Superheroes or Super-Soldiers?: The Militarization of Our Modern-Day Heroes

Abstract

I love a good action packed superhero movie and, if box office sales are any indication, I am not alone. When I was younger, there was little I enjoyed more than watching Batman and Superman movies and then re-enacting the fighting sequences with my brother and his He-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures. Today, superheroes are lighting up cinema screens on an increasing basis, topping box office sales worldwide, and proliferating throughout almost every aspect of our everyday lives: filling toy-boxes, stitched on clothing, ensconced in popular discourse, and even starring on the boxes of our favorite cereals. To put it bluntly, “superheroes are everywhere” (Knowles 2007: 3).