it might be shocking to find that in March of 1943, during the height of World War 2, they released a comic with a cover emblazoned with the words “YOU can slap a Jap with WAR BONDS and STAMPS!”

  https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hollywood-cia-washington-dc-films-fbi-24-intervening-close-relationship-a7918191.html

  • Asians in superhero media (past/comics and present/movies)
    • Daredevil franchise
      • Johnson, Mark Steven, director. Daredevil. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2003.
        • Bowman, Rob, director. Elektra. Twentieth Century Fox, 2005.
          • Looking at Elektra in both movies, as well as The Hand.
      • Goddard, Drew, writer. Marvel’s Daredevil. Marvel Television, 2015.
        • Again, looking at The Hand and Elektra, through the lens of appropriation and stereotyping.

  Stick explains the Chaste (and the Hand)

  Stick explains the Hand

  • • • Miller, Frank, writer. Daredevil Volume 1 #174. Marvel Comics, 1981.
        • Looking at The Hand and Elektra in the comics for a point of comparison to see how treatment of these issues has changed/stayed the same.
    • Iron Man Franchise
      • Lee, Stan, writer. Tales of Suspense Volume 1. Marvel Comics, 1964.
        • Looking at the Mandarin’s initial characterization, issues with racial stereotypes and exoticism.
      • Favreau, Jon, director. Iron Man. Marvel Studios, 2008.

  https://www.thewrap.com/will-marvel-introduce-the-real-version-of-the-mandarin-iron-man-3-villain/

  • • • • Black, Shane, director. Iron Man 3. Marvel Studios, 2013.
          • Looking at how the MCU handled the Mandarin’s character compared to the comics; is it whitewashing, appropriation, etc, and why if so?

  The Mandarin’s Lessons

   

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPKyBREVU18

   

  The Fake Mandarin

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwr06u8RT7g

  All Hail the King

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mceyJxMuYFE

  Ben Kingsley biography – he’s mixed race, of South Asian (Indian) descent, not Chinese

  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001426/bio

  • • Doctor Strange Franchise
      • Derrickson, Scott, director. Doctor Strange. Marvel Studios, 2016.
        • Looking at issues of cultural appropriation, whitewashing. Might compare to Iron Fist franchise?

  https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/doctor-strange-ancient-one-director?verso=true

  • • • Lee, Stan, writer. Strange Tales #110. Marvel Comics, 1963.
        • Looking at the original version of Doctor Strange/his origin story to examine racism (? might not need this)
    • What does this have to do with Asian Americans?
      • Relation to American ideas about what it means to be American
        • America’s immigrant history and how it’s ignored

  “…the whole superhero genre is a response to the immigrant experience, and the struggle to adapt to a new national identity.” – The Superhero Costume Pg 56

  • Why representation/diversity matters
    • Discuss fan culture (?), responses to media including backlash, etc (?)

  “From Hermione Granger-led stories, to Harry Potter in Kolkata, to Star Trek same-sex romances, Mary Sues re-imagine our cultural landscape, granting agency to those denied it in the popular mythology.” – Everyone’s a Superhero: A Cultural Theory of Mary Sue Fan Fiction as “Fair Use” pg 597

  • • The question of authenticity
      • Who’s allowed to represent who?
  • Conclusion

  “Although American superheroes consistently strive to redeem corrupted republics, the definition of their roles and the means of their triumphs reflect fascist values that ultimately undermine democratic processes and hollow out the religious faith of the enchanted.” – The Myth of the American Superhero Pg 282

  “Whereas popular myths might be expected to sustain the leading ideals and institutions of a culture, the American monomyth consistently undermines the democratic ethos. Given its elitism, irrationalism, zealous stereotyping, and appetite for total solutions instead of compromise, it is difficult to find any democratic emphasis in the myth, except perhaps in its convention of the ordinary person who develops extraordinary powers.” – The Myth of the American Superhero Pg 338