Martyrs and Monsters of the Avengers: Christianity and Disability in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
This paper examines the visual vocabulary of Marvel’s Avengers movies through a study of characters with acquired impairments. When an impairment exhibits the characters’ commitment to justice, they are martyr-heroes; when their origins “deform” their bodies, they are monsters in need of redemption....
| Published in: | Journal of disability & religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2020]
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| In: |
Journal of disability & religion
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| Further subjects: | B
Disability
B Church History B physical B Moral Theology B Disability studies |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This paper examines the visual vocabulary of Marvel’s Avengers movies through a study of characters with acquired impairments. When an impairment exhibits the characters’ commitment to justice, they are martyr-heroes; when their origins “deform” their bodies, they are monsters in need of redemption. Putting these stereotypes in conversation with Christianity offers a heuristic to interrogate the meanings conveyed by these characters’ bodies. Using a theological and disability-informed perspective, I argue that Marvel’s uncritical adoption of tropes about physical impairment perpetuates a tradition of ableism that is undergirded by the Christian theological imagination. |
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| ISSN: | 2331-253X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of disability & religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/23312521.2020.1799906 |