Why We Still Need Superhero Movies

Okay if you haven’t seen it yet watch this:
You remember those guys?
You remember that feeling when you saw the Avengers talk to kids in the hospital or give stuff away or show up to places in costume?
Once upon a time the superhero craze was riding high, and while some may critique it as another fad in cinema or something silly and unrealistic, the power of the craze can’t be argued with. Suddenly millions of people were talking about Iron Man and Thor at work, in church, and everywhere else you could think of. For an adult who grew up loving superheroes but having them immediately dismissed as something for kids, this was liberating. Suddenly I wasn’t a geek, I was a fan just like everyone else. Suddenly the heroes I admired and read about and loved were there for everyone to love and care about.
That all changed when COVID-19 attacked.
I know we haven’t spoken much about the pandemic, mainly because we want Latter-Day Saint Geeks to be a fun place for us to share our fandoms, but I want to digress for a moment and talk about something we lost: our superheroes.
See, aside from their movies with the big budgets and flashy lights, the casts of our favorite superhero movies, whether Marvel, DC or wherever Deadpool lands, were always out living up to their onscreen personas. They were actively talking about causes they were passionate about. They talked to fans online and in person. They stole costumes from the sets so they could go to charity events not as Chris Pratt or Henry Cavill, but as Star Lord and Superman. They gave us a world with real superheroes.

Now, sadly, the cameras are off. Production has ground to a halt and releases have been pushed back. Our heroes in the interest of public safety have quarantined themselves from the public like the rest of us, performing the most heroic act they could at this time: helping to keep everyone safe. There are no more random public appearances. No more comic con. No more opening night buzz about who the new villain is going to be, and at a time when we need it most we don’t have our heroes.
Until this little spot of light.

A kid who has literally grown up in the age of heroes performed a truly heroic act and saved his sister, and our heroes, ever wanting to praise those like them, have made an appearance to make this young Avenger smile. It reminds us that the superheroes are still there. The Avengers, the Justice League, the X-Men, they’re not lost forever, they’re just in hibernation. One day the winter that has been most of this year will end and they’ll be able to come out again. Someday Wonder Woman will take on Cheetah and Maxwell Lord and Black Widow will defeat Taskmaster and the world will be as it should. Till then it’s nice to see little glimpses of what we once had and what we will have again.